MJF Pipebomb On AEW Dynamite Reportedly Didn’t Go According To Plan

It's been less than 48 hours since MJF sent shockwaves through the wrestling world with his pipebomb, and while the promo greatly upped his personal stock, AEW reportedly had a slightly different plan for the 'worked shoot' segment.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AEW's plan was for MJF to cut a heel promo, and then have his mic cut off midway through, with the idea that the segment was unplanned and he was out of control. The promo was reportedly supposed to resemble Brian Pillman's worked shoot promos from WCW in the mid-1990s.

However, MJF spoke for nearly nine minutes before his mic was eventually cut, which was reportedly not the plan. Furthermore, MJF was wildly cheered by fans at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, especially during the end of the promo, particularly while talking about ex-WWE guys "who can't lace my boots."

MJF getting positive reactions was clearly not the plan, and the crowd cheering MJF "made the promotion seem uncool," the report added. Dave Meltzer then compared MJF receiving loud pops to nWo getting cheered in WCW despite working as the heels. He further noted that nWo's popularity made WCW look "uncool and incompetent" and eventually killed the babyfaces in the company and caused long-term damage to the WCW brand.

Meltzer also confirmed that CM Punk sprinting down to the ring during the commercial break to confront MJF was part of AEW's plan. MJF, of course, ran away through the crowd, and his promo was never acknowledged for the rest of the show.

On a related note, Fightful Select reported Thursday that a lot of AEW talents backstage are convinced that the MJF – Tony Khan dispute is a work, and part of an elaborate storyline. If the dispute is indeed a work, AEW took it up a notch Thursday by removing all traces of The Salt of the Earth from their website and merchandise store.