During All Elite Wrestling’s Double or Nothing post-event press scrum, MJF mentioned that only seven percent of the promotion’s audience is active on Twitter, essentially rendering that segment nothing more than an echo chamber of diehard wrestling fans.
Whether MJF’s statistical claim is true or not, I don’t know. But let’s take the champ at his word and assume that his assertion is based in facts.
AEW has made its bones catering to the diehard fan base since its inception back in 2019, and was rewarded for doing so by Warner Bros. Discovery in the form of two more hours of live television on Saturday nights.
According to MJF, that particular set of fans doesn’t amount to a whole lot. That made it even more jarring when MJF’s promo about Adam Cole on the most recent episode of Dynamite was filled with content that only that “seven percent” would understand.
MJF referred to Cole’s tumultuous end to his WWE tenure, where there reports were swirling that Vince McMahon (who was mentioned by name during this promo) had zero faith in Cole to replicate the success he had in NXT and Ring of Honor, which saw him featured at the top of the card on a routine basis. Instead, McMahon’s vision for Cole reportedly involved him being a manager, specifically for Keith Lee.
While that would have been a gross misuse of Cole and Lee, it is something that the “seven percent” of AEW’s fan base could believe, as it fits McMahon’s modus operandi.
However, MJF brought this up in front of a lot more than that supposed fraction of AEW’s audience. He brought this up in front of thousands in person and hundreds of thousands more watching at home. Chances are, there was a good chunk of people watching MJF’s promo on Dynamite that either had no idea what he was talking about or blocked it out of their memory because it was yet another absurd McMahon idea.
And at the end of the day, who did it help? It helped MJF for sure, as he verbally eviscerated the person who looks to be the next challenger for his world title. I know for sure who it did not help: Adam Cole.
I am well aware that this is what MJF does to his opponents, which is what has made him into the champion he is today. That said, I think it’s also a symptom of a larger problem that AEW has run into at various times throughout its four-year history, which is delving too deep into the rumors and innuendo that often permeate wrestling fandom.
It’d be one thing if these rumors and stories were solely focused on AEW. But in this case, they are not. They are primarily focused on the maniacal ideation process of the competition’s boss. They are focused on what has occurred elsewhere.
World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action did the same thing back in the day. WCW brought in Roddy Piper and Ultimate Warrior so that Hulk Hogan could settle a score with them from a decade prior in WWE. TNA used Hogan’s WWE Hall of Fame ring as the MacGuffin for an entire story involving Abyss. They also used the cape Hogan wore as a heel in the 1970s for Matt Morgan.
But at the very least, those promotions were re-hashing stories that played out on screen. The story MJF told fans Wednesday night was not. It wasn’t even major news. It was a news item that garnered a visceral reaction from fans, most of whom thought about it in a negative light.
MJF is talented enough to lambaste his opponents in a variety of ways, but delving into these deep cuts leaves some fans either in the dark or rehashing negative thoughts. The entire point of this is for people to believe Cole actually has a chance to dethrone the champ.
But when you bring up the fact that the most important figure in the entire industry — who is not affiliated with AEW — saw him as nothing more than a mouthpiece for another guy his company also released, it does him no favors.
Not to mention, MJF also questioned Cole’s physique, which won’t miraculously change during the course of this feud, called him the “Panama Game Boy” and said he looks like a “virgin gollum.” Those are some darn good roasts that could even earn a cackle or two on All Def Digital’s YouTube series, Roast Me.
Cole tried to clap back in his own way by saying that no one in the AEW locker room respects MJF. That may very well be true, but that could also be chalked up to MJF being a heel, which means he shouldn’t be respected. He also brought up MJF’s fiancé leaving him and implied that MJF may be using performance enhancing drugs, which is a WILD accusation to levy on television.
There is still time for Cole to get his lick back, so to speak, whether that is on the microphone or in the ring, but there is no guarantee that he will. Not only does he have to beat MJF to become the champion, but he also has to prove to everyone that McMahon was wrong about him, too?
Who cares? This is AEW, not WWE.
For better or for worse, MJF is a great white shark on the microphone, and he could easily turn Cole into mere chum before it is all said and done.