That’s Not Wrestling #15: …But That Was the Right Call

MJF, Chris Jericho, AEW news, and more!

Welcome, and thanks for joining me at Geeks+Gamers! This week I discuss MJF, Chris Jericho, AEW news, and more!

A couple of years ago, the planets looked to be aligning for a fantastic shift in the realm of pro-wrestling. Talk of a smashing new promotion with a television deal and “serious, sport-based wrestling” was on everyone’s lips. Finally, the modern wrestling fan’s life of “eating shit and learning to love the taste” was over. Or was it? Meet me here every Thursday to pick apart the actions of the daft, the dangerous, and the desperate in pro-wrestling… well, in AEW.

<Last Week’s That’s Not Wrestling!

A Quick Recap

Last night’s AEW Dynamite saw the conclusion of The Labors of Jericho, allowing Chris Jericho to finally get his hands on that dastardly Maxwell Jacob Friedman for all he’s put him through. Although Jericho did manage to smack Max around a little, MJF’s hand was raised when all was said and done.

I have two criticisms of the match/result. First, that sloppy “slip-up” from Jericho which allowed MJF to take advantage and end the match; Jericho got 3/4 of the way through throwing his Judas Effect elbow before freezing like a child playing musical chairs. It would have made more sense for Aubrey “The Mime” Edwards to have been on the ball and verbally stop him. Jericho just pulled a daft face and braced himself as if he’d just shat his pants.

Secondly, I like that MJF went over, but it’s not as impressive when his opponent was already half-dead from wrestling for a fifth week in a row. If Jericho was going over here, sure, stack the deck against him and his victory will be that much sweeter. This feud should have gone away a while ago, and the smell of Jericho and his stale, desperate shenanigans blown far away from MJF, but things are looking promising… I think.

At the risk of speaking too soon about his AEW future, I’ve noticed I haven’t really covered AEW’s misuse of MJF yet. I suppose now seems as good a time as any.

Blaming Jericho

It all started when Chris Jericho was checking off old WWE things to rehash (like Austin’s beer truck and face-to-face with Mike Tyson) when he remembered how over the bromance he had with Kevin Owens was. Jeri-KO were best buddies for a year, and it all built towards The Festival of Friendship, where Owens would betray Jericho and try to put him on the shelf.

The payoff for this was supposed to be at that year’s WrestleMania for Owen’s Universal title. Vince McMahon’s throbber for Bill Goldberg overwrote that idea; everything was changed, and Owens lost the belt to Goldberg. The match between Jericho and Owens was near enough ignored, despite them being the most over thing for that year. Jericho never forgot this.

Just as Bad as WWE

That brings us to Le Dinner Debonair, sadly, where Jericho would flirt with the idea of inviting MJF into The Inner Circle. Just like all the other nonsense that this promotion has offered us in less than two years, there are many people AEW die-hards that defended this serving of shite. Haven’t seen it and don’t think it’s as bad as I say? Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Hey @TheTonyAwards we have your newest submission 👀 PURE EXCELLENCE #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/XXr8u8URLh

— AEW on TV (@AEWonTV) October 22, 2020

Ignoring what I personally think of this tacky trash, if AEW fans were honest and held this to the same standard as they do the WWE, they’d have no choice but to admit how lame it was. The journey of Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens was emulated and turned into this tribute act; it was fake, fast-tracked, but at least it gave Jericho’s personal Auto-Tune engineer something to do during the pandemic.

Because we all saw it coming a mile off, it was no surprise when MJF turned on Jericho. This introduced MJF’s faction, The Pinnacle, which instantly led to them feuding with Jericho’s stable, The Inner Circle. MJF’s newly formed heel group began their run by… getting beaten up and having their heads flushed in the toilet. Assuming everyone has the attention span of Tony Khan and that they’d forget by next week, they soon turned the feud all serious and hardcore.

Where Did That Come From?

In a move that jumped from swirlies to steel cages, the next stop for these men was War Games Blood & Guts. It was as bloody and messy as expected, and the finish was Jericho’s infamous plunge into cardboard carnage. Once the two teams had settled their issues in this match-to-end-all-feuds, there was nowhere to go, no way to escalate further, and this had to be the end of the matter, right?

Wrong! That wasn’t all, either. The tone of the feud took an intermission as it slipped and fell on its head at the concession stand. Stupidity ran wild for a Stadium Stampede match between the two factions. The football field battle was a joke, and they counted the pinfall in a ring anyway. I’m sorry to say that anyone approving of this has no grounds to criticize WWE’s 2020 Money in the Bank match.

Next, we have The Five Labors of Jericho. These included facing MJF’s fellow Pinnacle member Shawn Spears and his personal meat-head, Wardlow. MJF (via Tony Khan) also managed to catch Nick Gage between jobs and wheel Juventud Guerrera out for a match, too, just because. Embarrassingly, the match with Juvi showed both men’s age, and the bloodbath against Gage just made everyone look bad.

About Last Night…

At last, we get to the final labor, and MJF goes over CLEAN; hopefully, that’s it for them. Jericho cheated and used his baseball bat, but he still couldn’t get the job done. Hell, he even tapped out to MJF’s Salt of the Earth Armbar. You’d think that would be enough for it to be all over, the baby-face having no defense for his defeat at all. However, I fear that Booker of the Year Tony Khan may find a way.

I hope that I’m just worrying over nothing, but we’ll see. If we’re lucky, MJF can move on and work with Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson next; that’d be fun. MJF has taken steps away from a lot of the silliness now, but it only takes one ridiculous non-comedy skit to reset everything again.

As for Jericho, he can go on tour with Fozzy or something and give us time to miss him. Jericho’s hard-on for himself isn’t going to get any bigger. I mean, what’s bigger than getting the crowd to read off their hymn sheets and serenade him during his entrance? Oh, yeah, larger arena and festival crowds; that will do nicely.

Run along, big lad!

That does it for this week. Thanks for stopping by. Don’t forget to check out the Putting It Bluntly: AEW Double or Nothing & WWE Money in the Bank reviews on my YouTube channel.

Background Artwork Designed by Rachael Hope.

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