10 Next Steps AEW MUST Take After Double Or Nothing
4. Push The HELL Out Of MJF
What's most remarkable about Maxwell Jacob Friedman isn't that he's one of the best heels in the business (though he unquestionably is), but that he's only been doing this for four years. He's 23, for crying out loud, but he's already more adept at drawing heat than performers who've been doing this for decades, and while some may bemoan his lack of experience, AEW must push this dastardly piece of sh*t all the way to the top.
MJF's heat-grabbing prowess first became apparent in the Casino Battle Royale, where he immediately went after double-amputee Dustin Thomas. "Sorry about that, Lieutenant Dan!", he screamed in the downed wrestler's face, drawing his first nuclear reaction of the night.
Friedman's best moments came during the AEW World Title presentation segment. Interrupting Bret Hart and Hangman Page, he proceeded to ether both with the year's best wrestling promo, having the crowd howling with laughter one second before flipping them to building-shaking jeers the next. It was phenomenal, phenomenal stuff, and the kind of rant that's impossible in WWE's scripted environment.
AEW will make a star of MJF. One of Being The Elite's biggest highlights will soon go stratospheric, and getting heat on Hart suggests big things aren't far away.