11 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (Jun 14 - Review)

Ups…

11. MJF Vs Adam Cole

It’s always chess match first, wrestling match second with MJF.

Yes, he’ll try and cheat three moves ahead rather than wrestle them, but the methods remain the same and the examples of just how effective his style is continue to pile higher than just about all of his contemporaries.A sublime master strategist within the fairly strict confines of kayfabe his character adheres to, the ‘Salt Of The Earth’s eventual babyface turn will be so earned because he’s everything he says he is and then some.

In the meantime, he’s rebooted Adam Cole’s own heroic return after it had badly stuttered in his programme with Chris Jericho.He might have chased every shortcut when his traps to set them up worked, but that’s the sort of guile and gumption that’s too admirable to despise. His constant avoidance of the Boom, his constant targeting of Cole’s arm and his constant desire to “dance with what brung him” (the ring, the belt, the table spot from Revolution) were sublime in the moment and even better when he’d successfully ran down the clock.

Time limit draws rule anyway, but they go even harder when the matches are good enough to have fans begging for the extra five minutes as much as the babyface. Cole will get every minute he needs against the Champion down the road, this much is clear. But the former NXT Champion was presented with a more sophisticated challenge here, and he’ll need to tap into that beautiful mind of his to solve the puzzle second time around.