MJF and Omega: A Battle Breakdown

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Welcome to the Busted Open Podcast. This is Dave LaGrecca. On today's episode,

myself and Nick Nemeth talk AEW Dynamite, and we know what we're going to get at Dynastie. It's

MJF and Kenny Omega. They had a war of words last night. How did it go? We'll dissect right now

on the Busted Open Podcast. This is the Busted Open Podcast. Can't complain about the way

that they started. Should that match have been the main event? Absolutely. Of course it should have

been, but can't complain when you start off the show that hard, that hot, swerve, Strickland,

and Kenny Omega. Absolutely, and that's that thing that where as much as you put in your mind,

here's how a wrestling card should be. Here's how it all the way down the line. It should be

lined up. WWE has that formula that is always like usually a talking segment. Once in a while,

you get something different at the beginning, but it's usually a talking segment possibly setting

up for the main event. With AEW, you sometimes get talking, but you for the most part probably get

the match that is the best built, hottest angle, whatever the situation is there, and then you get

a different main event that still absolutely delivers and usually goes above and beyond the time

wise and the false finishes and the great story and everything to be there. But AEW is known for

out the gate. Here we go. We're going with possibly our main event of the night, and they

absolutely did what they always do, and I mean that in a positive way. Yeah, a lot of people

contacted me on social media after the Dynamite in our show last week when we talked about Will

Osprey, and how do you open up the show with a Will Osprey match instead of him with a microphone

in his hand, cutting a promo? And so many people said, you know, great match greater than

storytelling or great match, greater than promo. And what you just said is, you know, for that

fan base, it really is all about the wrestling. It's not about quote unquote storytelling or great

talking segments or promos. It's really about the wrestling. I don't agree with that. I think

great stories and great promos lead to great matches. But I think the thought process with AEW is

that it really is all about the wrestling. Yeah, yeah. And I've been in situations many times

last 10, 20 years to where it's you're you're begging myself and Kofi for an intercontinental title

or US that we're begging to not go right to matches that lead to matches down the line. But that's

when you're not the absolute top of the card in the middle of the card or the middle championship,

you're you're like, how can we make this personal? How can we make it serious? So our matches

matter. And a lot of times we didn't have that option. We didn't even have a, hey, can I cut a

30 second promo before we do this? No, we don't really, we got a lot of talk on the show. It's

different things like that. And you base it all around that. But when you actually have

multiple stories on AEW where they're coming through, they're going to deliver the wrestling,

are they already are delivering with the wrestling when you actually get a little purpose. And as we

always say here, something to sink our teeth into something for me to look forward to, I have to watch

on Wednesday. I'm going to watch on Wednesday. It's part of my job dot, dot, dot, make me want to

absolutely go, hey, Dave, I'm really looking forward to Wednesday. Yeah, they set up two matches

and we're going to hear from, hey, man, and this and you're like, I'm looking forward to this.

This is so great. They got me. That's how you get even more people to watch. You don't have to be

WWE. You don't have to follow their mindset, but that general up and down to a top and bottom

of the card can absolutely be used to make your show even better. Yeah, and I got to give AEW

credit. We saw another video package for Darby. Yes, at the beginning of Dynamite. And also,

like, yes, they started with Swerve and Kenny Omega. Great match, by the way, Kenny Omega is

now your number one contender for MJF's AEW World Championship. But they also continue death,

right? It wasn't like they just had the match and then boom, boom, boom, speed through other matches

to the end of the show. You know, you got to hear from MJF. You got to hear from Kenny Omega,

you know, the commentators talked about the match and now like they did a really good job of

making that a thread throughout the show. So that's, anytime there's a positive to me like that

that stands out. It's like, wow, we caught it. We caught our breath. What a friggin match we just

had. And then the next segment, it's almost forgotten, but by that show and by six and a half

days later, when I'm watching again, it's easily forgotten. But when you have someone like Kenny Omega,

like, hey, I just stole the friggin show at the beginning. And I'm coming out here to talk part,

you know, pardon my underdressed for the situation. But, you know, I'm, I'm calling, I'm calling

out the champ here because I'm a new number one contender. And when you have that all the way

through and you get reminded back and forth, then he even goes, I think I'm done for that. I think

we see him one more time, which is even funnier. It's like, we, I like when you have something,

even if it's not a story, it's just a piece that reminds you of the awesome thing you saw

or watched earlier in the show. Yeah. And listen, you had the highest the pies at the beginning

of the show. Usually you want to build to the high at high. You know, when you start as hot as they

did, you're going to get over time gradually, cool off. And I think that's exactly what happened

on the show. You know, Kenny Omega, not one of the greatest promos out there. I think we all know

that. But he had a, but he had a pretty good promo with MJ, you know, for him, a pretty good

promo. You know, he just, he's not a guy that's going to grab you with the microphone. I think

AEW is aware of that. So he's not going to grab you with the promo. Let's grab him with how he

know he's going to grab you and with the wrestling. And that's a great call. I mean, that's your

absolute best thing that you got. Let's see it. Let's grab it. And then normally I would say like,

leave it up to Max to be like, okay, can he's going to be the wrestler? He's going to be the guy

that has everybody with their jaws dropping on the floor from the match. Then we'll have Max around.

He's the champ now. He's called all the shots. And then now he's going to talk you into the arena.

He's going to get that story across. And then what I saw last night was like, I'm here.

And I'm waiting for him. Kenny, he's known for his wrestling, not known for the promo. Got it. Max,

not known for the wrestling. He's known for his promo. Here we go. Talk me into the building.

And it was just like, I didn't hang man. He has I hung hang man. And I went, oh man,

he's like, this, he's being serious. Like, this is your, this is your, you, you put him out to dry.

By the way, we got, we got to add in, we don't just get a promo for MGM. We get a returns to night.

He's back, baby, the champ, the devil, Max is back. And here he is to talk us on to the building.

I hung the hang man. And he looks like he's dressed like cousin Eddie on Christmas vacation in the

movie. And it's just like, that's all we get. And he's like, hey man, I got you. And then he,

and he makes fun of the town. And I just go, God dang it. I go, I understand one day he's going

to be great. But right now, I don't understand what Max is doing. He has the world in his hands.

And everybody can back it up for him in the ring. If he lacks there, especially Kenny Omega,

but when your thing is your one thing that makes you the champ and the reason for people to tune in

is you're talking. And you don't deliver. That is the difference in someone being good.

And absolutely great. And a real locker room leader all the way down the line.

Well, here's the thing that MJF is going to have to carry the store. He's going to have to carry

this on his shoulders because Kenny Omega is not going to be able to do it. And that's not

disrespect on Kenny Omega. He's an amazing wrestler. If you talk about, you know, the best wrestlers

the last 20 years, Kenny Omega's in the conversation. Maybe even number one, when you talk about greatest

pro wrestlers, but on the stick on the microphone, he's not going to grab you. He's just isn't.

You know, even, you know, he's got that delivery about him that just, it doesn't, it doesn't grab you.

So Max is going to have to carry this for the next few weeks until we get to dynasty.

It's going to, it's going to be on his shoulders to really seal the deal to get people excited

for this match. Now, I'm sure there's AEW fans that are going to be like, it's MJF and it's Kenny

Omega. That's enough for me. But for everybody else, Max is going to, Max is probably going to have

to do some of his best work ever on the microphone because there's not, you're not going to get

the back and forth. You're just like, oh, it's impossible. If anything, it'll take you out of it.

Yes. But here's this, here's this thing. A lot of young guys don't think about they get the ball.

They got a chance or they snatched the ball out of someone's hands and they're running with it.

And it's MJF like, yes, anybody he wrestles, especially at AEW, they're going to cover up for any

misgivings he has work wise. This is why this is a real challenge to Max. Listen, we've got you versus

Kenny. The sickles are all in. You can write it down on a piece of paper and hold it up to the screen.

That's the equivalent of we got it. Now, how do you make this special? How do you cement your legacy?

How do you make yourself someone that everyone's talking about in five years, not just right now going,

hey, this town that I'm in sucks and your football team sucks and I hanged hang man and it's like,

dude, you have the huge moment right now to get everybody talking about you as the champion,

your company and everyone going, wow, these people can wrestle. They can talk. They draw me in with

their stories. I can't believe this. I heard about it, but I never tuned in and this is a huge chance,

a moment for MJF to go from a good wrestler who has a good promo to actually being good as a

ring general champion leader, locker room leader. And if he doesn't pick it up story wise,

leading us in here, it's on him. It's on his back. It's on Kenny's back to carry this match.

It's on MJF to make me care because so far the low hanging fruit stuff really is going to add up

and long term that's not a legacy. That's someone that got by with a couple of lines.

Nick, I would be shocked if it's not picked up, but you're right. Like he's going to have to be like,

like Kenny last night saying, I, you know, he called himself the pro wrestling god and then talked

about Max saying that he's the devil and then he goes, I would never even at my prime. He goes,

I'm almost a hundred percent at my prime. I would never be egotistical enough to call myself like,

you just did. You just called yourself the sentence before the sentence before. You called

yourself the pro wrestling god. Like dude, he, it's a stream of consciousness. I guess when he's

talking on the microphone, like, you, you, less is more like if, if I'm, if I'm Kenny Omega,

don't, don't talk too much. Just go out there, you know, just, and I, that's why like it's really

on max. The pressure is on max. The carrot is bad boy. And that's, and that pressure is like,

please, please understand what I'm saying. Like the pressure is on max because this is a moment

for him to become great, like to stand out as someone like, could you just say whatever town you're

in sucked and the guy you're wrestling that is bad died at some point or something. Like you have

to have something better. You have to be better than cookie cutter kind of miz from 10 years ago.

Because I, and the reason I'm so into this is because I want him to be great. I've seen this.

He reminds me of me, but he gets to talk and say whatever the hell he wants. That could be good,

and that could be bad because you need to have some semblance that says, if your thing is the talking,

you better talk my ass into the ring because everyone else is back in it up in the wrestling room

in the ring. So if Kenny's got the wrestling, and yeah, he goes, I'm wrestling god. I would never

call myself god. And I went, do I, does anyone else smell burning toast? I'm like, is this,

is, it's everyone watching this? But yes, I almost wanted to mute it because it was so cringe

and awkward. Do you want to, I wanted to mute my TV, but, you know, we, and that's the thing is,

we don't have this, like, I like, oh, Kenny's walking the ring. I'm not going, this is going to be

something that we're going to be playing back for years now, whatever he says here. It's, like,

that's why I was so disappointed in MJF last night because he's supposed to be the guy he's

taking in this behind the scenes. One, whether you see it that way or not, as we're discussing here,

it's a big moment for him to carry this with the microphone. And if he can't deliver with the

microphone for two guys, then maybe he shouldn't be in that position that he's in. Well, we're going

to find out. I have all the confidence in the world in Mac. Oh, yeah, we got a big fan. I'm a big

fan. And this is going to be a challenge coming up next more of Nick and I's conversation on AEW Dynamite.

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The challenges that we've seen from acts has more been in the ring. Can he hang with a Brian

Danison? Can he hang with a Brody King? Can he hang with, you know, and he has and he's succeeded.

You know, now we got him in a match with Kenny Omega, but now it's like the other side of it,

which is the microphone. We saw him go toe to toe with punk, but you know what, see I'm punk.

He's going to bring it back to you. He's going to fire back.

Kenny Omega is not that type of guy. You know, that type of guy that's going to that's going to

breathe fire back to you. So I'm interested and listen, Nick, we could be wrong. Maybe Kenny Omega

steps up here and delivers, you know, I'm more seeing if Kenny Omega could deliver on the microphone

over the next few weeks before we get the dynasty. That's a great call because yeah, if Kenny

comes through with like how this is so real to him and like, there's some good points. Like,

we're joking around by Kenny's talking, but like, there's some great points. He had like,

dude, I feel great. I'm wrestling my best and like when, and I don't just mean his wrestling part

when he is referencing himself and like, you see in his face, like, man, the dude was down.

The dude was injured. The dude was looking to maybe not wrestle anymore. Crazy health issues.

And like that, that without him saying anything gets me. I'm like, yeah, this dude is

back to kick it ass. This is the Kenny that when I first started watching AEW, this guy was jumping

out of the arena, stealing the show and being the absolute man on the show. So knowing that he can

get back to that and he's almost at that, that is really exciting to me without a story.

Now, Ed and the story of Max trying to become the man in AEW and it's like, if you get just a

little bit of that of the either like a tear in his eye for Kenny or just like like a growl or a

snarl that he's like, this is for real. And it's not just, hey, I'm giving back to the kids and

having a good man. And I'm going to carry Max in this match and do this awesome six star match.

And then you're not going to remember it the next week. You want to have something that

stands out that you remember forever and Kenny getting that work in and Kenny just a little

bit of a line of maybe this is my last shot to show everybody before I get too old that I should

be running this place. And in whether that is involved in the story or it is just the understood

story of, hey, we're getting up there in age. You can't always be on top forever. Is this the run?

That part gets me excited. So I want to see Kenny go, yeah, I feel good and just I know the promo

part won't be his duty. But if we see some actual human instincts and you can relate to him like,

man, can I go? Can I still do this? Should I be I'm everyone loves Kenny Omega? Should I be the

champion? I don't know. Prove it. Let us hear it. Let us see it. You're going to carry that match

and it's going to be six stars. Make a couple people who aren't sickos go, this is Kenny's last shot

at being the absolute man at AEW before it becomes like, ah, is it just because he's an EVP?

And now you get that going is someone like me looking at it and relating and going, is this

is this a situation I'm in? Is this what I need to do? And then it really pulls you in for the story

and then they deliver the matter. And there was there was a there was a second Nick in in Kenny's

promo where I thought he might go there because he mentioned that I'm almost at 100% like he said

that like and I don't know why you used that line. If you don't follow up on it, but he said I'm

almost at 100% like it would have been good to to humanize himself a little bit after that.

It was like, but you know, I'm almost at 100% but I'm not. And it's been a while since I've been

100%. Maybe I'm never going to be 100%. Maybe this is the decline of me in the ring, you know,

as a professional wrestler. This could be my last chance like hangman page can never go after

this AEW world championship. This might be the last time that I could go after that AEW world

championship. I'm an EVP. Maybe I'm closer to sitting behind the desk in an office somewhere

in Jacksonville that I am chasing after this. Just humanize that a little bit more where it's like

holy shit. Like you said, Nick, like maybe this is the last chance of me seeing seeing that

Kenya Omega that face to caught a wrestle kingdom or you know, you know, the first year of AEW,

you know, maybe this is my last chance to see that. That to me makes that match must watch

if I'm an AEW fan. Completely agree. And it's like and it's not just that pro wrestling promo of,

hey, here's my age. I've been around for 25 years. I'm killing it. It's not just that it's

behind the scenes aspect of people who are in that age range like myself going, can he still do it?

It when does it become the oh, we just love Kenny. So he's allowed to be on the show and it's like

you don't ever want to find yourself missing a step or getting some charity when you're in your

within your head, you're thinking that you're the absolute top guy. And it could be 10 more years

before he even takes a step back or loses a half of a step because he looks incredible in the ring.

But when you genuinely have that mortality of your wrestling career sitting there and you don't,

you utilize it. It draws me in even less. Let me hear it. Yeah, you don't even have to agree with

like how we're saying it's like, it's the last time. Maybe it's the last time I deserve to be fighting

for the world title here before I take a step back. It's not even that. It's the can my body do what

the the sickos and the rest of the world want as a world champion. Can I lead by example? Can I

open the show every night with a 20 minute world title match? Can I talk everyone into the arena?

Can I still be the EVP that is the face of the company and when everybody comes in and they

see my face on the marquee, they buy the tickets and go, I have to go see what he's doing is that

that is a genuine thing that we all deal with. And if you add just 10% of that into their story,

it'll be so real. You get a chance for him and Max to make magic while he can still be in that

area of his career to where it's not like, okay, Max kind of had a carry on, but they got through it.

This is Kenny is supposed to be the best MF or ever. You go carry Max. You make this the best

thing that everyone's talking about and you come out here and you get your applause from the sickos

and everybody else who loves pro wrestling. Yeah, Nick, you know, I love that train of thought

because there's the other thing where instead of doing last night, like heel promo 101, babyface

promo 101, maybe Kenny goes up to the MJF last night and says, I never thought I'd ever see

this. Like when you first came to AEW, we saw talent in you. That's why we wanted you a part of

this company, but to see how you've grown, like you by far exceeded anyone's expectations of what

they thought Maxwell Jacob Friedman was going to bring. I never thought that I would look at you

as the guy, the AEW world champion. The CUB, this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy, I never thought

I'd see that. You know, we came in. I was the best wrestler in the world and now here I am. I'm

looking at you and you got that AEW world championship around your waist. You just beat Hangman

Page. I got to say now you're the best wrestler in the world. I never thought that that sentence

would ever come out of my mouth. But Max, I got to say you're the best wrestler in the world

because you have that AEW world championship around your waist. Now I got to prove if I still got

it to call myself what people love to say, the pro wrestling God. Like that's like, oh shit. You

know, the words that you just said got me excited for the story. You just go, I got to see,

have you, can you imagine a world for even four years ago? Kenny Omega is the underdog trying

to unseat the champion that is Max that is carrying the company. It's such, it's so bizarre to anyone

who would think of this from a few years ago, not knowing where you're going to go down the line

four, five, six years ago. But yes, you watch Max ascend to the top. You watch Kenny have ups and

downs, health reasons, whatever it is. And now he's actually on the outside looking in going. Yeah,

I can beat you because I'm the better wrestler. But can I be the total package and come down and

actually defeat you and after everyone's invested in this match and then I go steal it and then I

get every I'm on the outside looking in as one of the greatest of all time. And I want that title.

And if I got and there's something that like you it's this real aspect that is not pro wrestling

that I keep going back to. It's like, it's not can I beat Max on this wrestling show in your brain

you're sitting there going, do I have what it takes to genuinely win this and make it happen

and make it the best because that is real life self-doubt that we all have all the time.

But when you're one of the greatest and you're looking to take down the champ, you need to have it

and it's it's something you second guess whether you have it or not. But that's what matters. That's

what will drive this story. I love it, Nick. And that's when you throw in I'm not at 100% as maybe

I never will be at 100% and I love that. Like now I'm the underdog. Now I'm the one that's fighting

from underneath and have to fight my way up to get to where you are right now. Like I love that

story. What I got last night was again, heel promo 101 babyface promo 101 and it really didn't

do anything for me. But again, Nick, I don't know if AEW cares. They delivered a great match with

Swerve and Kenny Omega. It was a great match. It was a hot way to start. I feel like that's more

important. And listen, I'm sure it's going to be people that call in today that are going to say

that that's more important than anything that anyone is going to say on a microphone. Yes. And to

the sickos, that's absolutely correct. What you want is the wrestling match and to know that the

marquee has their faces on it and then to go see the match. That's great. But there are others

of us out there and we do need, we need something special with this. If you want to always remember

this moment, Kenny, possibly at the end of the prime of his career and you got Max who is on ascending

to the top. We need Kenny to absolutely be the bout machine that he is. And most importantly,

we need Max to be better than a C plus version of the Miz. We need him to draw us in with his special

abilities. Kenny will take care of the wrestling. Draw us in with the reason you're the champ right

now and leading AEW. Don't half-ass it. Don't take the low-hanging fruit. Do something big.

Get everybody talking about you so they're not comparing you 10 years down the line. Do

remember when Max got carried to a couple good matches and then he could talk. So he got us all

in there and talking about it. This is a real chance to become a genuine 10 out of 10 Madden

creator character 99 friggin awesome champion for AEW and so far I'm disappointed in Max because

he kind of phoned it in last night. Catch the full three hours of busted open every day of the week

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