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The no show was always a shoot. The rest a total work. If some people think for one second that Tony Khan let MJF go wild on the mic in front of the warner executives without any form or agreement, they´re pretty naive. Now what will happen next? Hard to say. All we know is that MJF and Khan had a meeting between Double or Nothing and Dynamite and that suddenly MJF was booked for an in ring promo on Dynamite. What was said on that meeting?
Yeah, the idea that they wouldn't cut his mic right away as soon as he called someone a piece of shit is silly. They wanted to make sure that fucking mark line was said loud and clear for all.
Yeah this is either he signed a new deal and using the news about leaving in a storyline or he is leaving and decided to use this in a story to generate interest in him and the company on his way out (ala Summer Of Punk I or the Summer of AJ)
Like, there is no way someone would let him do that shit without having some kind of plan in mind.
No show and the stuff with the airline was a shoot. There is no way Tony would have been happy with MJF costing the company 10k, ruining fans experience, annoy other workers and to top it off making his friends/co workers worried to the point of a welfare check on him.
I suspect some 3rd party was able to smooth things out that night/morning. Next question is did MJF double cross Tony with the promo
Take it with a grain of salt, but Bryan and Dave alluded to the fact Bryan has a contact at one of the airlines and there was never any booked flight out of Vegas for MJF.
Also Newark is still a really odd place for him to land at, so I'm still not sure I buy the flight out of town story yet. Either way, the fan fest stuff was definitely a shoot.
Newark really isn't an odd spot to land at if you're planning to go to Long Island. A bit out of the way but possibly cheaper and easier exit. Newark is a commonly used airport in the NY/NJ area. It tends to get as much or more traffic than either JFK or Laguardia in NYC unless your destination is going back to Queens or BK. You're also not stuck in the crazy Queens traffic after getting off your plane. Many people who live in NYC itself will choose to land at Newark instead of landing at one of the NYC airports for example.
Can echo this. If given the choice of going to the sixth circle of hell (JFK), the seventh circle of hell (LGA), or New Jersey, I choose EWR. It's much faster to downtown NYC and not a god awful experience.
The cost of a flight you don't really intend to take is a drop in the bucket next to that meet and greet money, especially from Vegas to the New York metro.
obviously the promo was a work but i was more talking more of the BTS stuff like how frustrated is he, How did the meeting go etc nobody seems sure how much of a work/shoot that is
It's telling that they conveniently were able to bleep his curse when other folks have legit slipped some in there by accident before (Moxley I'm looking at you)
> The Meet & Greet no-show was not a work. There were people involved in that situation that you would absolutely not want to work, and neither would Tony Khan. There was genuine concern for MJF's safety. At one point there was discussion of having his hotel room busted into to make sure he was okay. There were wrestlers that had to stay overtime and were not happy about it.
Well that’s uncomfortable
Yup, they also have the bad luck to be the likely ones walking into an awful situation if the worst did actually happen.
My dad passed in his sleep on the last night of his business trip overseas. His coworkers had an awful fucking time in trying to 1) get into his room and 2) then finding out he died and 3) then letting the company know.
They also chose to be the ones who told my mom, and that's got to have been the hardest part.
So yeah, I don't love that part at all.
Usually this would be very true, but with the way AEW handles it’s dates, these wrestlers hardly do any travel if they’re not working outside indie dates on their nights off. Wondering if this situation enabled MJF to be able to do this because instead of being a support system they’re just “coworkers”. Which honestly, I personally wouldn’t fuck them over even then but who knows with Max
>Wondering if this situation enabled MJF to be able to do this because instead of being a support system they’re just “coworkers”.
I think the "wellness check" part of the story suggests that this isn't the case.
Someone in the post-promo thread said he basically got over with the fans because he was saying a lot of stuff they wish they could say to their boss. Basically, MJF connected with a lot of disgruntled Millennials.
I found it ironic considering MJF fucked over paying customers and almost fucked over his coworker during his biggest moment because MJF (allegedly) expected his boss to give him more money a year-and-a-half before his current contract expires. So, that comment made it sound more like an entitled Millennial stereotype getting cheered by other entitled Millennial stereotypes. Which is funny to me, because I myself am a Millennial.
As much as I like MJF, and thought his promo last week was stellar, I legitimately have thought since jump that him no h showing the meet and greet was fucking shitty to do.
Going full no contact and then just not showing up is not the way to do business.
I love that at this point it's the dirt sheets trying to save face from the fact that they've been worked over so hard.
Consider the source.
If you trick the marks who write for the dirt sheets that's apparently all it takes to have the hottest kayfabe angle in modern wrestling.
SRS said a) they don’t know the details and b) missing the M&G wasn’t a work. So why are y’all assuming it was him being an asshole instead of a mental health issue or another emergency until we know more? Dealing with stress and anxiety is serious shit, not “drama”.
Especially when MJF is super open about having ADHD and how much trouble it causes him. Like. Can we not just give the dude some grace here? Cut him a bit of slack? Not dig into his personal life like we need to find the One Perfect Excuse for why he missed a single meet-n-greet?
as an ADHD-addled wreck myself, my feelings on this one are complicated. the problem is that once your shit starts affecting other people negatively, you really do need to take ownership of it and responsibility for it. you don't have to make promises you can't keep, you don't even necessarily have to go out of your way to make amends, but you can't just brush it off. trying to keep up a veil of mystery around something that legitimately hurt people is something that invites scrutiny and criticism, and deservedly so.
the more comes out about the elements of this that were completely serious, the more this feels like an extremely ADHD series of events, is all i'll say on that front. the stakes have never been quite so high for me, but the procession of events is deeply familiar.
Agreed (and in the same boat). At the same time, I also think of Michael O'Hare; the actor that initially helmed *Babylon 5.* He left unexpectedly after the first season; albeit on amicable terms (and making several guest appearances in later seasons).
Some years after O'Hare's passing, it was revealed that he had been suffering from paranoia and delusions; and had left the show to seek treatment. He was well-loved by the production team, and they went to great lengths to ensure that his dignity and reputation were protected.
It is, of course, pure speculation here; but I have to wonder if a crisis occurred that lead to MJF missing the meet 'n' greet; and that the reason we aren't getting the full story is because Tony Khan et al. are following suit and trying to protect MJF here.
(Of course, professional wrestling is a unique beast in that you can do so by leaning into aspects of the original story and blurring fact and fiction; to the point where even if the truth were to out, half of wrestling fans would be disinclined to believe it.)
I don't know if I believe the stories the dirt sheets are saying... The people they are reporting on know exactly what to say to get the dirt sheets to buy into the rumours. It wouldn't shock me if TK is telling SRS's contacts to say those things.
The problem is one of Fightful's employees is legit family with an AEW wrestler. That would be a dangerous game TK would play knowing how bad it could blow up in his face
People kept saying “they got their money back” or “they got to meet other wrestlers” as if that makes this an acceptable practice in the first place.
It’s one thing to miss a chance to meet Sting because he’s hurt and can’t travel. It’s another thing to miss a chance to meet MJF because he can’t be bothered to show up, or because he’s trying to sell a fake wrestling angle (I’m not saying either of those are what happened, just speaking hypothetically).
There’s no way the meet and greet was a worked absence because it’s bad business, plain and simple. Not to mention it’s a bad move as an employer to create extra work for the wrestlers like that. If you take people’s money for something, you need to have a very valid reason not to deliver on it.
I also said there’s probably people who ONLY went to the meet and greet to see him, meaning a refund still means they wasted their time and money for travel and all that.
There might have been people that only showed up at the Fan Fest for the meet and greet to see him, although I highly doubt they traveled to Vegas only for the meet & greet. I'm guessing 100% of the people at Fan Fest who traveled in also saw either Dynamite, Rampage, or Double or Nothing.
What they probably should also do is refund the Fan Fest ticket cost for anyone who got their MJF meet & greet cancelled if they asked for it.
If you say this, then you cant be mad about kayfabe being dead tho. This is one of the few aspects of kayfabe, that hasnt died in the modern times of the information era
I often think of that Jim Carrey/Andy Kauffman documentary from my perspective as someone who works 12-14 hours, 6 days a week on film crews. The guy’s a great actor but can’t just get into character like anyone else?
I know wrestling is different and the line blurring is the last bit of kayfabe that we can enjoy but I always imagine the amount of eye rolling involved with the non-performing staff.
If this angle (for kinda lack of a better term at this point) turns out to be as great as the promo on Wednesday promised then many will feel like the ends will have justified the means but if this reporting is true and it was for the purpose of working everyone, I really don’t like that MJF did that. That kind of carny nonsense has no place in the business is 2022 (not that it ever really did; health and safety concerns are nothing to mess around with)
There’s a great story of him charging $1 more than Sting (I think) at an event where Sting otherwise was the highest priced ticket. Just so he could say he was the most expensive.
There are actors who make a lot more. Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead was making $200k-$300k for a weekend of signings at conventions. Some of the original Avengers have done a couple and made like $500k for 2 days of signing and pictures.
I give a lot of credit to Toni Storm for showing the most on her OF (specifically, bare ass) while other wrestlers are half the in-ring worker she is and show significantly less
What's uncomfortable about it? This is the scenario:
* MJF isn't at the meet and greet that people paid a lot of money to see
* MJF isn't answering his phone
* People don't know where MJF is
* It's Saturday morning in Vegas
It's not a huge stretch of the imagination that MJF is passed-out or worse in his hotel room. If you can't establish that people saw him that morning, a wellness check is absolutely warranted in this scenario. Not for getting him to make his date, but to make sure he's okay.
They didn't ultimately do it, so they must've gotten reports that he was seen that day in Vegas. But it's a valid concern.
If he isn't showing up and he isn't answering his phone, it's not unreasonable to do a wellness check. It was Saturday morning in Vegas, for all anyone knows he could've overdosed the night before.
This type of behavior is pretty commonplace in the entertainment industey as a whole. Reminds me of rappers no showing concerts and how some would use it as a way to boost a villainous character like MF DOOM (rip)
I remember buying tickets to see the DOOM and Mos Def tour back in 2008 or 2009 and being so fucking scared that he'd send one of his DOOMposters to perform instead. Concert tickets are not cheap and I'd be pissed if that happened. The show ended up getting canceled twice before we were all given refunds. Still bummed I never got to see him perform. RIP.
Exactly. Regardless of what is or isn't shoot or work, it seems like, on some level, Max has been going through something very real.
In my own experience with ADHD, Bad Brain likes to double up on the damage caused by incidents of difficulty or breakdowns by attaching a deep, crippling shame to them. If Max's manifests similarly, I could see translating things into Work as a pressure release or excuse to allow him to make his way back towards a better place.
I commented on Sunday morning before DoN that if MJF was doing all that on his own just to try and work everyone, that even if such was unprofessional, I felt bad for him. As a fellow neurodivergent going through a daily struggle of dealing with a short-sighted decision I made in my personal life, I felt/feel (again, we don’t know what exactly happened yet) like I could relate to both what he may have done as well as the regret that he’s likely to have if such was the case. If his peers and such were/are that upset with him, it’ll be a hard thing to reconcile no matter how well this angle may turn out from a creative standpoint
EDIT: I wanna acknowledge that there is certainly some projecting happening on my part because of my own personal struggles, but I do feel like I can relate to MJF in both desirable and undesirable ways when it comes to the way his situation seems to be
Big solidarity- it’s rough stuff and almost impossible to really communicate to people who don’t live with it. There definitely is some element of projection from me too, but it comes from reading Cassidy Haynes’ report and recognizing in it a pattern of behavior and emotional difficulties that I can feel *viscerally*.
Honestly.... I don't trust the dirt sheets on this. I don't trust them at all. All the individuals involved know how the dirt sheets work, they know what to say and to who to get rumours flying and to get people talking about backstage drama. I think that AEW execs are currently playing SRS like a fiddle. Slowly leaking more and more rumours to keep the intrigue in the storyline as high as possible and keep it all as believable as possible.
There were no name accounts spreading that it was a mental health issue on the day it happened and we also know that MJF suffers from anxiety issues, so this combined with that opens up a really uncomfortable angle to the whole thing
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he had an unrelated good reason.
But yeah not worth it if it's just an angle and unprofessional either way
Yeah really not a good look if he was just looking to independently work everyone the whole time. You wouldn’t want to alienate your peers like that when you have so much career ahead of you.
And after winning MitB, he cashes it in to challenge the G1 winner for the right to challenge the Impact World Champion on ROH Final Battle held in Tokyo Dome.
>MJF is going to show up and win MitB.
Even better idea, the Rumble.
Cody returns at the Rumble as entrant number 29 and eliminates the last 2 people in the ring, only for MJF to come out at number 30. Imagine the heat lol
Yeah if that were true last week's promo wouldn't have happened. And MJF won't be on AEW tv again before his contract expires. You don't go into business for yourself, whether it's just impacting one opponent or the entire company like this would be.
That's what is confusing for me. A work is cooperation. If Tony doesn't know then wtf is he doing? Just trying to pop ratings until another big PPV blowup happens?
What's more believeable? That Tony does know and is lying to SRS and SRS is simping and reporting exactly what Tony is telling him to?
Or SRS is right, Tony doesn't know what is going on but he keeps booking the guy and just hoping for the best.
Answer: SRS is under the tent, simping TK and lying to us.
There are a lot of assumptions in this comment. SRS gains nothing and risks everything by lying. It's *highly* more likely that he would be fed bad information than outright lie.
This’ll make it interesting to see what happens going forward. It seems like it’s still a fluid situation, and if MJF was really trying to work everyone on his own, you can’t help but feel like the reception he got for his promo on Wednesday may make him decide to do some other things that’ll make headlines and further muddy the waters when it comes to determining how much of a work this is.
Whatever the case, I just hope we get more TV like we got last week
>Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam is working on a report (might come out this week) about something very interesting that happened with Tony Khan on the night of the PPV.
This seems like it'll be something bigger, if it even comes out. Who the hell knows.
There is a tremendous level of back channel communication with all sorts of ideas and thoughts no one has released.
The reality is, no one wants to stick their neck out on this, and I respect SRS for saying what he's said.
The only time I've thought it wasn't a 100% work was seeing Tony's reaction on the post-PPV show when Punk mentions MJF. Tony's face runs through a variety of emotions that would be hard for him to fake. Will be interesting to hear what happened that night
This reporting doesn't clarify anything. It just makes this whole thing more confusing. And half of these bullet points seem to be defensive on the part of Fightful.
Same. I'm ready to just see how everything plays out but the rumor sites are going to keep pushing out stories until something else becomes a bigger story.
One thing is for sure and that is that this whole thing highlights how bad the wrestling media is. They're either intentionally being fed storyline-based info that they aren't hesitating to report as fact, or they are having a terrible time trying to get to the real story, or probably both.
Personally, I think this is a work that Max shot into existence. He honestly hasnt been happy with his pay compared to WWE guys. So he no shows a meet/greet. He books a flight he doesnt plan on taking. Stresses everyone - including AEW management. Then, after he's done damage, he says to Khan - look at all this press and hype. We can turn this into an angle everyone is paying attention to. Punk 2.0. Then he gets his pipe bomb on Wed - which HAD to be approved to go on for so long. Started as a shoot and then talked Tony into capitalizing upon it with a work. And now it's 100% work
My gut feeling is they gave him that huge kayfabe injury vs Wardlow so that he could take a break from TV if he needed one, since it seems like he's been burnt out/unhappy for awhile.
But then they worked it out, and now they've decided to run with it, hence the promo on Wednesday.
Right! For this to be even remotely true, it would mean that Tony Khan put a hot mic in MJFs hand, on live tv WITH BRAND NEW NETWORK EXECS, having just stood him up to the point where TK should have a legitimate fear of MJF going off like a loose canon about any subject he wanted. That he risked letting Max destroy the entire new deal..... to see what he would say, on the chance that it would be compelling?
I don’t buy it for a second.
It certainly feels like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.
But it'll be a hoot if MJF has actually bounced and everyone "knew" it was a work, when it wasn't.
I sincerely appreciate the first bullet in the OP's post, and it cannot be overstated enough - if you're not MJF or TK then let's agree you don't know the whole story.
It's been funny seeing people insist it "must" be this or that.
Now of course SRS and fightful can't admit they were worked and are so insecure that SRS had to add in that "what emerges will likely add credibility to fightfuls reports on the situation" which basically translates to there is no information right now that adds credibility to my and my companies reports on the situation, but the information that doesnt exist yet but may exist in the future will likely add credibility to my and my workplaces reports on the situation. Very cool, not defensive at all.
>He claims that a person very close to MJF though/knew it was a work but would not elaborate on it. On Friday they called SRS asking for information, claiming that what they originally knew was wrong and their belief that everything had been a work had evaporated. "I don't want [MJF] to have nuclear heat when and if he comes back"
Yeah if this person is very close with MJF they probably let MJF know they contacted to say this was a work because they were worried people were unfairly blaming MJF or they saw the hate MJF was getting, and MJF probably asked this close person to contact SRS again and tell them that their belief that this was a work has evaporated. Of course i dont know this is true but SRS doesn't know any of the shit this person said was true either but Im not a journalist, and he didn't consider he might be getting worked by people in the business of working the audience. Why would MJF's close friend contact SRS to tell him it wasn't a work if MJF wasn't involved? If thats true then this dude is snitching on MJF who they are apparently so close to.
I honestly don't trust anything SRS says regarding MJF. Even this write up seems like CYA.
>The Meet & Greet no-show was not a work. There were people involved in that situation that you would absolutely not want to work, and neither would Tony Khan. There was genuine concern for MJF's safety. At one point there was discussion of having his hotel room busted into to make sure he was okay. There were wrestlers that had to stay overtime and were not happy about it.
~~I believe he missed the M&G but who could he possibly have pissed off that he needs to fear for his safety.~~
EDIT: appears I misread. Still SRS reporting seems fishy.
>Anybody who claims they know 100% about what is going on or what did go on that isn't MJF or Tony Khan is not being truthful. SRS also says that Khan himself might not even be 100% sure.
I do not for a second believe TK doesn't know what's going on. There is no universe in which MJF is allowed to go out on National TV with a live mic like that if TK had any doubts he might actually shoot his mouth off.
> I believe he missed the M&G but who could he possibly have pissed off that he needs to fear for his safety.
I think people were concerned for MJF's safety **because** he no-showed the meet and greet and I think there were also reports that no one could get in contact with him via phone or txt.
>I believe he missed the M&G but who could he possibly have pissed off that he needs to fear for his safety.
...do you think they're implying that he was at risk of bodily harm from somebody angry he missed the meet & greet?
This honestly to me is not interesting at all. MJF is super talented, but I sort of feel like what Laurence Olivier supposedly said to Dustin Hoffman about his method: “my dear boy, why don’t you just try acting?”
Wrestling is only really interesting to me anymore when there's a bit of weird backstage "what the fuck is going on" type stuff happening, so this is all great to me.
Oh, and bridging German suplexes. Those are also great
Exactly.
It's fun to not know that the fuck is going on and to be unsure of what's being presented to you.
All of these Smarks and insiders living and dying on knowing every little thing and all of what's up backstage is just lame and ruining modern wrestling.
They're so mad that MJF is calling them out that they've overlooked how awesome it is to be back to uncertainty again.
MJF is a fucking genius and all these roobs care about is whether their insider info panned out. Fuck that.
Fire me you fucking smarks.
Pretty clearly speculation on SRS's part and pushing a narrative that no one knows what's going on makes SRS not look as bad for being worked all DoN weekend.
This right here. Dude was blowing up another thread a few days ago arguing with anyone who said he got worked. I got two separate replies from him on one comment.
It’s…..it’s okay to just admit you don’t know. Like speculating is fun but it gets weird when *everyone* starts sounding like Meltzer with the 85 levels of hedging and qualifying.
"The Meet & Greet no-show was not a work. There were people involvedin that situation that you would absolutely not want to work, andneither would Tony Khan. There was genuine concern for MJF's safety. Atone point there was discussion of having his hotel room busted into tomake sure he was okay."
When I worked at a student dorm I had to break into people's rooms to check up on them a few times. It was not an ideal situation to say the least. Even situations where it was a possibility it was Not Great. Here's hoping that he skipped the event for benign reasons or out of unprofessionalism instead of a mental health crisis or things being drug related (working at a student dorm was a wild ride) .
Idk if it’s because I’m older, but I definitely believe this is a worked shoot. No way mjf is allowed all that mic time if he was legit on his way out
I think the no show was real, and they talked it out into a work after the ppv. They’re just doing the cm punk pipebomb but better in the sense of making it look like hes really being shunned but wont bring him back just 8 days later like WWE did with punk
I've seen people bring up Pillman, but that just doesn't make sense.
Pillman was already in his mid-30s. It was his last chance to be relevant. And mid-30s in the '90s would be like mid-60s now.
And....has anyone ever fucking proved the Pillman stuff drew money? Didn't in WCW. ECW wasn't drawing money at all. Pillman may have gotten a bigger role in WWF, but we'll never really know. He was feuding with Goldust when he died, if that gives you any indication of his spot on the card.
*Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam is working on a report (might come out this week) about something very interesting that happened with Tony Khan on the night of the PPV*
**Cocaine**
It's very obvious by now that MJF became very unhappy with his pay and what he saw as disrespect with so many new faces arriving on bigger money but not outperforming him... And I'm totally with him on that. And all the talk of waiting for his deal to expire was genuine, and likely done in order to get TK to take notice and offer an improved deal.
But after the no-show - they clearly had a discussion and came to an agreement of some sort... Likely more money, and probably came with an extension.
Then they just ran with it - and the promo was - heartfelt and based in reality - but completely discussed and agreed with TK.
This was never a work from the very beginning - but become one after the no-show.
Anybody who claims they know 100% about what is going on or what did go on that isn't MJF or Tony Khan is not being truthful. SRS also says that Khan himself might not even be 100% sure.
then goes on
SRS claims that an awful lot of information will emerge. What emerges will likely add credibility to Fightful's reports on the situation.
this whole update read like srs fluffing himself
Have said this before, but this has to be a work. MJF, in my opinion has signed a new deal and he and Tony are orchestrating a grand storyline. Otherwise, all Tony is doing by building up MJF is drafting his WWE cover letter, resume, and income request. Tony is not dumb. If he's signed already I don't care what he says on TV so long as its agreed upon and a plan in place. But if somehow, someway this is being done without a new deal in place, Tony is literally acting as MJF's agent for WWE contract negotiations. Just look where Cody is in WWE right now, and where he'll likely be when he comes back. So it's a work. Has to be.
I think.
This guy Sean Ross Sapp SWEARS he wasn’t full of shit; Cassidy Haynes is gonna maybe come out with something this week maybe that’s gonna *blow the roof off this thing*, even Tony Kahn is getting worked here guys, it’s not just him. Someone close to the situation even reached out to him for info, that’s how close they are to the situation. Proof to come later
Despite all this he did a squash match where wardlow power bombed him ten times, he came out on tv the next taping and talked for 8 minutes, and he is under contract through 2024. This isn’t Vince kicking Sasha and Naomi out.
This is a work. Contractually speaking MJF has no leverage. At worst it’s him being a shitty person for putting the rest of the roster in that position. But I guess we’ll find out more as the week develops.
I saw MJF walking around Mandalay Bay with security about 2 hours before this all broke out, totally surrounded by the regular AEW security guys.
Saw Wardlow around the time everything broke out, made a lil joke about hoping his opponent would be there. He rolled his eyes and said he’d drag his ass out.
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So basically fairly confident the no show meet n greet wasn't a work but everything else nobody can say with certainty what else was/wasn't a work
The no show was always a shoot. The rest a total work. If some people think for one second that Tony Khan let MJF go wild on the mic in front of the warner executives without any form or agreement, they´re pretty naive. Now what will happen next? Hard to say. All we know is that MJF and Khan had a meeting between Double or Nothing and Dynamite and that suddenly MJF was booked for an in ring promo on Dynamite. What was said on that meeting?
Yeah, the idea that they wouldn't cut his mic right away as soon as he called someone a piece of shit is silly. They wanted to make sure that fucking mark line was said loud and clear for all.
Someone's called a piece of shit most episodes.
Yeah this is either he signed a new deal and using the news about leaving in a storyline or he is leaving and decided to use this in a story to generate interest in him and the company on his way out (ala Summer Of Punk I or the Summer of AJ) Like, there is no way someone would let him do that shit without having some kind of plan in mind.
No show and the stuff with the airline was a shoot. There is no way Tony would have been happy with MJF costing the company 10k, ruining fans experience, annoy other workers and to top it off making his friends/co workers worried to the point of a welfare check on him. I suspect some 3rd party was able to smooth things out that night/morning. Next question is did MJF double cross Tony with the promo
Take it with a grain of salt, but Bryan and Dave alluded to the fact Bryan has a contact at one of the airlines and there was never any booked flight out of Vegas for MJF. Also Newark is still a really odd place for him to land at, so I'm still not sure I buy the flight out of town story yet. Either way, the fan fest stuff was definitely a shoot.
Newark really isn't an odd spot to land at if you're planning to go to Long Island. A bit out of the way but possibly cheaper and easier exit. Newark is a commonly used airport in the NY/NJ area. It tends to get as much or more traffic than either JFK or Laguardia in NYC unless your destination is going back to Queens or BK. You're also not stuck in the crazy Queens traffic after getting off your plane. Many people who live in NYC itself will choose to land at Newark instead of landing at one of the NYC airports for example.
Can echo this. If given the choice of going to the sixth circle of hell (JFK), the seventh circle of hell (LGA), or New Jersey, I choose EWR. It's much faster to downtown NYC and not a god awful experience.
Laguardia is a terrible airport and made worse by the traffic.
The cost of a flight you don't really intend to take is a drop in the bucket next to that meet and greet money, especially from Vegas to the New York metro.
$10k is ashtray money to TK. This angle easily generated $10k worth of buzz.
obviously the promo was a work but i was more talking more of the BTS stuff like how frustrated is he, How did the meeting go etc nobody seems sure how much of a work/shoot that is
AEW is a produced, scripted and rehearsed TV show. There is no way MJF would ever be given 10 minutes of TV time if any of this was real.
It's telling that they conveniently were able to bleep his curse when other folks have legit slipped some in there by accident before (Moxley I'm looking at you)
The tape delay likely picked up on that anyways, it doesn’t always but that’s literally what it’s there for.
theres a non-zero chance MJF went over the line with the worked shoot. the chance is closer to zero but its not zero.
The timing they cut his mic is too perfect to be a shoot.
> The Meet & Greet no-show was not a work. There were people involved in that situation that you would absolutely not want to work, and neither would Tony Khan. There was genuine concern for MJF's safety. At one point there was discussion of having his hotel room busted into to make sure he was okay. There were wrestlers that had to stay overtime and were not happy about it. Well that’s uncomfortable
Seriously. I dont care what kind of work shoot 4d chest you want to play. Dont make people get to the point of a wellness check on your hotel room.
Also: Don't fuck over your coworkers and drag them into your drama.
They’re literally your main support system while you’re traveling. The last people you want to put in that position.
Yup, they also have the bad luck to be the likely ones walking into an awful situation if the worst did actually happen. My dad passed in his sleep on the last night of his business trip overseas. His coworkers had an awful fucking time in trying to 1) get into his room and 2) then finding out he died and 3) then letting the company know. They also chose to be the ones who told my mom, and that's got to have been the hardest part. So yeah, I don't love that part at all.
Usually this would be very true, but with the way AEW handles it’s dates, these wrestlers hardly do any travel if they’re not working outside indie dates on their nights off. Wondering if this situation enabled MJF to be able to do this because instead of being a support system they’re just “coworkers”. Which honestly, I personally wouldn’t fuck them over even then but who knows with Max
>Wondering if this situation enabled MJF to be able to do this because instead of being a support system they’re just “coworkers”. I think the "wellness check" part of the story suggests that this isn't the case.
The guy called out the fans for calling him an unprofessional piece of shit over the weekend, but... were those people wrong?
And people somehow think he was a babyface, lol.
Someone in the post-promo thread said he basically got over with the fans because he was saying a lot of stuff they wish they could say to their boss. Basically, MJF connected with a lot of disgruntled Millennials. I found it ironic considering MJF fucked over paying customers and almost fucked over his coworker during his biggest moment because MJF (allegedly) expected his boss to give him more money a year-and-a-half before his current contract expires. So, that comment made it sound more like an entitled Millennial stereotype getting cheered by other entitled Millennial stereotypes. Which is funny to me, because I myself am a Millennial.
Nah never going to cheer for the billionaire over the talent.
He's posting on scjerk.
I love how we’re taking this all as absolute fact when the bullet point right before that says no one knows what is 100% going on lmao
It’s wild to see how fast groupthink flipped to him being an asshole when literally nothing but the ticket sales numbers is new information.
As much as I like MJF, and thought his promo last week was stellar, I legitimately have thought since jump that him no h showing the meet and greet was fucking shitty to do. Going full no contact and then just not showing up is not the way to do business.
I love that at this point it's the dirt sheets trying to save face from the fact that they've been worked over so hard. Consider the source. If you trick the marks who write for the dirt sheets that's apparently all it takes to have the hottest kayfabe angle in modern wrestling.
SRS said a) they don’t know the details and b) missing the M&G wasn’t a work. So why are y’all assuming it was him being an asshole instead of a mental health issue or another emergency until we know more? Dealing with stress and anxiety is serious shit, not “drama”.
Because everyone supports people with mental health issues until they're inconvenienced by them.
Fucking nailed it.
Especially when MJF is super open about having ADHD and how much trouble it causes him. Like. Can we not just give the dude some grace here? Cut him a bit of slack? Not dig into his personal life like we need to find the One Perfect Excuse for why he missed a single meet-n-greet?
as an ADHD-addled wreck myself, my feelings on this one are complicated. the problem is that once your shit starts affecting other people negatively, you really do need to take ownership of it and responsibility for it. you don't have to make promises you can't keep, you don't even necessarily have to go out of your way to make amends, but you can't just brush it off. trying to keep up a veil of mystery around something that legitimately hurt people is something that invites scrutiny and criticism, and deservedly so. the more comes out about the elements of this that were completely serious, the more this feels like an extremely ADHD series of events, is all i'll say on that front. the stakes have never been quite so high for me, but the procession of events is deeply familiar.
Agreed (and in the same boat). At the same time, I also think of Michael O'Hare; the actor that initially helmed *Babylon 5.* He left unexpectedly after the first season; albeit on amicable terms (and making several guest appearances in later seasons). Some years after O'Hare's passing, it was revealed that he had been suffering from paranoia and delusions; and had left the show to seek treatment. He was well-loved by the production team, and they went to great lengths to ensure that his dignity and reputation were protected. It is, of course, pure speculation here; but I have to wonder if a crisis occurred that lead to MJF missing the meet 'n' greet; and that the reason we aren't getting the full story is because Tony Khan et al. are following suit and trying to protect MJF here. (Of course, professional wrestling is a unique beast in that you can do so by leaning into aspects of the original story and blurring fact and fiction; to the point where even if the truth were to out, half of wrestling fans would be disinclined to believe it.)
If I had coins I’d star this comment. It’s so frustrating to see people jump to the worst conclusions when we know nothing about what was going on.
I don't know if I believe the stories the dirt sheets are saying... The people they are reporting on know exactly what to say to get the dirt sheets to buy into the rumours. It wouldn't shock me if TK is telling SRS's contacts to say those things.
The problem is one of Fightful's employees is legit family with an AEW wrestler. That would be a dangerous game TK would play knowing how bad it could blow up in his face
Especially in an industry where there is probably a few of your co workers that have found their friends dead in hotel rooms
Thankfully this is way less common than it was 20 years ago, but you’re still right.
That's why people saying it was always a work grosses me out. They wouldn't do that to the fans that paid to meet MJF
People kept saying “they got their money back” or “they got to meet other wrestlers” as if that makes this an acceptable practice in the first place. It’s one thing to miss a chance to meet Sting because he’s hurt and can’t travel. It’s another thing to miss a chance to meet MJF because he can’t be bothered to show up, or because he’s trying to sell a fake wrestling angle (I’m not saying either of those are what happened, just speaking hypothetically). There’s no way the meet and greet was a worked absence because it’s bad business, plain and simple. Not to mention it’s a bad move as an employer to create extra work for the wrestlers like that. If you take people’s money for something, you need to have a very valid reason not to deliver on it.
I also said there’s probably people who ONLY went to the meet and greet to see him, meaning a refund still means they wasted their time and money for travel and all that.
There might have been people that only showed up at the Fan Fest for the meet and greet to see him, although I highly doubt they traveled to Vegas only for the meet & greet. I'm guessing 100% of the people at Fan Fest who traveled in also saw either Dynamite, Rampage, or Double or Nothing. What they probably should also do is refund the Fan Fest ticket cost for anyone who got their MJF meet & greet cancelled if they asked for it.
People live in their own fantasy world, it's hilarious to see.
If you say this, then you cant be mad about kayfabe being dead tho. This is one of the few aspects of kayfabe, that hasnt died in the modern times of the information era
I often think of that Jim Carrey/Andy Kauffman documentary from my perspective as someone who works 12-14 hours, 6 days a week on film crews. The guy’s a great actor but can’t just get into character like anyone else? I know wrestling is different and the line blurring is the last bit of kayfabe that we can enjoy but I always imagine the amount of eye rolling involved with the non-performing staff.
If this angle (for kinda lack of a better term at this point) turns out to be as great as the promo on Wednesday promised then many will feel like the ends will have justified the means but if this reporting is true and it was for the purpose of working everyone, I really don’t like that MJF did that. That kind of carny nonsense has no place in the business is 2022 (not that it ever really did; health and safety concerns are nothing to mess around with)
TK sent him out there to do that. If this ends in anything other than a huge MJF angle AEW looks incredibly Bush league here.
I'm just here having my mind blown that you can make $10k from one single meet and greet of one single wrestler. Not bad.
100 people at $100/ticket. That's super easy
Barely an inconvenience.
Making money at meet & greets is TIGHT
“Wait who’s Mark?” “Pass.” “Alrighty then.”
Listen I'm going to need you to get ALLLLLL the way off my back about if this is a work or not
Oh OK let me get off that thing.
Wow. Wow wow wow.
Different strokes for different folks, but I can't imagine dropping $100 for that kind of thing.
And hes been known to purposely charge as much as the biggest names there just becauase he can.
There’s a great story of him charging $1 more than Sting (I think) at an event where Sting otherwise was the highest priced ticket. Just so he could say he was the most expensive.
Because he’s better than them and they know it
I think MJF's meet and greet vouchers were 100 a pop so 10k does not sound so crazy when you factor that in.
There are actors who make a lot more. Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead was making $200k-$300k for a weekend of signings at conventions. Some of the original Avengers have done a couple and made like $500k for 2 days of signing and pictures.
I mean didn't Tony Storm get 10k the first hour of her OF going live?
That was Tony Khan’s OF actually
…………link?
I give a lot of credit to Toni Storm for showing the most on her OF (specifically, bare ass) while other wrestlers are half the in-ring worker she is and show significantly less
Ill never understand people payin for non nude OF content, its just Instagram PLUS at that point.
What's uncomfortable about it? This is the scenario: * MJF isn't at the meet and greet that people paid a lot of money to see * MJF isn't answering his phone * People don't know where MJF is * It's Saturday morning in Vegas It's not a huge stretch of the imagination that MJF is passed-out or worse in his hotel room. If you can't establish that people saw him that morning, a wellness check is absolutely warranted in this scenario. Not for getting him to make his date, but to make sure he's okay. They didn't ultimately do it, so they must've gotten reports that he was seen that day in Vegas. But it's a valid concern.
The fact they immediately went to a Wellness check tells me there's more to this then we all think.
If he isn't showing up and he isn't answering his phone, it's not unreasonable to do a wellness check. It was Saturday morning in Vegas, for all anyone knows he could've overdosed the night before.
I'm just happy I still have my cell phone and wallet after a night in Vegas.
This type of behavior is pretty commonplace in the entertainment industey as a whole. Reminds me of rappers no showing concerts and how some would use it as a way to boost a villainous character like MF DOOM (rip)
Well, that's pretty different considering DOOM would send imposters in masks and just not say anything
Wait, I never knew this. That's hilarious because it's something Dr. Doom would do in the comics. Also not hilarious because this is real life.
I remember buying tickets to see the DOOM and Mos Def tour back in 2008 or 2009 and being so fucking scared that he'd send one of his DOOMposters to perform instead. Concert tickets are not cheap and I'd be pissed if that happened. The show ended up getting canceled twice before we were all given refunds. Still bummed I never got to see him perform. RIP.
Man, I don't care about him missing the meet-n-greet, I just hope Max is okay, and it kind of sounds like he really wasn't for a bit there.
Exactly. Regardless of what is or isn't shoot or work, it seems like, on some level, Max has been going through something very real. In my own experience with ADHD, Bad Brain likes to double up on the damage caused by incidents of difficulty or breakdowns by attaching a deep, crippling shame to them. If Max's manifests similarly, I could see translating things into Work as a pressure release or excuse to allow him to make his way back towards a better place.
I commented on Sunday morning before DoN that if MJF was doing all that on his own just to try and work everyone, that even if such was unprofessional, I felt bad for him. As a fellow neurodivergent going through a daily struggle of dealing with a short-sighted decision I made in my personal life, I felt/feel (again, we don’t know what exactly happened yet) like I could relate to both what he may have done as well as the regret that he’s likely to have if such was the case. If his peers and such were/are that upset with him, it’ll be a hard thing to reconcile no matter how well this angle may turn out from a creative standpoint EDIT: I wanna acknowledge that there is certainly some projecting happening on my part because of my own personal struggles, but I do feel like I can relate to MJF in both desirable and undesirable ways when it comes to the way his situation seems to be
Big solidarity- it’s rough stuff and almost impossible to really communicate to people who don’t live with it. There definitely is some element of projection from me too, but it comes from reading Cassidy Haynes’ report and recognizing in it a pattern of behavior and emotional difficulties that I can feel *viscerally*.
Honestly.... I don't trust the dirt sheets on this. I don't trust them at all. All the individuals involved know how the dirt sheets work, they know what to say and to who to get rumours flying and to get people talking about backstage drama. I think that AEW execs are currently playing SRS like a fiddle. Slowly leaking more and more rumours to keep the intrigue in the storyline as high as possible and keep it all as believable as possible.
knowing the amount of ticket sales refunded is the fishy part for me
There were no name accounts spreading that it was a mental health issue on the day it happened and we also know that MJF suffers from anxiety issues, so this combined with that opens up a really uncomfortable angle to the whole thing
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he had an unrelated good reason. But yeah not worth it if it's just an angle and unprofessional either way
Yeah really not a good look if he was just looking to independently work everyone the whole time. You wouldn’t want to alienate your peers like that when you have so much career ahead of you.
This is just a hilarious at this point. We are in shoot work inception. MJF is going to show up and win MitB.
And after winning MitB, he cashes it in to challenge the G1 winner for the right to challenge the Impact World Champion on ROH Final Battle held in Tokyo Dome.
Loser of said match has to spend a full year being personal young boy for Maki Ito.
I volunteer as loser
At this point nothing is going to surprise me except him showing up in WWE.
>MJF is going to show up and win MitB. Even better idea, the Rumble. Cody returns at the Rumble as entrant number 29 and eliminates the last 2 people in the ring, only for MJF to come out at number 30. Imagine the heat lol
Not saying I’d want that to happen but I’d like to be able to take a peek into that hypothetical universe and see what it’d be like
A duck won the presidency in that one, but it's not that bad actually. He cut down the amount of sugar in bread.
Did he also go to a lemonade stand and ask for grapes?
Then he waddled away
^^^Waddle ^^^Waddle
DEEP CUT
By executive order all lemonade stands must serve grapes thanks to President Quacksly
MJF wins MitB and somehow still shows on dynamite after
After news of Cody injury I wouldn't have been surprised had MJF had taken Cody place against Seth.
>SRS also says that Khan himself might not even be 100% sure. aww fuck
Tony "Eric Bishoff" Khan vs. Maxwell "Brian Pillman" Jacob Friedman
i *need* Excalibur to read this at his usual 1.5x speed
"I respect you Khan man"
Tony Khan: Wait, does MJF still work for me?
He's gonna show up in GCW, call all the fans smart marks, then try and piss in the ring
Yeah if that were true last week's promo wouldn't have happened. And MJF won't be on AEW tv again before his contract expires. You don't go into business for yourself, whether it's just impacting one opponent or the entire company like this would be.
The jabroni mark worked himself into a shoot, much love - HH
>SRS also says that Khan himself might not even be 100% sure. Okay, let's be clear. If only one person is working that is *NOT* a work.
Tell that to my coworkers!
Skete Dunne has a point.
oh god your username lmao
That's what is confusing for me. A work is cooperation. If Tony doesn't know then wtf is he doing? Just trying to pop ratings until another big PPV blowup happens?
What's more believeable? That Tony does know and is lying to SRS and SRS is simping and reporting exactly what Tony is telling him to? Or SRS is right, Tony doesn't know what is going on but he keeps booking the guy and just hoping for the best. Answer: SRS is under the tent, simping TK and lying to us.
There are a lot of assumptions in this comment. SRS gains nothing and risks everything by lying. It's *highly* more likely that he would be fed bad information than outright lie.
Yeah. Why would Tony Khan tell SRS to lie when he could just lie to SRS himself?
I'm sure there is some real life drama going on but I lost any doubt this stuff isn't a work when they gave him a segment on Dynamite
This’ll make it interesting to see what happens going forward. It seems like it’s still a fluid situation, and if MJF was really trying to work everyone on his own, you can’t help but feel like the reception he got for his promo on Wednesday may make him decide to do some other things that’ll make headlines and further muddy the waters when it comes to determining how much of a work this is. Whatever the case, I just hope we get more TV like we got last week
I wonder what happened to Tony during the ppv? That sounds ominous.
Too much White Claw
He was acting very strange and riled up on the media scrum
He’s always some degree of weird but he did seem to be swearing and sweating a bit more than usual
That's fucking buuuull shit
"He is flying high... and I don't think it's coke. I know my cokeheads. He is flying high on something." -- The Great Brian Last
>Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam is working on a report (might come out this week) about something very interesting that happened with Tony Khan on the night of the PPV. This seems like it'll be something bigger, if it even comes out. Who the hell knows.
There is a tremendous level of back channel communication with all sorts of ideas and thoughts no one has released. The reality is, no one wants to stick their neck out on this, and I respect SRS for saying what he's said.
I get the feeling someone's gonna try and lance the abscess, so to speak.
The only time I've thought it wasn't a 100% work was seeing Tony's reaction on the post-PPV show when Punk mentions MJF. Tony's face runs through a variety of emotions that would be hard for him to fake. Will be interesting to hear what happened that night
This reporting doesn't clarify anything. It just makes this whole thing more confusing. And half of these bullet points seem to be defensive on the part of Fightful.
The part about validation was... odd.
It's pretty standard for Fightful and SRS
It’s definitely SRS just trying to save face and its pathetic at this point
Just sounds like someone trying to cover all the bases, so no matter what happens, they can say they were right.
I really dont like Fightful. Meltz isnt perfect but at least he acts like a journalist
I agree. Fightful is the wrestling version of TMZ and SRS is a huge mark for himself.
SRS blocked me for correcting that The Shield broke up on a 2014 Raw and not the 2016 he tweeted an answer to. Dude is sawft.
The wrestling version of TMZ is Ryan Satin. Sapp is an odd fellow but he hasn't hit that sort of rock bottom yet.
I don’t want to keep reading reports about this but I also can’t help myself from reading reports about this
This isn’t even a report. It’s just a bunch of words that basically add up to “lol I don’t fkn know man”.
Same. I'm ready to just see how everything plays out but the rumor sites are going to keep pushing out stories until something else becomes a bigger story.
One thing is for sure and that is that this whole thing highlights how bad the wrestling media is. They're either intentionally being fed storyline-based info that they aren't hesitating to report as fact, or they are having a terrible time trying to get to the real story, or probably both.
Personally, I think this is a work that Max shot into existence. He honestly hasnt been happy with his pay compared to WWE guys. So he no shows a meet/greet. He books a flight he doesnt plan on taking. Stresses everyone - including AEW management. Then, after he's done damage, he says to Khan - look at all this press and hype. We can turn this into an angle everyone is paying attention to. Punk 2.0. Then he gets his pipe bomb on Wed - which HAD to be approved to go on for so long. Started as a shoot and then talked Tony into capitalizing upon it with a work. And now it's 100% work
This makes the most sense to me
This all reads like "We all don't know." But much more wordy
I’m so tired of hearing the words “work” and “shoot” LMAO
Can’t wait for the 20 years from now version of DSOTR episode on this.
This is amazing we're still debating this. If it was on tv it's a work. Not that hard
Obviously, but it didn’t start out that way. It’s never a good idea to piss off your coworkers by skipping a fan event.
Unless the coworkers were never pissed off and that's just another wrinkle in the fiction. It's work all the way down! Maybe.
This sub is sounding more like SuperStonk with ever thread on MJF
No silly, that's Cameron Grimes!
That just confirms it's been turned into a work, doesn't mean everything was a work from the start.
My gut feeling is they gave him that huge kayfabe injury vs Wardlow so that he could take a break from TV if he needed one, since it seems like he's been burnt out/unhappy for awhile. But then they worked it out, and now they've decided to run with it, hence the promo on Wednesday.
Right! For this to be even remotely true, it would mean that Tony Khan put a hot mic in MJFs hand, on live tv WITH BRAND NEW NETWORK EXECS, having just stood him up to the point where TK should have a legitimate fear of MJF going off like a loose canon about any subject he wanted. That he risked letting Max destroy the entire new deal..... to see what he would say, on the chance that it would be compelling? I don’t buy it for a second.
It certainly feels like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube. But it'll be a hoot if MJF has actually bounced and everyone "knew" it was a work, when it wasn't.
Pillman convinced Bischoff to actually fire him to make it look legit then signed with Vince. Anything is within the realm of possibility.
I sincerely appreciate the first bullet in the OP's post, and it cannot be overstated enough - if you're not MJF or TK then let's agree you don't know the whole story. It's been funny seeing people insist it "must" be this or that.
Now of course SRS and fightful can't admit they were worked and are so insecure that SRS had to add in that "what emerges will likely add credibility to fightfuls reports on the situation" which basically translates to there is no information right now that adds credibility to my and my companies reports on the situation, but the information that doesnt exist yet but may exist in the future will likely add credibility to my and my workplaces reports on the situation. Very cool, not defensive at all. >He claims that a person very close to MJF though/knew it was a work but would not elaborate on it. On Friday they called SRS asking for information, claiming that what they originally knew was wrong and their belief that everything had been a work had evaporated. "I don't want [MJF] to have nuclear heat when and if he comes back" Yeah if this person is very close with MJF they probably let MJF know they contacted to say this was a work because they were worried people were unfairly blaming MJF or they saw the hate MJF was getting, and MJF probably asked this close person to contact SRS again and tell them that their belief that this was a work has evaporated. Of course i dont know this is true but SRS doesn't know any of the shit this person said was true either but Im not a journalist, and he didn't consider he might be getting worked by people in the business of working the audience. Why would MJF's close friend contact SRS to tell him it wasn't a work if MJF wasn't involved? If thats true then this dude is snitching on MJF who they are apparently so close to.
Just sounds like hes desperately trying to save face on getting worked like the rest of us.
Yeah I imagine the meet & greet thing rubbed a lot of people the wrong way
SRS pretending he knows anything is still funny.
The use of the . Instead of , in the number got me! Still laughing at the thought of $10 worth of people wanting his meet and greet
we use tend to use , for decimals in my country lol, sorry about that. i'll update it
I honestly don't trust anything SRS says regarding MJF. Even this write up seems like CYA. >The Meet & Greet no-show was not a work. There were people involved in that situation that you would absolutely not want to work, and neither would Tony Khan. There was genuine concern for MJF's safety. At one point there was discussion of having his hotel room busted into to make sure he was okay. There were wrestlers that had to stay overtime and were not happy about it. ~~I believe he missed the M&G but who could he possibly have pissed off that he needs to fear for his safety.~~ EDIT: appears I misread. Still SRS reporting seems fishy. >Anybody who claims they know 100% about what is going on or what did go on that isn't MJF or Tony Khan is not being truthful. SRS also says that Khan himself might not even be 100% sure. I do not for a second believe TK doesn't know what's going on. There is no universe in which MJF is allowed to go out on National TV with a live mic like that if TK had any doubts he might actually shoot his mouth off.
> I believe he missed the M&G but who could he possibly have pissed off that he needs to fear for his safety. I think people were concerned for MJF's safety **because** he no-showed the meet and greet and I think there were also reports that no one could get in contact with him via phone or txt.
I think you’re misreading it. I don’t think anyone thought MJF was at risk from someone else, but could have hurt himself.
>I believe he missed the M&G but who could he possibly have pissed off that he needs to fear for his safety. ...do you think they're implying that he was at risk of bodily harm from somebody angry he missed the meet & greet?
I'm starting to think carnies might not be reliable, trustworthy people.
We Don't Know Fuck About Shit
I wish dirt sheets would just be honest enough to admit this
nobody really knows, could be this, could be that, five bucks please
This honestly to me is not interesting at all. MJF is super talented, but I sort of feel like what Laurence Olivier supposedly said to Dustin Hoffman about his method: “my dear boy, why don’t you just try acting?”
Wrestling is only really interesting to me anymore when there's a bit of weird backstage "what the fuck is going on" type stuff happening, so this is all great to me. Oh, and bridging German suplexes. Those are also great
Exactly. It's fun to not know that the fuck is going on and to be unsure of what's being presented to you. All of these Smarks and insiders living and dying on knowing every little thing and all of what's up backstage is just lame and ruining modern wrestling. They're so mad that MJF is calling them out that they've overlooked how awesome it is to be back to uncertainty again. MJF is a fucking genius and all these roobs care about is whether their insider info panned out. Fuck that. Fire me you fucking smarks.
*"SRS also says that Khan himself might not even be 100% sure"* If that's true, then... 
If Khan doesn’t know what’s going on, how are we meant to??
Pretty clearly speculation on SRS's part and pushing a narrative that no one knows what's going on makes SRS not look as bad for being worked all DoN weekend.
This right here. Dude was blowing up another thread a few days ago arguing with anyone who said he got worked. I got two separate replies from him on one comment.
He told me I didn’t know what a work was.
FirstNameBunchaNumbers on Twitter knows exactly what's going on!
It’s…..it’s okay to just admit you don’t know. Like speculating is fun but it gets weird when *everyone* starts sounding like Meltzer with the 85 levels of hedging and qualifying.
"The Meet & Greet no-show was not a work. There were people involvedin that situation that you would absolutely not want to work, andneither would Tony Khan. There was genuine concern for MJF's safety. Atone point there was discussion of having his hotel room busted into tomake sure he was okay." When I worked at a student dorm I had to break into people's rooms to check up on them a few times. It was not an ideal situation to say the least. Even situations where it was a possibility it was Not Great. Here's hoping that he skipped the event for benign reasons or out of unprofessionalism instead of a mental health crisis or things being drug related (working at a student dorm was a wild ride) .
Idk if it’s because I’m older, but I definitely believe this is a worked shoot. No way mjf is allowed all that mic time if he was legit on his way out I think the no show was real, and they talked it out into a work after the ppv. They’re just doing the cm punk pipebomb but better in the sense of making it look like hes really being shunned but wont bring him back just 8 days later like WWE did with punk
I've seen people bring up Pillman, but that just doesn't make sense. Pillman was already in his mid-30s. It was his last chance to be relevant. And mid-30s in the '90s would be like mid-60s now. And....has anyone ever fucking proved the Pillman stuff drew money? Didn't in WCW. ECW wasn't drawing money at all. Pillman may have gotten a bigger role in WWF, but we'll never really know. He was feuding with Goldust when he died, if that gives you any indication of his spot on the card.
*Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam is working on a report (might come out this week) about something very interesting that happened with Tony Khan on the night of the PPV* **Cocaine**
It's very obvious by now that MJF became very unhappy with his pay and what he saw as disrespect with so many new faces arriving on bigger money but not outperforming him... And I'm totally with him on that. And all the talk of waiting for his deal to expire was genuine, and likely done in order to get TK to take notice and offer an improved deal. But after the no-show - they clearly had a discussion and came to an agreement of some sort... Likely more money, and probably came with an extension. Then they just ran with it - and the promo was - heartfelt and based in reality - but completely discussed and agreed with TK. This was never a work from the very beginning - but become one after the no-show.
Anybody who claims they know 100% about what is going on or what did go on that isn't MJF or Tony Khan is not being truthful. SRS also says that Khan himself might not even be 100% sure. then goes on SRS claims that an awful lot of information will emerge. What emerges will likely add credibility to Fightful's reports on the situation. this whole update read like srs fluffing himself
Have said this before, but this has to be a work. MJF, in my opinion has signed a new deal and he and Tony are orchestrating a grand storyline. Otherwise, all Tony is doing by building up MJF is drafting his WWE cover letter, resume, and income request. Tony is not dumb. If he's signed already I don't care what he says on TV so long as its agreed upon and a plan in place. But if somehow, someway this is being done without a new deal in place, Tony is literally acting as MJF's agent for WWE contract negotiations. Just look where Cody is in WWE right now, and where he'll likely be when he comes back. So it's a work. Has to be. I think.
This guy Sean Ross Sapp SWEARS he wasn’t full of shit; Cassidy Haynes is gonna maybe come out with something this week maybe that’s gonna *blow the roof off this thing*, even Tony Kahn is getting worked here guys, it’s not just him. Someone close to the situation even reached out to him for info, that’s how close they are to the situation. Proof to come later
jesse wtf are you talking about
Despite all this he did a squash match where wardlow power bombed him ten times, he came out on tv the next taping and talked for 8 minutes, and he is under contract through 2024. This isn’t Vince kicking Sasha and Naomi out. This is a work. Contractually speaking MJF has no leverage. At worst it’s him being a shitty person for putting the rest of the roster in that position. But I guess we’ll find out more as the week develops.
I saw MJF walking around Mandalay Bay with security about 2 hours before this all broke out, totally surrounded by the regular AEW security guys. Saw Wardlow around the time everything broke out, made a lil joke about hoping his opponent would be there. He rolled his eyes and said he’d drag his ass out.