AEW resolves the saga of MJF flirting with WWE and threatening to leave in their favour: The young star appears on Double or Nothing, is taken apart – and makes cryptic comments.
Is he really dropping his big pay-per-view match? Or will he turn up after all?
Just hours before AEW Double or Nothing, the WWE rival’s spring highlight began, that question kept wrestling fans worldwide on edge.
“MJF wasn’t in the building until a few minutes ago” tweeted reporter legend Dave Meltzer as late as 12.31 local time in Las Vegas – three and a half hours before the event began. AEW itself deleted various promotions for its match against Wardlow, which had previously been the subject of as much hype as the World Title match between Hangman Page and CM Punk at the end of the show.
In the end, top talent Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who was flirting with WWE, did show up and pull off his match after his “no show” at a fanfest and a consensus reported boycott and departure threat. There were scenes as memorable as they were telling, which will hardly silence speculation that the scandal was staged – but ultimately continued to leave all questions hanging over the saga unanswered.
AEW boss Tony Khan silent, MJF to “reflect “
Meanwhile, both MJF and AEW boss Tony Khan addressed the public and did not make the mystery any smaller.Khan stated in the usual post-event press conference that he would “not comment” on the MJF situation.
MJF is quoted by reporter Sean Ross Sapp (Fightful) as saying that he “came in just before the match and left just after” and now has “a lot to think about”. Sapp explicitly pointed out that he was currently unable to determine whether and to what extent MJF and AEW would be in the same boat again.
MJF saga ended at 0.52 a.m. (for the time being)
By then, the saga had unfolded as follows: At 0.52am German time – eight minutes before the preshow was due to start – Sports Illustrated reporter Justin Barrasso released the news that MJF was on site after all and would open the main event.
He did so to loud boos and abuse from the fans in attendance, the vast majority of whom had obviously caught the saga. MJF was also made fun of by shouting “You showed up”, among other things. He himself provoked back by imitating flight movements – alluding to reports that a return ticket from Las Vegas had already been booked for him to be redeemed before the event began.
The match against Wardlow – who had played his lackey for years at AEW but had turned on him of late – then turned into a dismantling of MJF.
Wardlow dismantles MJF with ten powerbombs
After MJF eluded powerhouse Wardlow for a while with tricks and manoeuvres and continued to rile up the crowd, he eventually got caught in Wardlow’s clutches, taking a total of ten (!) powerbombs from him and was ultimately pinned after seven minutes of fighting with no opposition to speak of.
MJF was then strapped to a gurney, hooked up to an oxygen machine and taken away by paramedics, accompanied by producer and part-time wrestler Pat Buck, who had recently moved from WWE to AEW.
AEW then staged the big win for Wardlow, who, according to the story, had been chained to a contract with MJF until then and had only earned his freedom and a “proper” AEW contract by defeating MJF. The rise of Wardlow, considered a coming top star, recalls the creation of phenomena like Batista in WWE and Bill Goldberg in WCW – Wardlow’s entrance, musicless and handcuffed (ordered by MJF, according to Story) and escorted by security, winkingly mirrored the legendary Goldberg entrance.
Commentators make ambiguous comments
Backdropped by the fictional and real-life storylines, the commentary trio of Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone and Excalibur delivered numerous ambiguous remarks about MJF’s character (“MJF has taken every opportunity in this business relationship to disrespect and take advantage of Wardlow”) – while artfully avoiding direct mention of backstage happenings.
The dispatch of MJF could now theoretically be the swansong of him: The relationship between MJF and AEW boss Tony Khan looks fractured, and an early dismissal no longer seems out of the question. It emerged at the weekend that MJF’s five-year contract is due to expire on 1 January 2024.
MJF has announced many times that he is waiting for a mega offer from WWE after this and weighing that up against AEW’s counter offer – but recently reports that he is unhappy with his employer and signals that he is itching for a break have been mounting. With his Fanfest boycott at the weekend, the matter finally left the status of a gimmick.
Will MJF make himself interesting to WWE?
The open question remains whether Khan will actually fire MJF or rather force him to sit out the contract – in the ring or out – or whether there can be a rapprochement again and a productive weaving of the saga into the AEW script.
The theory that it was all a planned “work” from the start to draw attention to AEW will also hold up. However, all relevant trade media report that this is not the case, at least not from AEW’s side.
In MJF’s case, the question remains whether he intends to use the drama to draw attention to himself and increase his market value at the expense of his employer, as has been done many times by stars of past eras (Ross dropped the name of the great MJF role model “Rowdy” Roddy Piper).
The intensity with which the public reacted to him on Sunday, both locally and online, makes it clear that he has certainly succeeded – at what price is the other question.