On last night’s episode of Dynamite, the show opened with a “world title eliminator” match with the champion, Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Adam Cole. If Cole won, he would secure himself a title shot in the future. Granted, I understand the perceived logic, and the finish of a time limit draw was booked to set up a level of intrigue for the next bout between the two, but I still disagree with the notion of putting a 30-minute bout on free TV, even with a non-finish before you attempt to sell the same contest as the main event of a pay-per-view. Obviously, there’s more that these two can do, considering their level of talent, but the match on TBS had a table spot, apron bumps, a gimmick blood spot, and went the duration of the typical pay-per-view main event so what exactly is there left to sell in terms of in-ring action? It goes without saying that the selling point to the eventual PPV contest with MJF defending against Cole would be the chance for Cole to claim the title. However, with putting this bout on free television first, the chase for the title is more or less the only selling point since the fans already saw the “work rate” portion of the contest. Again, I understand what Tony Khan was going for, but when he gave away the 30-minute match, it took away one of the selling points of the MJF/Cole clash on pay-per-view.
Without the work rate portion to sell to the potential PPV audience, unless the rematch will be booked for several months from now, it will become exponentially more important that the booking of this feud makes it seem like Cole winning the title is a realistic possibility.
The problem is, at least so far, that is not the case for this storyline.
I was critical of how Adam Cole was used upon his arrival in All Elite Wrestling, as he was fresh off of NXT television and the general consensus was that he had all the tools to be a major player for the WWE, but the big man philosophy that Vince McMahon was known for was the reason the company missed the boat on him. At one point, particularly during his Ring Of Honor and early NXT championship reigns, I think it was possible to consider Adam Cole the Shawn Micheals of his generation. Granted, there’s only one HBK, but with a similar frame and work rate, Cole seemingly had the ability to be a top guy for the WWE.
Tony Khan had a major commodity signed to his organization in 2021, but Cole’s star power was minimized as he was booked in a stable and eventually got lost in the shuffle. A guy like Adam Cole should’ve arrived with plans ready for him to be included in the main event conversation, and not only did it not happen, but there’s no excuse that it took almost two years for him to be in a feud for the title, the injury not withstanding.
Unfortunately, almost a year ago, Cole suffered a very serious concussion at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view, which halted any momentum he had from his win in the Owen Hart Memorial Cup tournament. Just a few months ago, he finally returned to the ring with the feud against Chris Jericho and while it set the stage for him to work with MJF, which theoretically makes sense, I’m not sure on if the audience is sold on him as a future world champion, especially after last week’s promo segment.
Friedman wants to be known as the wrestler that will “go to far” as a way to standout from the pack in terms of the ability to work as a heel, but as I’ve said before, it’s not that MJF is ahead of the curve, but rather that most others are just behind it. Keep in mind, in theory, every heel on the show is supposed to be able to make the audience believe that they are actually a “bad guy,” instead of just playing the role of a villain on television. That being said, MJF’s attempts to “shock” the audience are often just cheap heat as opposed to cutting edge. Don’t get me wrong, Friedman has the ability to be the best heel in the business, but often falls short of that with almost desperate attempts to push the envelope.
Last week’s promo segment saw MJF mock Adam Cole’s physique, and the major problem with this is, when the heel actually has a point, it leaves the baby face without a proper response and thus hinders their presentation. As mentioned, Cole is a great worker, but regardless of its injuries or prehaps a shift in training, he looks noticeably thinner than he was during his NXT run. Along with that, and again this might have more to do with the long road to recover from the serious concussion, Cole just doesn’t seem to have the same spark and the same presence since he returned to AEW. Again, when the heel actually has a point, it makes the baby face look subpar. On the flip side, Cole’s implication that MJF is on steroids, even if it’s true, doesn’t make business sense at all. If Tony Khan suggested the line then he shouldn’t book a national television show, and if Cole or MJF made the suggestion then neither of them understand the big picture, which I doubt would be the case. Either way, the implication that the world champion is on steroids just makes the entire company look minor league, especially in the modern era after so many deaths in a previous generation. If the notion was to again, “shock” the audience with the steroids implication, it missed the mark and was an amateur attempt to generate some buzz. This isn’t the late-90s or ECW, it’s not edgy television, it’s just a low brow attempt to try to get fans to notice the segment.
Finally, and this is probably the biggest takeaway from the current MJF/Cole feud, Friedman is going to eventually cause a total debacle for the company if he doesn’t smarten up. During the previously mentioned TV match, as a stall tactic to get heat, he jumped the rail to take a walk in the audience, as he dismissed the challenge in the ring, which is fine. The problem is, while he was playing to the audience, he attempted to hit someone’s hat, something that is usually rather harmless, but also partially knocked their glasses sideways in the process. Again, the hat aspect of this is harmless, the heel looks like a jerk, and the fan gets the hat back. No harm, no foul and it’s a part of the typical pro wrestling troupe. The problem is, while the real-life Max Friedman probably didn’t intend to hit the fan’s glasses or want to cause actual harm to the paying customer, if these attempts at edgy tactics continue, it could be a disaster for the organization.
The fans know that Tony Khan is from a billionaire family and it takes one incident with a fan for some yokel to see dollar signs. MJF infamously threw a drink that he thought was water on a kid, but was actually tequila at a previous pay-per-view. Sure, the company let the kid meet some stars and got him free tickets to the following week’s Dynamite to smooth it over, but outside of the financial risk, if he does that to the wrong fan at the wrong time, some knucklehead takes a swing at the world champion during the main event of a pay-per-view. Again, if the fan that got his glasses knocked sideways decided to look for an ambulance chaser for a lawyer, a serious case of sprained eyes or some other imaginary injury could result in a lawsuit on Tony Khan’s desk. If an incident happens, it would be amazing how a six-figure settlement would be enough to compensate for the supposed optic injury or any emotional distress from the AEW event.
Taking nothing away from MJF’s talent, in the modern era, there are people that will use any excuse they can to file a lawsuit to try to make some quick cash, and that becomes even more of a concern when it’s well-known that the Khan family has billions of dollars. Quite simply, a world champion can’t give the fans an excuse to potentially file a lawsuit against the company. At the same time, the world champion should give the audience a reason to pay money to see their next title defense, and the argument could be made that MJF hasn’t accomplished that so far either. As much as people want to rightfully praise Friedman, take this into consideration, would Roman Reigns ever put his hands on a fan during a match? If not then maybe MJF should consider how he tries to get heat if he wants to be the top guy in AEW.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram & Facebook @jimlamotta89
