Great bit of pro-wrestling drama from MJF/AEW, but not clear how anyone thinks this isn't a work. I think that went out the window when he showed up for his match. It's totally ok that it is, part of being a fan is suspending belief and that was great tv.
Is their heat between he and TK over pay, sure, but in this day and age, nobody is going to 'shoot' for 4-5 minutes on national television without TK or Vince's blessing.
Where do they go from here? If anything that made MJF, one of their few true heels, more likable than ever. Is this the beginning of the Evil Mr. Khan? Or worse yet lead to a match between the two of them?
It's definitely a worked shoot, like the the Pipe Bomb promo.
It isn't a typical angle where everything is cool behind the scenes and it's just for storyline purposes. However, it's definitely a work in the sense that TK and AEW approved him going out and doing it and had a good enough idea of what he was going to say. It wasn't a true shoot of course.
Everything he said was dead on.
He is exactly correct calling out the guys that are about high spots. That indy mentality that we were discussing yesterday is strangling AEW creative in my mind with the inability or unwillingness to develop actual heels.
A lot of people consider Hangman's title run a disappointment, that he didn't really elevate himself or AEW after all that build up.
Well, look at his three programs.
First program against a massive babyface Bryan Danielson, still in his honeymoon period, and easily a top three guy in popularity. Yes, they had Danielson do an abrupt heel program, but he's mega popular.
Second program against tweener Adam Cole, who is mega over, gets the biggest intro pop in the company, and generates almost no actual heel heat.
Third program against the top babyface in the company, CM Punk.
I'm sorry...but that's grade a bullshit for a babyface champion.
This is not sustainable booking. You are not going to grow beyond the core indy/AEW fan without casual fans being able to turn in and understand who they are supposed to be rooting for and why.
And arguably the only legit heel in the company is in a contract dispute. And even if they can book their way through the dispute, it's almost certainly going to end up with MJF as a face, because anti-authority always sells in wrestling.
I think someone has to instill some discipline and restriction over the creative. Like everyone else, I enjoyed the Dark Order, and given what happened to Brodie Lee, it's great that it went this way, but letting Lee and the Dark Order become comical babyfaces is a perfect example.
Letting the House of Black have that entrance when they're supposed to be heels is garbage.
They need to find some guys that are willing to heel with the discipline of MJF, and build them up from the ground up, and let them know exactly what is expected and will be tolerated in return for being elevated on the card. I think guys like Daniel Garcia, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, Ethan Page, maybe Scorpio Sky, maybe Starks and Hobbs. Tell them...no sing along entrances, no checklist of five signature moves to cover every match unless they draw heel heat, no chant along catch phrases.
I don't know what's going to happen with this MJF worked shoot angle. It's either going to elevate AEW to another level by being must-see TV, or its going to be a creative mess that bogs down the company. Add to that the shoot-ish promo Hangman ran on the company's biggest babyface before Double or Nothing, and I'm not sure how they pull this in a coherent direction.