7 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (23 Feb)

1. Why MJF Is MJF

MJF cut one of the promos of his life on last night's Dynamite, effectively delivering his own origin story in a segment that completely flipped the company-best CM Punk feud on its head.

One may have expected rage in response to last week's Dog Collar announcement. There was none of that here. Instead, MJF unpacked why he is the way he is, recalling a horrible, traumatic childhood of anti-Semitic bullying, ostracization, and never feeling like he belonged. He suffered through "a litany of learning disabilities" and other issues, including ADHD, breaking him, with only Punk and professional wrestling as his guiding light, elevating his disappointment at his hero stepping away from wrestling beyond typical Twitter bait.

MJF needed Punk to guide him through this trauma, he claimed. His guiding light shut itself off when he needed it most. When he re-emerged via glib Instagram post with Bryan Danielson, MJF was reignited, vowing to leave the bullied, broken outcast he used to be behind to become the best in the world in spite of CM Punk, whose crimes he would never replicate by leaving those who need him high and dry.

His voice cracking and trembling at points, MJF was sensational here, having tapped into an emotional core the likes of which we've seen from him before. Even Punk was rocked, asking Max if it was true before a wrought 'Salt of the Earth' rolled out of the ring.

And now, Punk vs. MJF isn't what it was before.

Either the newfound sympathy compells the audience to see MJF as a tragic figure, having learned his background story, or the Pinnacle leader becomes an even bigger bastard by swerving it next week. Whatever the outcome, the best feud in wrestling just became better.