MJF - Worked Shoot or Shoot Shoot?

[XIV]

In a scene reminiscent of "Summer of Punk" all those years ago, MJF is currently displaying a loyt of behaviours which come across as both legitimate but also possible for a worked shoot.

All the behaviours from last weekend, felt very shoot like, even the match MJF turned up for felt like it was done to fulfil an obligation... but then they've given MJF 10 minutes of TV time to sound off in a "Pipebomb" where he's called Tony a "Fucking Mark" asked to be fired and mention WWE by name 2 or 3 times.. but somehow, giving him that TV time felt like a worked shoot.

So where do we sit, is this a straight shoot? Is it a worked shoot? Or is it a bit of both where its a shoot, but Tony is going with it because of the draw of it and to create buzz?

Where do we sit?

[XIV]

I think it's very reminiscent of the Summer of Punk and would suggest that much like that, the feelings are real from MJF, but Tony Khan is making the most of it to maximise buzz and good TV, why else send MJF out there (with a full entrance by the way) if you weren't at least working a little bit of the situation.

Nothing MJF said in his promo was wrong, which is porbably why a good portion of the live crowd were cheering him by the end, he didn't exaggerate, he didn't lie. MJF is one of the few who gets the audience to truly "feel" rather than just oohs and ahhs being a spot monkey and he does it without doing flips and bullshit. He is probably paid less than maybe some of the WWE alumni that have come through the door. He is (what I would consider) a generational talent.

So for me, i'd suggest it's shoot, but with worked elements. Probably a deal with Tony & MJF behind the door (We'll work everyone except each other) But if that's not the case, he's picked his battle too early. Punk picked his battle when he was going out the door imminently. MJF still has 2 years on a contract. My opinion is that its the same as any person, if you sign a contract for x money for x years, you should be prepared to honour it, you've signed it. But, if he is doing things that mean he morally should be paid more money, then he's likely within his rights to ask for a new deal, but at all times, be professional and be prepared to work the contract you signed.

[Big Red Machine]

It's a worked shoot. If he went out there and said a bunch of stuff AEW didn't want, including using a word you can't say on TV, we'd have heard about it.
And I REALLY hope this isn't a "working the boys" situation. Doing that sort of Eric Bischoff crap would break any faith I have left in Tony Khan.

[Big Red Machine]

Or maybe I'm wrong

BY ZACK HEYDORN, PWTORCH ASSISTANT EDITOR

June 3, 2022
MJF promo on Dynamite reportedly didn't go as planned


The MJF promo on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite reportedly didn’t go off quite as it was planned to.

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that MJF was set to cut a heel promo and then have the microphone cut out halfway through in an effort to mirror Brian Pillman’s famous “shoot” promos in WCW. Instead, MJF spoke for nearly ten minutes before the mic went dead and the segment wrapped up.

The report indicates that MJF getting cheered was unexpected, but that C.M. Punk walking down the ramp during to confront him after the mic went dead and while the show was at commercial break did go according to what had been planned out.

MJF’s promo took major shots at AEW, Tony Khan, and the disrespect he’s felt due to not being compensated to the level of which his value to the company demands. MJF swore multiple times and screamed the F-word, which prompted the mic to get cut and the show to fade into break.

MJF no-showed and AEW Fan Fest meet and greet over the weekend ahead of Double or Nothing. He’s been at odds with Tony Khan regarding his contract situation. At Double or Nothing, he lost to Wardlow in a squash like manner and was stretchered out of the arena.

MJF’s contract with AEW is slated to end in January of 2024.

Then again, this was from the Torch site, but sourced to Dave, without saying that the Torch was able to confirm it, so it's likely that Tony is working Dave.

[XIV]

Or maybe I'm wrong

BY ZACK HEYDORN, PWTORCH ASSISTANT EDITOR

June 3, 2022
MJF promo on Dynamite reportedly didn't go as planned


The MJF promo on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite reportedly didn’t go off quite as it was planned to.

The Wrestling Observer is reporting that MJF was set to cut a heel promo and then have the microphone cut out halfway through in an effort to mirror Brian Pillman’s famous “shoot” promos in WCW. Instead, MJF spoke for nearly ten minutes before the mic went dead and the segment wrapped up.

The report indicates that MJF getting cheered was unexpected, but that C.M. Punk walking down the ramp during to confront him after the mic went dead and while the show was at commercial break did go according to what had been planned out.

MJF’s promo took major shots at AEW, Tony Khan, and the disrespect he’s felt due to not being compensated to the level of which his value to the company demands. MJF swore multiple times and screamed the F-word, which prompted the mic to get cut and the show to fade into break.

MJF no-showed and AEW Fan Fest meet and greet over the weekend ahead of Double or Nothing. He’s been at odds with Tony Khan regarding his contract situation. At Double or Nothing, he lost to Wardlow in a squash like manner and was stretchered out of the arena.

MJF’s contract with AEW is slated to end in January of 2024.

Then again, this was from the Torch site, but sourced to Dave, without saying that the Torch was able to confirm it, so it's likely that Tony is working Dave.

It then lends itself to the idea that Tony & MJF are working everyone, including the boys

[Thelone]

I can believe that MJF had concerns over his pay compared to most ex-WWE men who get paid handsomely and then get lost in the shuffle doing nothing of note while he's out there doing big quarters and top Youtube views pretty consistantly. There's clearly a big gap between how much ex-WWE men are getting paid and indy talent/women. It's embarrassing how many Dub women are doing OnlyFans/Patreon/straight-up e-begging and falling for obvious scams (Mr. Friedman included). He seems to be the only one who went after Khan about it and quite frankly, also the only one who has solid evidence that he's worth more than clowns like O'Reilly, Andrade El Flair, Marble Black and Jobberitis PAC.

My point is that it probably started with legitimate concerns, was worked on quickly because MJF actually had a point, then they decided to go for the worked shoot after that.

[XIV]

I can believe that MJF had concerns over his pay compared to most ex-WWE men who get paid handsomely and then get lost in the shuffle doing nothing of note while he's out there doing big quarters and top Youtube views pretty consistantly. There's clearly a big gap between how much ex-WWE men are getting paid and indy talent/women. It's embarrassing how many Dub women are doing OnlyFans/Patreon/straight-up e-begging and falling for obvious scams (Mr. Friedman included). He seems to be the only one who went after Khan about it and quite frankly, also the only one who has solid evidence that he's worth more than clowns like O'Reilly, Andrade El Flair, Marble Black and Jobberitis PAC.

My point is that it probably started with legitimate concerns, was worked on quickly because MJF actually had a point, then they decided to go for the worked shoot after that.

We're in agreement, hence the comparison to "Summer of Punk". They used the real life gripe to create a story, only in that instance, he ended up leaving. Who knows where they're going, but if it is a work, they've gone all in, he's got no Merch on sale, he's off the roster page AND he was removed the show's starting sequence.

[Thelone]

We're in agreement, hence the comparison to "Summer of Punk". They used the real life gripe to create a story, only in that instance, he ended up leaving. Who knows where they're going, but if it is a work, they've gone all in, he's got no Merch on sale, he's off the roster page AND he was removed the show's starting sequence.

It's just so hamfisted and shows once again how AEW doesn't have a single original idea, just half-assed rehashes of anything you can think of. Also I love how next Dub megastar Wardlow is already forgotten about after his huge career defining win against his evil boss... who's now going after his own evil boss.

[XIV]

We're in agreement, hence the comparison to "Summer of Punk". They used the real life gripe to create a story, only in that instance, he ended up leaving. Who knows where they're going, but if it is a work, they've gone all in, he's got no Merch on sale, he's off the roster page AND he was removed the show's starting sequence.

It's just so hamfisted and shows once again how AEW doesn't have a single original idea, just half-assed rehashes of anything you can think of. Also I love how next Dub megastar Wardlow is already forgotten about after his huge career defining win against his evil boss... who's now going after his own evil boss.

If everyone's going after their boss, no-one is special. So you raise a good point.

Wardlow should have cut some very simple promo saying "now I'm free, I'm going to go after the world title" or something and then had a good win over a mid-card guy, feed him someone like Christian Cage, that guy isn't exactly "outworking everyone", give him some big name wins, if they don't pick the ball up quick, they'll lose the progress, but they've done this before and failed to capitalise on certain situations. (I always felt that after the Brian Pillman "Dark side of the ring" documentary they could have really made something out of Junior). They failed to capture Lance Archer when he was getting hot, they botched Adam Page 2 or 3 times when he was getting over so it's no surprise they're not pulling the right threads.

[Thelone]

If everyone's going after their boss, no-one is special. So you raise a good point.

Wardlow should have cut some very simple promo saying "now I'm free, I'm going to go after the world title" or something and then had a good win over a mid-card guy, feed him someone like Christian Cage, that guy isn't exactly "outworking everyone", give him some big name wins, if they don't pick the ball up quick, they'll lose the progress, but they've done this before and failed to capitalise on certain situations. (I always felt that after the Brian Pillman "Dark side of the ring" documentary they could have really made something out of Junior). They failed to capture Lance Archer when he was getting hot, they botched Adam Page 2 or 3 times when he was getting over so it's no surprise they're not pulling the right threads.

Oh Christian is absolutely "outworking everyone" : by being paid at least a million bucks to be Marko Stunt's replacement basically and wrestle once every blue moon. But when he'll finally turn on Jumpin' Jungle Jack Perry two years from now, it's gonna be gAmE-cHaNgInG I tell you!!!

The lack of (good) follow-up has always been a big issue with le Dub. Even just with Wardlow here, you have MJF coming back three days later from a glorified burial and thirty powerbombs like nothing happened (maybe that EMT had the right idea with the oxygen mask on MJF's eyes) while Wardlow squashed yet another jobber... like nothing happened as well.

As for the others you mentioned, Pillman Jr. really hasn't shown anything the few times he got the ball, only cutting wooden, passionless promos when MJF made fun of his dead dad and coked-up mom and... whatever that was with Maxtor Black. He could at least have been in the Owen tournament since, you know, Hart was a good friend of his late father, but that makes too much sense I suppose (same with using Mark Henry in any capacity).

Archer is pretty old already so I'm okay with him being the resident JTTS giant.

They tried a lot with Page, but yeah it was a trainwreck and the wrong guy to get such a massive push. I just don't see what's different between 2013 ROH rookie Page and 2022 AEW """top""" guy Page.

[Big Red Machine]

Excellent points re Wardlow here.

[Big Red Machine]

I can believe that MJF had concerns over his pay compared to most ex-WWE men who get paid handsomely and then get lost in the shuffle doing nothing of note while he's out there doing big quarters and top Youtube views pretty consistantly. There's clearly a big gap between how much ex-WWE men are getting paid and indy talent/women. It's embarrassing how many Dub women are doing OnlyFans/Patreon/straight-up e-begging and falling for obvious scams (Mr. Friedman included). He seems to be the only one who went after Khan about it and quite frankly, also the only one who has solid evidence that he's worth more than clowns like O'Reilly, Andrade El Flair, Marble Black and Jobberitis PAC.

My point is that it probably started with legitimate concerns, was worked on quickly because MJF actually had a point, then they decided to go for the worked shoot after that.

We're in agreement, hence the comparison to "Summer of Punk". They used the real life gripe to create a story, only in that instance, he ended up leaving. Who knows where they're going, but if it is a work, they've gone all in, he's got no Merch on sale, he's off the roster page AND he was removed the show's starting sequence.

It made me cry a little when I realized that when you said "Summer of Punk," it was referring to 2011, not 2005.
GET THAT VIDEO LIBRARY ONLINE, TONY!

[XIV]

I can believe that MJF had concerns over his pay compared to most ex-WWE men who get paid handsomely and then get lost in the shuffle doing nothing of note while he's out there doing big quarters and top Youtube views pretty consistantly. There's clearly a big gap between how much ex-WWE men are getting paid and indy talent/women. It's embarrassing how many Dub women are doing OnlyFans/Patreon/straight-up e-begging and falling for obvious scams (Mr. Friedman included). He seems to be the only one who went after Khan about it and quite frankly, also the only one who has solid evidence that he's worth more than clowns like O'Reilly, Andrade El Flair, Marble Black and Jobberitis PAC.

My point is that it probably started with legitimate concerns, was worked on quickly because MJF actually had a point, then they decided to go for the worked shoot after that.

We're in agreement, hence the comparison to "Summer of Punk". They used the real life gripe to create a story, only in that instance, he ended up leaving. Who knows where they're going, but if it is a work, they've gone all in, he's got no Merch on sale, he's off the roster page AND he was removed the show's starting sequence.

It made me cry a little when I realized that when you said "Summer of Punk," it was referring to 2011, not 2005.
GET THAT VIDEO LIBRARY ONLINE, TONY!

Oh yes, sorry, I should have been more specific, Summer of Punk Part 2

He owns a lot of video now of some great ROH stuff, he definitely needs to find a way to maximise its use. He can’t build a whole channel like WWE yet, but certainly could build a small online streaming service.