As AEW World Champion MJF is fond of saying, “nobody is on the level of the Devil.”
The idea of MJF as the Devil of the promotion began when he first started making his move toward becoming its top champ. He wore a stylized Devil mask to enter the Casino Ladder match at All Out 2022, winning a shot at the championship (with plenty of help) that he later made good on by defeating Jon Moxley at Full Gear later that year.
Like many of the trappings of his heel persona, MJF has kept the Devil catchphrase even as he’s transitioned to becoming a full-on babyface. But things have been a bit more complicated since he started a program with Jay White, his opponent for this year’s edition of Full Gear.
On the Sept. 27 episode of Dynamite, White was attacked by a group of assailants dressed all in black, one of whom was wearing the Devil mask. He accused MJF, or perhaps best buddy Adam Cole, of launching the attack to derail his championship ambitions.
Since then, the Devil has appeared on screen several more times, but he (or she) hit MJF a little closer to home on the Nov. 8 episode of Dynamite, orchestrating a vicious backstage attack on The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass — some of the few people MJF can count as friends at the moment.
That latest attack ruled out some of the earlier candidates to be under the Devil mask. It can’t be MJF, since he was in the ring, nor can it be one of White’s own Bullet Club Gold running buddies. Samoa Joe is also out since he arrived just as MJF headed backstage to see if he could get some payback.
With that in mind, we’ve updated our guesses as to who will finally be revealed as the Devil in AEW. Let’s dive in.
The heartbreaking choice: It’s Adam Cole (bay bay)
It would definitely be a bummer for MJF if it turns out to be Cole’s (now much more bearded face) staring back at him once the Devil mask comes off. Their friendship has been key to MJF discovering his current babyface persona, which means it would hurt that much more if he discovers his “brochacho 4 life” has been plotting against him behind the scenes.
Cole has a long background as a ringleader in groups like Bullet Club and Undisputed Era, so it’s not a stretch to think he could gather the manpower to supply the other figures in black who have been carrying out the Devil’s attacks. But there’s one thing that makes it less likely to be Cole: He’s currently recovering from serious ankle surgery, so the time table for this angle to pay off in a match would be months out.
So let’s get a bonus guess in here. What if it’s Britt Baker? Cole’s IRL girlfriend hasn’t been seen on AEW programming in a bit, and could easily be messing with MJF on Adam’s behalf, whether he knows about it or not. Britt as the Devil would certainly make the already complicated MJF-Cole relationship even more complex (and fun, really).
The entertaining choice: It’s Roderick Strong
With his seemingly eternal neck injury and ongoing guilt trip from hell toward Cole, Roderick Strong is doing some of the finest character work of his career. He’s always been a plotter, but he’s taken things up a notch to become a master manipulator who isn’t at all above trading on past friendships to get exactly what he wants.
And what he wants right now is the full attention of Cole, essentially stealing him back from MJF. Strong even recently admitted that he might have to be nice to “that scumbag,” but what if he’s already been doing his version of that?
Roddy also said on the Nov. 8 Dynamite that he was going to remind everyone who he really was. Then he didn’t appear again for the rest of the episode … unless he did as the Devil and we didn’t even know it. Strong certainly has no love for White, and it suits his purposes just fine to have people like The Acclaimed out of the way so that MJF has no one to turn to but him and The Kingdom.
He’s even doing the “doth protest too much” thing by continually accusing MJF of being the Devil, even though it’s pretty clear by now he’s not. It wouldn’t be surprising at all to see #NeckStrong evolve to an even higher level of villainy.
The internet-backed choice: It’s Jack Perry
The former Jungle Boy hasn’t been on AEW TV since the summer, when he was suspended for his role in the backstage incident at All In that ultimately cost CM Punk his job. AEW fans on social media have definitely zeroed in on the idea that being the Devil would be a surefire way for him to make an impact upon return, and there’s some definite merit to that idea.
For starters, Perry has motive. He’s had a shot at the AEW World Championship in the four-way “Pillars” match at Double or Nothing, but so far no chance to take on MJF one-on-one. Perry is also definitely a villain now, so taking another step toward the dark side would be logical.
On top of that, Perry’s weakness during his AEW career has been a perceived lack of charisma. Unmasking as the Devil could help a lot in that regard, giving crowds a chance to greet him with some instant heat. Not all internet theories are worth careful consideration, but this is one that certainly does.
The “surprise” choice: It’s Dolph Ziggler or someone else preparing to make their AEW debut
Because of the way Khan continues to bring in talent from elsewhere, the Devil mask mystery can’t be ruled out as a way to introduce someone else into the fold. A popular guess is that it’s Dolph Ziggler, who was released this year by WWE and might simply need some time before his non-compete runs out before turning up in AEW. The Devil mask subplot could buy him that time.
The first victim of the devil, White, also has his share of enemies in Bullet Club from his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as he was essentially booted from the group on his way out the door. The current leader of the faction in NJPW, David Finlay, hasn’t seem too happy about White using the Bullet Club Gold name.
It wouldn’t be inconceivable to think that Finlay has sent someone to mess with White — and then MJF as well — especially with the close working relationship between AEW and NJPW. This would run the risk of not having a huge payoff for all but the most hardcore wrestling fans, but it also wouldn’t be the first time Khan did something like that.
The point of all this speculation is that except for Danhausen, who has already pleaded innocent, just about anyone could be under the Devil mask at this point. It feels like we might get a resolution to this particular plot thread by Full Gear, but if it runs all the way to World End toward the end of 2023, that will only make the mystery that much more engrossing.
