4 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Dynamite (22 Feb - Review)
1. MJF Speaks With Bryan Danielson
AEW
A segment of two halves, MJF and Bryan Danielson’s verbal sparring left a lot to be desired even if the physicality that followed was god-tier pay-per-view setup stuff. But more on that momentarily.
‘The Salt Of The Earth’ let us in to yet another part of his fractured past (that was, by all accounts, rooted in recent reality) but the sociopathy deep dive - like the gauntlet stipulation - feels like an MJF well that’s been visited once too often lately. It’s a measure of just how great the Champion is; a five out of ten idea was nonetheless delivered like a twenty, but Bryan threatening to “kick the sh*t” out of him for mentioning his kids then simply not doing so as Friedman raged down the lens at them was a weird rare production and blocking flub from AEW. Never mind climbing over an invisible wall, Bryan barely needed to hop an invisible fence and he would have been able to reach him.
Though never threatening to go off the rails, the bit had the air of something we’ve seen better versions of before, and got nowhere close to establishing the challenger as somebody that might actually win when the two fight for the gold.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
