13 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Feb 12)
8. MJF Goes Prehistoric On Jungle Boy
A shook Brandi Rhodes joined the commentary booth as MJF battled Jungle Boy in a great midcard battle preceded by both men seemingly banishing their seconds to the back, content to wrestle the bout on their own terms.
MJF went back on this, because of course he did. The finish saw Wardlow come out, slip the Dynamite Diamond Ring to his boss, then watch on as MJF clocked Jungle Boy and hit the Double Cross for the win. An effective finish that poured further heat on the victor but kept the babyface protected.
The work preceding this was strong. It had a great dynamic with MJF in total prick mode and the fast, expressive Jungle Boy popping the crowd with his offense. His sympathy and athleticism makes him extremely easy to root for, particularly up against a guy like MJF - his polar opposite. The audience was fully into this as well, because that's what happens when you throw two performers of opposing alignments with well-defined in-ring characters against each other.
A supplemental Down for Arn Anderson watching the match at a stupid angle backstage (why would you ape one of WWE's sillier minor tropes here?), but the match ruled.