I guess I expected a lot more from this advertised face-to-face tonight after “Hangman” Adam Page defeated Andrade El Idolo at Grand Slam: Australia, and I especially expected more from AEW World Champion MJF, but what we got tonight was a little confusing and very clunky.
I expected MJF to come out hot out of the gate, possibly addressing the recent controversy around Page and who he remains friends with, but he didn’t really have any witty lines that would make headlines at any point in this. And while, yes, that’s obviously not the point of every promo, and MJF even said he wasn’t out there to “cut a ‘rasslin’ promo” or sell tickets to Revolution, it all started off a bit flat for me.
I thought it got better, for a little while, at least, when Page picked things up when he said that he looks at MJF, he realizes he’s never met someone more like him. He made it all make sense, explaining that MJF is desperate for love and acceptance, just like him. Page said that he knew MJF could feel it, too, that their match at Revolution needed a stipulation. That was all well and good, but things fell off for me from there.
MJF, of course, wasn’t about it, so to get him to agree to a stipulation, “Hangman,” for lack of a better term, Cody Rhodes’ed himself. He said if MJF gives him a stipulation, he’ll never challenge for the AEW Men’s World Championship again, as long as he lives. Not just when MJF is champion. Never again, a la Rhodes ahead of Full Gear in 2019. You’d have to assume that the powers that be in AEW knew just how terribly that worked out for Rhodes, to the point it might have even pushed him out of the company. While I certainly don’t foresee that extreme for Page, it’s either not going to work, or we just got one big ol’ spoiler for Revolution with a Page victory.
Things got pretty clunky after that, with MJF saying he needed a week to think on a stipulation that Page said he could choose. However, Page then said it would be a Texas Death Match, so I’m assuming MJF has a week to agree to the part of the deal, as well? I may be making it out to be more confusing than it was meant to be, but I found that part just strange and not-so-well worded.
Overall, this wasn’t the best thing on tonight’s show. MJF has more in the tank in terms of promo battles for this feud, so hopefully, we get something a lot more exciting and clearer next week.
Written by Daisy Ruth
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