AEW had one job to do this week when it came to preserving the value of the MJF story, and that was to not feature him at all. That they succeeded is a credit to the company in these particularly chaotic times.
Valid comparisons to the CM Punk's 2011 face-melter should not extend to how quickly he was back on the scene after winning the WWE Championship at Money In The Bank. Punk was given just eight days to pretend he had the title hostage, so MJF getting at least longer than that after calling his boss a "f*cking mark" was crucial.
The longer the better, being honest. Wrestling fans have long memories, and will be right there for MJF's shocking reappearance whenever he finally makes it.
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
