8 AEW Teases Hidden In Plain Sight

5. MJF Was Setting The Groundwork

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AEW

Just when we thought that MJF was going to oust Chris Jericho as the leader of the Inner Circle or that the faction were about to boot the underhand Friedman to the curb, AEW swerved us all by having Max bring his own new stable to the fore.

Pairing MJF with the FTR tandem of Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler is a masterstroke. Having Tully Blanchard at FTR's side opens up things for Shawn Spears to join the fold, while Wardlow has long been under the employ of Max - et voila, AEW has a shiny new heel group ready to run roughshod.

Going back to May 2020, though, and the formation of this group was staring us in the face.

Back then, MJF could be seen having a tipple or two with Spears during an episode of AEW Dynamite. Again, Tully was at the side of the Chairman of AEW, with Wardlow ominously keeping a protective eye on his boss.

If anything, fans presumed that this was a tease of a new partner for Shawn Spears - this being the time when Tully was on the hunt for the 'perfect partner' for his charge - yet in hindsight, this looks like a masterstroke of planning for AEW's newest faction.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.