7 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Anniversary Edition (Oct 14)
2. Passive-Aggressive Predators
MJF's career-changing announcement was pretty much what you thought it would be - wanting to join the Inner Circle, with much bells and whistles - and the quality level wasn't a surprise either. This was tremendous.
'The Salt of the Earth' welcomed Chris Jericho for this groundbreaking occasion, putting 'Le Champion' over as somebody he looks up to dearly. He drenched Sammy Guevara by finally supplying him with a new jacket, only for it to be about seven sizes to make, leaving 'The Spanish God' upset and continuing the prodigy vs. prodigy subplot of this whole deal. All of this was appetiser material, though. The entree was MJF deliberately blundering his way through the admission that he wanted to join the Inner Circle, struggling to swallow his pride, and while Ortiz objected to the idea immediately, Jericho entertained it. Next week, they'll meet for a steak dinner to hash this business out.
Passive aggression and guarded intentions continue to define this storyline. Both men come off conceited and insincere in every "nice" move they make, though the outcome feels far from obvious at the moment. MJF taking control of and sabotaging the stable from within is as possible as Jericho turning the whole group babyface to feud with Max. It is a well-played, intriguing piece of storytelling that's easy to take at face value, and each new segment is as compelling as the last.