I know that Dave has mentioned this before and I wonder if John and Wei feel the same way but the reason he doesn’t have MJF on his show is precisely for reasons like this. They know he’s going to do it in character and possibly go into business for himself and you’re not gonna get anything useful out of it
He does……Chris Van Vliet handles it really well, but it would be a tough interview. I say this with all the respect in the world for John Pollock, I see him hating an interview like this and couldn’t see him willing to play along, or doing it begrudgingly. Just watch the first 30 seconds.
I can confirm many wrestling fans are not as logical as you and think TK is part of this.
Source: I spent way too long on reddit this morning
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And if that’s the case, it’s truly a shitty move.
A talent working their own angle behind a booker’s back is beyond stupid.
Explain this situation and the timeline of events and sources of information to a non wrestling bubble fan and ask them if they think it’s real or not. So long as the company and talent say nothing there is no reason to do anything but speculate. If somebody has sources to the contrary, they should document and provide them journalistically, not the irresponsible content selling we’ve seen in 24 hours.
Also, when in the history of talent in wrestling haven’t we seen them not done things to steal spotlight and be the talk. Whether you classify that as working or not idk. Subjective. Depends what kind of fan one might be.
Also also, to point out it was reported AEW is filming a behind the scenes style show doesn’t seem to come up here by the “this is real” crowd. Odd.
I don’t have an opinion on it it’s a work or not. My opinion is it’s pro wrestling, it’s all part of the show, and if the day before the event this news comes out in a drip by drip, unverified, manner then I just view it as also part of the show. I do have an opinion on the levels of reporting. Wrote it above.
Edit:
Id be curious what people would classify the Banks-SummerSlam-Becky-Bianca angle? Misdirection, false advertising, left ambiguous til showtime. Do people not think it’s a work because they had the inside scoop, because to the non bubble fan that seemed like a big elaborate work to bring Becky back.
Edit edit:
A work by some is being likened to some grand conspiracy plan. That’s an exaggeration of what a work could be. If a talent is doing something gain attention or position themselves in a certain way among a certain audience or their employer, they are working. Not everything has to be a grand conspiracy. Sometimes it’s just PR and promotion. Even if done individually for ones own personal benefit. Work doesn’t equal conspiracy, I don’t know why some have gone that route with definition.
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Yeah, I feel like when we say work in this situation it’s specially referring to mjf/tk/aew having him skip the autograph thing and buying the plane ticket to generate interest in the PPV.
But you’re right that there are different levels of a work
Two reports last night whether the plane ticket was even bought or not and whether private plane or commercial. I mean who can take any of this super serious. It’s all infotainment for sale. When the reporting is at a standard, I’ll accept maybe it’s immediately to be talent as “real” or “not a work”
Edit: Also because I feel strongly about this. The reason IMO people rush to label it as “not a work” so quickly is because making it real breaking news with updates and twists and turns can be used to sell exclusive VIP and Patreon subs to consumers. It’s so easy to come back to it later and clarify or explain away what changed and what we did and didn’t know at a time when that rush to label it as something is taking place. This is why news outlets label everything breaking news. To generate urgency to create emotion in consumer to act. Whether staying glued to “breaking news” or subscribing to get the latest details of this story. Without question if it’s incorporated l into the show there will be tons of revisions to what the story actually is and was. Obviously there is some real story brewing but I hope consumers of infotainment are at least aware of basic practices in place to appeal to them and their pockets .
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I do think he no showed the meet and greet bc he was disgruntled about something but I also think he’ll be on the ppv.
After that, who knows. Maybe tony trades his contract for Sasha banks.
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I think he missed the MG to send a message. The flight was likely posturing to let them know he’s serious.
Either TK touched base with him or he got something out of it enough.
The work part is what happens now - he wins the match. He pins Wardlow. Now what?
Did he get the finish changed?
He probably comes out an even bigger heel and Wardlow even bigger face by this. So now it becomes a work shoot
I also agree - SRS is a lot about selling patron subs. He was probably worked a bit and back peddling. He’s not even in Vegas.
My opinion is basically everything MJF says and does is in character. Wrestling fans (and sadly many of the wrestling journalists) don’t seem to understand this and he is working a lot of people.
As a character, MJF would not do a meet and greet (I know he’s done them before but never an AEW one) and he and Tony are working this whole thing to generate more interest for the PPV.
Obviously it’s working.
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His current gimmick is I’m a big money free agent. This fits in perfectly.
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I also think the flight was a clear work. someone made SRS out to look like a bit of a fool as he was never going to be boarding that. If he did it board it would kill interest in him for today. He’s too smart to do that. He will keep us guessing until he walks down the aisle
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It really makes you question exactly what these guys ever know in the first place. All of a sudden, we learn on the biggest weekend of the year that MJF is an asshole and may walk out?
I’m with casual fans here in Vegas and they laugh when I bring it up and point out it’s on the $50 show. I think a lot of wrestling fans want all of this to be real so bad that they believe it all from these reporters.
We’ve also been trained for the last 20 years by mind numbingly boring stories by the WWE that anything semi interesting feels like a shoot. AEW is capitalizing on all of that big time
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I just can’t imagine a journalist in any other field reporting something like that. Just so bizarre, lol. Feels like he wants to be a part of the story and someone is feeding BS.
How much investigating and critical thinking went into that report? He just barfed out something silly someone else said.
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I do have to say, it’s so funny see all the wwe and aew marks out there and the way they frame this story.
WWE marks are so adamant that this is real and that MJF is done with AEW. AEW marks are so adamant that this is a work and anyone that believes otherwise is an idiot. The reality is, we don’t know. I lean towards it being a shoot, but I do think MJF has his working switch turned on all the time, so with him, it’s always so hard to tell.
I do wonder what this opens up MJF to legally, if he doesn’t show up.
Especially when he has explicitly made statements in the recent past that could be perceived that he’s spoken with WWE representatives.
Storyline wise I could see MJF “no showing” the match against Wardlow, who goes on to squash all six people in the inter-gender match and walks out with that TNT title.
Main event, Punk wins and is violently and viciously attacked by a disheveled MJF after the match. Khan fires him on the next Dynamite but Punk insists he wants revenge. They fight at All Out and MJF wins the title and holds it hostage until Wardlow finally gets his shot against MJF and wins