AEW Just Proved How Over MJF Is In The Weirdest Way
On paper, a public whipping segment doesn't sound like an entertaining bit for AEW Dynamite, but MJF and Wardlow are so over with crowds that they made it work. Wardlow wants his match against MJF at the upcoming AEW Double or Nothing pay per view. Friedman, of course, had some stipulations before making that bout official.
The first was that War Dog had to withstand ten lashings from MJF in the middle of the ring. So Wardlow walked to the squared circle on Wednesday night, topless and handcuffed, to no music and a solid ovation. Friedman then took to whipping his former bodyguard, and what happened next not only worked but was effective.
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Make no mistake: this was some Vince McMahon-level stuff in terms of being questionably amusing at best. Yet MJF and Wardlow dedicated themselves to the segment 110 percent, and the outcome was something that propelled their feud even further into can't-wait-to-see-them-fight territory. Wardlow no selling the whips couldn't have been easy. And it's not as if the two could have practiced backstage, as his flesh would have already been swollen and red. There were aspects of it that were a work, obviously, but the physicality of getting whipped means that it certainly wasn't CGI swelling on Wardlow's back — making the bit all the more impressive.
It was MJF losing his cool entirely that pulled everything together, though. Because as much of a heel as he is, he's still got friends like Shawn Spears helping him every step of the way. That's a role that Wardlow once had, and it cost him companions in the back. So while MJF and Spears continued to assault him after the ten lashings were up, no one came to his aid. No music hit, and there was no pop
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