11 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (7 Sept)

3. The Worst Guy

MJF's fake babyface act is tremendous. The All Out returnee is a master of crowd control, who plays his audiences like a career politician, encouraging them to cheer for him even when deep down, they probably know they are being played. That they go along with it shows MJF's skill. Classic, cheesy babyface tropes permeate his work in this role, as he walks out in hometown sports shirts, tries to pass off previous misdeeds as light-hearted jibes, and plays to the audience.

Here, in his home state, MJF equated himself to Moses parting the Red Sea, then immediately played that down. He alluded to backstage problems and claimed Tony Khan was paying him a boatload of money to navigate these tough times. And rather than entering the Tournament of Champions, he is retaining his poker chip so he can use it anytime, anyplace, whenever he wants.

Jon Moxley soon emerged, trying Max's veil to pieces. Friedman had no choice but to revert to type when faced with AEW's grandest folk hero. Turning on the audience was all the more heated for the work he had done to build them up beforehand, while referencing Cody Rhodes and Triple H is such easy, no-brainer stuff.

We'll get to Mox in a bit. For now, take a moment to appreciate the work MJF put forth last night. It's likely that he had to rethink much of this segment in the wake of recent goings-on, but he still delivered big, setting his new course following an All Out comeback unfortunately swallowed up by the controversy.

Never forget that this man was the television wrestler of the year prior to dipping in June.