MJF goes to convey AEW again to what it does greatest

Though he’d most likely by no means admit it, and what pisses him off most is that MJF is aware of it (MJF’s entire character is understanding the belongings you don’t wish to discuss), Tony Khan would inform you with nobody else round that MJF is totally the guts of AEW. It’s why he introduced him again after he utterly shit all around the firm, whether or not in kayfabe or not. It’s why he’s instantly again in the primary occasion scene. It’s why AEW is at its greatest when MJF is on the heart of it.

Or at the least, MJF is one-half of the corporate’s soul. He’s the darkish half. Whether Jon Moxley or Hangman Page is the sunshine facet, we could by no means actually know (there have been some whispers that Hangman was imagined to go over final evening earlier than his utterly deflating and scary damage, however fortunately it feels like he’ll be okay in time). Either is a fantastic selection. Mox is the primary large import from the opposite facet, the one who follows the true nature of the business and particularly AEW, brawling and jawing his approach to the highest of the enterprise. There isn’t any battle Mox gained’t settle for, no size he gained’t go to, so far as what he’ll put his physique by way of. He is the dignity.

Which means MJF is the brains. There isn’t any size MJF gained’t go to to be on the prime, however in his case, it means no nook he gained’t reduce, no dastardly maneuver beneath him. If Moxley will stroll by way of hell to get what he needs, MJF will discover a facet door regardless of who or what’s in the best way or who or what must be purchased.

This is what the enterprise is all about, and no nice second in any firm has come with out the 2 extremes going through off at one another. Hulk and Andre, Rock and Austin, Bryan and The Authority. AEW has been a variety of issues the previous yr or so, however MJF final evening is bringing it again to what it does greatest and what it will likely be going ahead.

If you missed it, or simply wish to see it once more, final evening’s wonderful Dynamite was centered on a promo phase between MJF and William Regal, the supervisor/inspiration for the Blackpool Combat Club faction. MJF recounted the story of auditioning for Regal at WWE seven years in the past, how Regal pulled him apart and warranted him he’d have a job if solely he was sufficiently old (MJF was 19 on the time), to remain in contact for when the time got here, and the way Regal ultimately spurned him only some months in.

To merely put the timeline on a display doesn’t do the promo wherever close to justice. It was yet one more Joker-origin story from MJF, to match his work with CM Punk (the truth that MJF has competitors for his greatest promo at this stage tells you the whole lot). The heartache Regal’s dismissal prompted, the sense that every one was misplaced and nothing mattered, the spite that MJF let turn into his driving drive, the bile it prompted to toss out any sense of decency or morality in his rise to the highest, it was mainly wrestling pathos distilled to its essence. And greatest. Watch it if in case you have any time at the moment. Much like MJF laid the blame at Punk’s ft for his nihilism, he was able to forged his complete persona and actions as the results of Regal. Nothing is ever MJF’s fault, after all, as a result of that’s how heels see the world.

Regal is hardly a slouch on the mic both, and there are few who may stand in that proper after MJF’s promo and be his equal. Regal is one, and he knowledgeable MJF that he blew him off these years in the past to encourage him, to make him what he noticed he could possibly be. But MJF had reduce each nook and schemed his approach to the highest as an alternative of preventing like Moxley had, and now Regal questioned which path he would take. It arrange gargantuan stakes for his or her match later set for Full Gear in a month. Will MJF rise to the event and switch face and really battle by way of hell to be the place he’s all the time seen himself, to be what Regal noticed then? Or will the glimpse of the height trigger him to sink extra deeply into what obtained him right here within the first place and pull off one thing ungodly evil and low-cost? Who can wait to search out out?

And that is MJF taking AEW to what it has all the time finished greatest — long-term storytelling. It’s not that AEW or Tony Khan misplaced itself prior to now yr or 18 months. Being the “big buzz” firm the place there was a brand new arrival seemingly each week was needed to ascertain itself as an actual various and vacation spot. With each Miro, Malakai, Punk, Cole, or Danielson that confirmed up on AEW, the extra it regarded just like the place to be. Not only a flashy various however one thing with a real basis that might final. The pops and buzz are a giant cause it seems set for the lengthy haul and has such a devoted fanbase.

But it’s simple to get misplaced in that, and as Khan collected increasingly more toys all of it obtained a bit jumbled. Hey, it’s a brand new firm; it’s allowed some stumbles. The roster obtained a bit bloated, too many needed to get on TV, and there was much less and fewer time to do what made the corporate actually particular, and that’s construct slowly into and thru feuds with cathartic payoffs.

AEW’s most memorable matches or moments are issues like Hangman overcoming his lack of perception and seeing his “friends” for what they honestly had been as he defeated Kenny Omega for the title. It’s MJF laying out what Punk actually is and the way Punk created him. It’s Mox and Jericho being the corporate’s first Light vs. Dark feud with Mox popping out on prime. It’s final week when Orange Cassidy paid off a years-long run with PAC and gained the All-Atlantic title, exhibiting PAC he’s greater than a gimmick and will be as severe as The Bastard is and be higher at it. These issues take time, and the persistence to quote historical past and to let the wrestlers paint the image. That’s more durable to do whenever you’re attempting to cram a lot onto TV.

AEW obtained the mileage out of being the brand new man, being the recent new membership, and now it has to search out the following chapter. And typically that’s going again to what got here earlier than, what made you the place everybody needed to return to initially. Cyclically, as is all the time the case with wrestling, it’s WWE that’s attempting to fuel itself up lately on new appearances, even when it’s only in the near past launched or consistently underused wrestlers now getting large publicity like Johnny Gargano or Mustafa Ali or Tommaso Ciampa within the latest previous.

So AEW will return to textured storytelling. MJF is its greatest at it. You noticed extra seeds of Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker final evening splitting. Swerve In Our Glory could also be working their means again to The Acclaimed for Full Gear.

It’s not good. The firm wants Eddie Kingston in one thing. What is occurring with the TNT Title now? Why isn’t Samoa Joe threatening somebody’s life each week goddammit? Toni Storm may use one thing like this. But this feels pickier than it did two weeks in the past.

MJF’s darkness has been constructed all through AEW’s complete existence. So has Mox’s righteousness. The present and firm have an anchor now, the heaviest variety. The soul of the corporate is at stake with all kinds of strands and twists doable.

AEW’s ethos has all the time been that what is easy is what’s normally greatest. Great matches, invigorating characters, and clear tales. When you allow them to simmer to only the suitable temp, there’s nothing higher. Back to fundamentals, and AEW is again to its greatest.