Originally posted on ProSportsExtra.
Thanks for joining me. There’s so much more wrestling to watch than a few years ago, and I can’t possibly write about and scrutinise it all!
So, let’s be smarter with our time.
I am a huge proponent of balance. It’s all too easy to let the online world remove the grey areas and middle-grounds that offer us perspectives other than the two extremes. I wouldn’t want the internet to become a platform for me to purely rant or rave about something I loved or hated respectively. So here I am, mixing it up by appraising something I enjoyed and something I didn’t care much for this week in the wrestling world.
#GWvsBW – Good Wrestling vs Bad Wrestling.
Good Wrestling: MJF is a proper wanker!
Whenever Maxwell Jacob Friedman is in front of a camera (or on his Twitter account) he acts like he knows it all and would never consider asking anyone else for help or advice. However, he’s apparently one of the first (of only a few) to seek out veterans backstage and chill out underneath their learning tree.
He’s obviously going to learn things from an entirely different perspective this way, and this mentality will have its own rewards down the road. As well as maturing in the ring, he may also earn the respect of people he works with and in front of. I doubt it will be long before others come to him for advice, asking him to share his nuggets of wisdom.
As a performer, he knows how to rub anyone and everyone the wrong way. Additionally, he doesn’t NEED people to like him and doesn’t need to wink at the crowd to let them know he’s only joking really. He’s safe as houses in the ring and he does a great job selling for people and making them look really good. This was demonstrated in his fantastic match with Jungle Boy on a recent episode of AEW Dynamite. As well as leading Jungle Boy through an interesting, well-told fight, MJF showed how fast he CAN work, to keep up with him. MJF slowed it back down once he had control, showing the audience why you don’t need to go 9999 miles per hour for a match’s entirety.
MJF doesn’t mind sharing his spotlight.
His success has drawn attention not only to himself but also to his muscle, Wardlow. MJF’s personal bodyguard made his in-ring debut recently in a battle against Cody Rhodes. This also happened to be in AEW’s first-ever steel cage match, which is one quick way to just about guarantee your name goes in a history book or two! Even in a losing effort against the company’s top baby-face, Wardlow showcased that he isn’t just a giant slab of meat with a man-bun. No harm has come to Cody’s standing either; both he and MJF have worked very well towards the top of the card and made each other look better with each confrontation.
So, I call him a wanker, but it’s served with a sprinkle of adoration. MJF is the total bell-end that AEW needs. This is in thanks to his commitment as a full-time heel. He’s something live and online fans can band together and boo like crazy at, as a true testament to good wrestling!
Bad Wrestling: The Future of The Revival
Despite whispers on the internet regarding the status of The Revival’s WWE contracts, it seems nobody really knows whether Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson are coming, going, staying, or what. Mentioning they’re one of the best and underutilised tag-teams today seems moot at this point in time since I alone have said it 9999 times already.
As a huge fan of their in-ring work, I would like the see this pair of top guys being able to flourish and entertain as they have in the past. Staying in WWE, going to AEW or even NWA may still be problematic.
Sticking around in WWE and being professional with any and all of the daft angles
they’ve been vomited into hasn’t been working for them. I personally wouldn’t recommend it either, especially if they’re frustrated with how they’re being used and being paid top dollar isn’t essential to them. They’ve held the tag-titles in the last year, but at this point, it feels like they were just keeping them warm for someone else. I don’t recall any great feuds they’ve had with anyone…other than the Usos and their silly back-shaving/heat-gel laced ring-gear HILARITY. </sarcasm>
Assuming they’re going to get the creative control they deserve, returning to NXT may be a top option. It all just depends if Dash and Wilder want to risk remaining under the WWE umbrella in the hopes they get the chance to put on matches they used to in their old stomping grounds.
The Revival showing up in AEW or NWA.
I have nothing against the NWA, and I understand how natural a fit The Revival would seem going into the TV studio and joining the employment of Billy Corgan. My main concern here would be that the NWA roster is pretty beefy already and screentime available is limited. If they were to join some time down the road, maybe it wouldn’t be a problem. It’d just be a real shame if they got their freedom from WWE but then were restricted by so many people fighting over 60 minutes of YouTube time a week.
Although a jump to the competing AEW promotion may APPEAR to be the obvious choice, I fear there is reason to be reluctant here as well. AEW has yet to put on any kind of solid tag-team classic. They’ve had tag matches with talented guys, sure. However, The Revival’s talent would just be pointless in the current environment. I say this because the rules that define a tag-team match are often bent so far out of shape and ignored for the purpose of ten spots in twenty seconds; or in an attempt to hide the lack of knowledge/inability to build a hot tag. Most of the referees just stand there and watch gormlessly, before creaming their kegs at all the double-team high-spots, instead of telling folk to get the hell out of the ring.
On the flip-side of that, The Revival could be used very well if their introduction were the genesis of something outstanding. If AEW were to (in a kayfabe sense) re-train their officials and enforce that wrestlers stick to the strict rules of tag-team competition, a team like The Revival would wipe the floor with a locker room full of people that evidently can’t currently grasp the basic concept. Sticking the belts on them and having them work with, and polishing up younger, greener talent on the roster would work wonders. It would also give AEW a chance to have their tag division stand out amongst the rest.
I’ve made some space in my mind for a positive outcome in all this, but I’ve prepared my achy-breaky heart for this to end in tears and be another product of bad wrestling.
Digest and discuss! Feel free to do so below, and/or get in touch on Twitter @BluntDamage!
#GWvsBW
[…] I grumbled about them being in WWE, I worried when Dax and Cash signed with AEW. It would have been more a cause for celebration if […]
[…] defended FTR in the past and said they’d been misused in AEW and in WWE, but no more. Despite what they said on Jim Cornette’s podcast when they first signed to AEW, […]
[…] loved FTR in NXT and expressed my frustration at their misuse on the WWE main roster back then. The same went for FTR’s early days in AEW, […]