Where is AEW going with MJF?: Wrestling Observer Radio 

Personally I’m happy we can’t see the end plan wrestling is more fun when u don’t know everything takes the fun out of it

Dave got worked so hard that he's down playing the promo of the decade.

Dave getting worked the fuck out by MJF promo is a beautiful thing to see.

Cornette still living rent free in Dave's head

I just realized, I think Meltzer was upset because of that 'Star ratings' line by MJF. MJF was insulting all the boys for chasing 'star ratings' but he doesn't give a shit. Must have irked Dave lol

One of the best promos and years and here Dave is rambling saying nothing of substance as usual. Go to sleep Dave. Andy Kaufman and Brian Pillman would be proud.

Dave is really overthinking the whole "Jim Cornette material" thing. MJF cut a passionate promo about why he is one of the best wrestlers in the world and the audience was embracing that passion by the end. If you think that promo is going to suddenly make the same audience who loved Anarchy in the Arena this weekend turn into Jim Cornette type wrestling fans you're really getting the wrong takeaway. Fans love a good shoot promo and that's why they were into it. Not because they secretly agree with Cornette.

You can tell this promo struck a nerve with Dave lmao

"I can't figure out the endgame..." Isn't that the point? Is that not part of what makes it a good work?

Meltzer is not happy that his star rating system was joked about.

You all got worked, just remember as the Undertaker told you all that you are all fans and sometimes you forget that.

I disagree with Dave. I was starting to get bored with AEW in the last few weeks. And this pulled me back in. I don’t think it will hurt the company at all if they blur the lines. Next Dynamite will be must see TV

It's wild that so many people say Jim Cornette is so out of touch yet when someone pretty much quotes his verbatem a lot of people agree.

Idk how yall are so confused by this.. first DAVE... this is not WCW... this is not WWF back when Pillman was around.. this is not WWE during Punks time. People change.. the fans have changed and times have changed. So youre comparing apples to oranges... a lot of oranges. Now, this has been telegraphed for a while. MJF vs Punk. Its a no brainer. It was back when they were feuding and Punk was signalling wanting a belt. And then, during the feud w Page, suddenly it becaame Punk was just doing business... and Page is defending AEW. Then in an instant... TK is going off during the press conference hailing the accolades of Punk about everything hes done. Punk being champion is the evil corporation. Theyre just taking a different approach to it. A million dollars says that thats where the promo work goes to.. "Phil, youve become the exact thing you fought against all those years ago... youre a sell out". MJF is now going to become the new face of the company... both literally and metaphorically. And he is fighting for what the company started as... and Punk representing what the claim its become. Its all right there guys.

just enjoy the damn promo Dave for fuck sake dude

“Jim Cornette material” lol whether that’s what you want to call it or not , he didn’t tell one lie last night .

His pipebomb was exactly how Punk did it, and Punks pipebomb worked for wwe. Idk how Meltzer didn't compare it to that but instead he compared it to when wcw did it and it didn't work out

Meltzer is pissed that he got worked by Tony & MJF!! 😂Excellent delivery by MJF but the I don't drop guys on their heads was very Russoish & even stealing the "busting my ass since day one" from Russo's Bash at the Beach shoot when he mentioned Booker T!

For those thinking that Dave is being weird here: him and SRS got worked, he's butthurt

These guys are the definition of "smart marks." As a casual fan, I can legit say that promo is the first thing AEW has ever done that makes me actually wanna sit down and watch an episode.

Weird opinion by Dave here tbh for some parts of the show especially this one. This was the best Dyanmite of the year so far. And the fans were cheering MJF NOT cause of Cornette- like opinions they were still booing him then and for the majority of the pro,o. They only started to cheer him in the end when he mentioned being better then all the wwe guys. And anything negative towards wwe gets a big pop from AEW crowds so no shit

Dave said a lot of things that tbh I feel most people would disagree with he might have not felt like anything happened but people loved the shit out of that show yesterday

Meltzer bemoaning an AEW guy’s lack of selling is really quite something, and then calling YB vs Fenix/Penta one of the greatest tag team feuds of all time…this is not a journalist.

To go from a super heel being squashed, to the very next TV show getting gigantic mega pops, that was amazing to watch

AEW is the best Pro Wrestling company in the world!

Long-term storytelling. CM Punk created MJF. MJF becomes CM Punk. MJF will be the one to dethrone Punk, and end his "Summer of Punk". MJF will leave AEW along with the World Championship belt at All Out 2022 or 2023 Chicago; just like Punk did at wwe MITB 2011 in Chicago. Pro Wrestling storytelling at its finest.

“The Jim Cornette Playbook”. Bro, we can ALL see the untrained “talent” consistently injure opponents and botch embarrassingly on national TV. All he had to do was watch a weekly show to get his material.

Meltzer is so weird sometimes, it was an epic show from start to finish.

the best shoot/promo since punk's pipebomb promo2011

This isn't hard to figure out. MJF wasn't happy with his contract. That was real. It took a while to resolve. Probably was resolved pre fan meet no show. Everything from this point on is a work. People who think no showing a fan meet or upsetting networks is a bad idea watch WWE. These are the kind of moments that MAKE a company.

Dave sure didn’t like that chasing 5 stars comment….

Hilarious listening to Meltzer after MJF pissed all over him in that promo.

Now I get it. This is Dave Meltzer. MR Kenny Omega and Young Bucks fan club leader. Of course he hated this. Lol

I'm so happy none of you analysts can figure out where they're going with this MJF angle. Dave is extra saltly he wasn't hipped to what's going on and got worked.

Given Dave’s comments and the thumbnail, did both of them think this was a shoot angle? Do they think most wrestling fans would think MJF *actually* wants to be fired? Clear inspiration from Pillman, Flair, and Punk, but this was done entirely by TK’s blessing 100%. I’d be shocked if anything other than MJF holding the world title happens by the end of this year

"Not sure why they didn't show that part on TV..." To make it a more convincing worked shoot, for fuck's sake. For the voice of pro wrestling journalism, sometimes Dave sounds like he's never watched wrestling.

The difference here is that there are a lot of homegrown AEW talent who’d defend the shit out of the company. Hangman, Darby, the other pillars etc. and they’re beloved by the crowds. Not to mention all the ex-wwe guys mjf was mentioning. There are interesting ways this could go and MJF could easily make a lot of enemies out of this story.

Did Max run down any of the talent? I fet like everything that he said, while fairly meta, isn't out of line for a good heel. The crowd went nuts because of course they did and perhaps was affected by a debut in the market? Punk being the 'remover' in the break and commentary not referencing it gives the chance for MJF's heat to pivot from Tony to Punk for a fued, keeps the brand itself neutral, and gives a great chance to build on the fourth wall commentary that Page was providing in their championship feud Or they could screw it up. That is always an option unfortunately

There in person MJF was loved and super over

It may have been a work but he was speaking the truth, all of it.

News flash uncle Dave. MJF has been a star for awhile. The saddest thing about this promo is not enough people was watching.

MJF showed us a Flair, Punk, Pillman style promo. The way he got angry, shaking his head reminded me a ton of the old flair promos. IT WAS GLORIOUS!!!

MJF been telling us he's the best promo guy in the business but the story he's telling right now. This is going to put him the conversation as one of the greatest of all time. At 26 years old. That is just insane how good he is.

Dave said Punk is AEW top star and MJF is the second highest rated star. He failed to mention both stars wrestle and cut promos like 40-50yrs ago. So old school does work and draws ratings 🤔

“Erase all the success” 😂😂 this is one of the first truly successful things aew has done beyond preaching to its small and un-growing choir.

Dave is so off on his judgement on this show.

This has gotta be a work. You know there's no way in hell that if MJF goes over to that abusive company he won't be able to say even 20% of what he usually says. MJF killed it though.

Only Dave could make a really exciting moment seem mundane and ordinary.

Him downing AEW/ TK is not the same as WCW/ NWO situation.

All I’ve gotta say is “Fire me you fucking mark” is probably the greatest line I’ve ever heard on Dynamite lol.

I think they are building towards some internal war within the company. It started with Hangman talking about saving AEW from Punk.

AEW fans are constantly clamoring for the latest WWE release to get signed to AEW. That’s what makes their roster too bloated.

Whoever thought this was a legitimate shoot is delusional. MJF sold it perfectly.

It’ll be very interesting to see how this unfolds. Agree with Dave in that it was a great performance from MJF. I might be wrong but I don’t consider AEW to be in a “war” with WWE. This isn’t like WCW vs WWE. AEW is doing well and they’re just trying to generate more interest in their product. WWE will be more successful for the foreseeable future because they monopolized the industry for decades. WWE isn’t really a pro wrestling show; they don’t create interesting storylines and matches. WWE’s focus is on creating a lot of content and establishing lucrative media deals. AEW can’t compete with WWE because they’re two completely different products. AEW is competing with itself. As long as they focus on being their best, they’ll be in good shape.

I think Dave is so wrong with his opinions here

End game is MJF WORLD CHAMPION.

There’s no way MJF doesn’t win next summer and does a “I’m leaving with the AEW Championship” run.

Dave's just upset because MJF dosen't wrestle for his star ratings

Meltzer always gets pissy and salty when he isn't in the know on something lmao.

This video should be renamed : Dave rambles for almost 20 minutes. Almost everything he said didn’t make any goddamn sense…

MJF is the GOAT. Tony Khan needs to pay him whatever he wants

Big difference between this and WCW imo (which I'm old enough to remember) is that pretty much everyone outside of Russo and his bubble hated his confusing crap. At least the MJF stuff makes some sense from a character perspective. Russo would just randomly turn people for "shock value" or book a match as a "real fight" and other such nonsense. AEW isn't perfect but it's 200x more entertaining than Russo era WCW which was literal car crash TV.

Best promo shoot in a long while. Can't wait to see where it goes next.

It's OK if Dave shuts up sometimes

I’m amazed at Dave today, he’s even harder to listen to the normal. He genuinely seems offended by this promo. He legit got worked. This was a great promo iTunes in last night just to see if MJF would show. And I wasn’t disappointed, I thought it was a great promo I’ve been watching wrestling since the mid-60s, and it was good promos I’ve seen in 20 or 30 years. And better than most I’ve ever seen. He blurred the lines, that’s what you want as a wrestling fan. Dave got upset because he knocked a few of his boys deservedly so. At the end of the day it was all friends wrestling, I’m glad they’re starting to go another direction they have some great talent I hope they use them and actually let them wrestle. I would start watching again if they did that.

Hulk Hogan once tweeted, “Jabroni marks who don’t know it’s a work when you work a work and they work themselves into a shoot. Marks.”

For all the claims of Dave's bias, this is the first time I've felt he was compromised. He really bats for the Bucks, and Kenny, but this move by Tony/AEW represents a move away from their influence. Brian (Last) made a good point recently that Tony wanted Punk, and Cornette, for the inception of the company, so the changing of the guard going on at the moment is not necessarily a contradiction by Tony. Having the Bucks with too much influence made the show, overall, too high flying, which has had diminishing returns. The irony imho is that the Bucks, and their high flying buddies, will seem better as part of a show more focused on grappling. Everyone loves/d Mysterio but you can't have a show being 50/70% high flying acrobatics, it simply loses its value.

It's clear where they're going with this, but they're building this up for him to be the world champion.He is taking the punk approach back in the summer of 2011. It's going to be shoot/ work.

Sooo MJF hurt Melter’s feelings??

For everyone saying MJF not a work: - they literally advertised it - same bullet points as the pipebomb: - the rock main eventing mania ~ ex WWE guys - censoring swear words + cutting off the mic - talking shit about the owner of the company - saying I’m the best in world It's basically 2011's cm punk & John cena case..

The problem with Dave is he doesn't at all understand the self awareness of the modern wrestling fan, because he has no self awareness himself.

So Meltzer says this type of angles dont increase ratings (which Is true in many cases), and therefore Is negative. Yet he Is a Mark for in-ring-stiff action, which has never appeal to no one outside of the people who Will watch no matter what. This guy really hates promos and storylines based on reality that appeal to the Entertainment side of pro wrestling

MJFs promo was so true. I got into wrestling after 10-15 year hiatus because of AEW. And now they're bringing in all these ex WWE guys that I dont really care about, and they immediately get over as soon as they're on TV. Storm, Soho, Joe, Danielson, Punk, Cole, ect, ect... Plus, AEW is so different without Omega and Cody. Add all these WWE guys running the show. Its WEIRD. Love MJF calling it out.

WCW went out of business because the talent ran down the company??? Pretty sure it was the bloated contracts.

MJF takes ten powerbombs on Sunday and gets stretchered out. Three days later, he's no worse for the wear. Interesting. Maybe wrestling is fake.

"Young Bucks vs Pentagon & Phoenix is one of the greatest tag team feuds of all time" Shit like this is why i unsubscribed to the Wrestling Observer Dave is the biggest mark left in pro wrestling, embarrassing at this stage.

This is a preposterous take

MJFs promo was incredible. I'm confused at the criticism. The best parts of wrestling is when fact and fiction are blurred. Everyone knows it's scripted but that's what makes it interesting, the lines being blurred. Also, fans do have those grievances that MJF says. Not everyone likes the flippy dippy, "5 star" matches. A lot of people like the "old school" wrestling, when wrestling was a lot more popular than it is now. When Punk, Danielson and Cole joined AEW I started watching a lot but now I just watch FTR, Punk and the MJF segments with the odd match here and there because that's all that appeals to me. There are others like that too. This promo to me is so similar to Punks pipebomb in 2011 which improved ratings. It brought back many lapsed fans like myself and this promo has the potential to do that. I've showed some of my friends who couldn't 1 iota about wrestling this promo and they were amazed, they want me to show them more of what MJF does in the future.

This AEW Dynamite🧨 was INCREDIBLE! Punk vs TANAHASHI!, MJF working everyone, MIRO!, BLOOD & GUTS, 10 man tag was Insane, Stokley's perfect with Jade, Wardlow, Could watch Jamie & Toni 3 times a day. That Ending. No one could hate this AEW Dynamite🧨 ALL TIMER!

Comparisons to Hall and Nash make no sense at this stage. If MJF forms a bloated faction that Tony Khan joins and they beat the shit out of the AEW stars every week, then fine. Otherwise, it's something different. Pillman analogy doesn't work at all. It could go the same road as the 2011 pipebomb, but it could go somewhere completely different. I'm a casual AEW watcher, but this really got me interested. MJF is an absolute star.

Of course Dave is being completely disingenuous about Cornette’s “material.” It’s just another example of someone who has become incapable of nuanced discussion. You can’t watch a crowd give a standing ovation to a guy who was just allowed to get in a live mic and call their beloved promotion, it’s owner, and all of them losers and marks, and walk away with a positive impression of those clapping at their own burial or the owner that let it happen. And Dave’s hatred of Jim has become so personal and unhinged, that Jim’s valid points about TK and AEW’s fan base, which showed themselves to be correct in spades with this segment, are not only not being acknowledged as correct, according to Dave it’s somehow all his fault. As a reader of Meltzer for over 30 years, it’s been sad to watch him curb his criticism of today’s product for fear of being called irrelevant or out of touch.

MJF is the new loose cannon And I’m all for it

There’s room for the high flying matches and the blurring of reality. There’s room for both. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. There’s room for a diverse set of styles. In fact the conflict between old school and new school can be super compelling if it is done right. Dave has got so wrapped up in the turf war that he forgot there has to be a balance. He got so wrapped up in the Cornette deal that he forgot that wrestling can’t just be movesets but has to tell a story. The high flying is great, it just has to tell a story.

The next segment was a match with two wwe guys Miro vs Johnny Elite Tony khan set it up perfect to sell the angle

It was MJF's pipe bomb promo. It had the same template. He ran down the owner, the rest of the roster, how he's a needle mover and it ultimately ended with his mic being cut. The stuff about Cornette and WCW are wild concerns that don't make any sense.

It sounds to me that Dave has done worked himself into a shoot over a work. AEW's promos have always been great because they incorporate some truth. Yes, Tony's a mark but he's also the best booker according to the observer awards.

Meltzer comes off looking pretty bad here LMAO.

If Dave could string a sentence together it would be easier to take him seriously

All of the valid complaints with the AEW product that MJF brought up are the things that Dave now loves about wrestling so he has to down play it by calling it "Jim Cornette's Playbook" even though a lot of people agree with everything MJF said

ITS total work mjf look and sounded great

I was worried he was gonna pop a blood vessel, with how hard he was screaming. His veins were popping out 😡

I ❤️ Dave, have nothing but respect for him. 💯 % disagree with him tho AEW isn't WCW and this is 2022. TK is way to smart I think to screw it up and MJF I think showed he will one day be bigger than Flair

Tony Khan is a mark. That's not just Jim Cornette's opinion.

Dave right on about crowd size and production value… they should capitalize on the large crowds.

Dave and Bryan aren’t usually so off kilter with their takes on AEW, but man… WCW PTSD has ruined their brains here. I’m honestly baffled how it’s lost on them that yes Statlander had that promo about being underutilized and the amazing well structured match cause the crowd to be upset Ruby Soho won, but if that really turned her hell then she wouldn’t have been cheered on Sunday. Yes MJF still said shit that made the crowd pop and whatnot, but he still got boos anytime in the promo last night he lambasted the fans. It was a back and forth between cheers and boos. Which means next week he’ll be booed. Just like when he made the promo about him being bullied and people still booed him the next week after. This is honestly such a way too doom and gloomy take from Dave and makes his fears of AEW becoming WCW for the Dark Order beat down from December of 2019 look even more silly in hindsight. With that said I understand he’s seen this happen before in WCW and it died but it was MULTIPLE things one on top of the other causing their death. It wasn’t just the heels shitting on company and being cheered. He’s a wrestling journalist and historian so that context has extra weight to his opinion here and I respect it. However, it’s just way off the vibes from him not seeing how it connects to Hangman’s Promo about “fearing what the company will become with C.M. Punk as champion” And how they went straight to a ex-WWE vs ex-WWE match. Not the best take on the show. Side note: there were a number of wide shots of the arena and anyone was able to see throughout the show multiple instances revealing the heights of the upper bowl from the ring level so idk what they were talking about saying it was filmed the same as a original Dynamite.

One of the greatest tag team feuds of all time.....you have fucking lost it Dave

I compare this to Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff issue in 1998 where there was real heat between the 2 for most of 1998 and they eventually worked things out, when Flair came back during the 4 horsemen ceremony it was a work based on the real life heat between the 2.....Flair said "Fire me...I'm already fired...Fire Me...I'm already fired"...

MJF understands how to bleed just enough realism with just enough showmanship to make you believe in what you’re watching, without insulting your intelligence. It is not full on “pulling back the curtain” and telling fans everything we do is fake and we are all friends here wrestling on TV. The majority of AEW already does that, and it doesn’t enhance the product. Historically, wrestling has always done best when the the audience believes that the people on TV are passionate, and express a legitimate gripe with their opponents.

I reckon this is a big plan come up by Punk (as part of him coming in and his tenure at the company) MJF and Tony, Punk comes in as a face, does the “PG Punk” thing on purpose or essentially the “John Cena” role while retaining enough of his cool to stay massively over as a baby face, wins the title from Adam Page, Page accuses punk of the backstage stuff during their feud, eventually Page is proven right, in the mean time they build MJF into the Punk role from 2011, Punk turns heel, MJF vs Punk for the title, MJF wins the title and becomes a household name in the process and a major star for the company for years to come. Punk is set as a heel for years then before a face run where he’ll likely retire to finish up his career, leaving the company in a good position. They basically have an opportunity to do what wwe should’ve done with Punk back in 2011 then. Just a theory anyway.

This is story telling and emotion done correctly in wrestling. Blur the lines of reality and get fans talking! I really hope this type of work replaces the status quo of repetitive choreographed matches between children. Sorry Dave, but this is what high tier Wrestling should be…