MJF’s Double or Nothing opener with Wardlow was seemingly in doubt until the last minute, with The Pinnacle’s leader reportedly arriving at the T-Mobile Arena just in time for his scheduled match, before immediately leaving following it’s completion.
Many speculated that MJF may have completely walked out on AEW, potentially throwing plans up into the air, although Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer Radio has recently downplayed this idea, noting that the match would’ve been announced as off had MJF truly left things until the last minute.
“They have come to an agreement on this obviously & him not showing up until the very last second tells you there’s a work, there’s a story here. If this were real, Tony would have to give him an ultimatum like, “if you’re not here by 3 o’clock we’re announcing that the match is off”. So Him not being there at 4:30, you know he’s gonna be there”
-Bryan Alvarez
Furthermore, Alvarez noted that the internal lineup for the show always had the MJF vs Wardlow match, despite of AEW’s social media platforms pulling promotional material for the bout, thus lending credence to the idea of the situation being a work.
“They also have the lineup for the show for the talent. Always had MJF listed as going on first and that did not change at all today. So that tells me him showing up at the last second and then leaving immediately afterwards, this to me is all now storyline so I believe we’re going to see MJF again in AEW.”
-Bryan Alvarez
Alvarez also highlighted that whilst the details surrounding the situation are certainly real, with MJF making his desires for an improved contract no secret, the disputes quickly developed into storyline shortly after a flight out of Las Vegas was reportedly booked in MJF’s name.
“For sure it started out as real, and how quickly it turned into a work was probably right after word there was allegedly a boarding pass”
-Bryan Alvarez
The situation undoubtably garnered a lot of attention in the lead up to the show, and MJF’s immediate future is now up in the air, with various reports speculating that he may be absent from AEW TV for the foreseeable future.
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