MJF’s Fiery Promo On AEW Dynamite Did Not Go As Planned This Week

MJF set fire to the wrestling world with his recent antics that blurred the lines between reality and fiction. AEW’s top heel no-showed Saturday’s AEW Double or Nothing fan fest in Las Vegas. After he showed up for his match with Wardlow, many were left wondering exactly what was going on.

Since then, Tony Khan has turned the entire saga into an on-air storyline. On Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, MJF cut fiery promo where he left other wrestlers, fans, and even Tony Khan in his wake. The reaction wasn’t quite what AEW was hoping for.

By the end of his rant, fans in Las Angeles were cheering MJF on. His words about how WWE talent is better-paid resonated with the audience. According to Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, that reaction was not in the plans.

“But the key is that MJF was wildly cheered by the end of the promo, particularly when talking about ex-WWE guys who can’t lace his boots. A few days earlier, Kris Statlander got a major babyface pop when talking about her being with the company from early on while Ruby Soho came later, and resulted in Soho being booed in their match and even more after winning.

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This was clearly not the plan, but with the crowd cheering MJF, it made the promotion seem uncool. If MJF got a heel reaction, it would be different. We saw what happened with WCW when the NWO became the cool guys and WCW was portrayed as uncool and incompetent, and how it killed the babyfaces and in the long run damaged the brand greatly. There were a few years of huge business, but in the end, WCW itself had a negative connotation on its own show. It’s not the sole reason it went out of business, but in the long run, it did it no favors.”

AEW will have to figure out a way to keep the company framed as the “cool” promotion while not taking away MJF’s heat. We will have to wait and see what Tony Khan comes up with. For now, many fans agree with a lot of what Max had to say during his now-infamous promo.

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