6 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Jul 29)

1. State Of The Industry

Easily the best thing on Dynamite (and the only thing we could earnestly call "great") was MJF's State of the Industry promo, which we probably should have seen coming. 'The Salt of the Earth' dropping fire on the microphone is as big a sure thing as anything else in AEW.

MJF gimmicked the hell out of this, coming out with assistants, a Burberry podium, and the Goldberg entrance. It was like a presidential campaign speech throughout. "We deserve better," was his mantra, and while the promo relied on easy clichés early on, it got better and better as it went on.

Dropping the #MJF2020 and #NotMyChampion hashtags, MJF claimed it was time for a change, stating a certain individual was afraid up being upstaged by the top-ranked guy in the company. The idea of someone being on top of the card because of where they came from is old hat, brother, so he turned his sights onto Jon Moxley, who, decidedly, isn't his champion.

Gymnastics, flop-flopping, and flying were attempts at making "wrestlers" believe they are good at their job, and negative effects of "Dictator Jon's" reign. MJF accused his new foe of cosplaying Steve Austin, being an overhyped ratings draw, and somebody squandering opportunities for the new guard by representing the old guard on top. So, with his talent outweighing Moxley's tenure, MJF is coming for him at All Out.

Top-notch delivery as always, and the gimmick was totally on-point. An excellent way to drag MJF out of the holding pattern he'd been in, shunt him towards the main event scene, and take one step closer to establishing him as the heel in AEW.