Heading into Dynamite, the pressure was on for MJF to show up and show out against the “Japanese Phenomenon,” Konosuke Takeshita, in an eliminator match for the AEW World Championship

On paper, MJF had the clear advantage; he's the AEW World Champion, hasn't lost a match since May of 2022 at Double or Nothing, and has all of the momentum in the world at his back, but a small but vocal segment of the fanbase really wanted to see Takeshita secure the win and the hype surrounding a major upset – albeit, in an elimination match – was rapidly growing. Sure, Takeshita wasn't going to win the Triple B, but forcing a second bout with the “Salt of the Earth” on the following edition of Dynamite would be huge for his young career, especially after earning the respect of Ric Flair earlier in the week.

Unfortunately, that wasn't meant to be, as MJF beat down the former DDT star, and at the end of the match, Takeshita took a brutal shot with the Dynamite Diamond Ring that caused him to bleed all over the mat and sent him to the back for further testing. Riding high on the win, MJF used the occasion to send a message to Bryan Danielson about why he's not someone to be messed with but not before cutting an absolutely incredible promo that fans will be talking about for years to come.

MJF told Bryan Danielson, AEW a little story about adversity.

Inviting Lexy Nair and the camera crew to his locker room after his win over Takeshita, MJF wanted to unburden his conscience with an absolutely incredible three-plus minute promo.

“Takeshita, everybody was talking about you like you were the next big thing, and I’ll give you credit, big man, you are really good, but you’re no match for a generational talent such as myself. But don’t blame yourself, bud, nobody is,” MJF said. “Brian Danielson, you treat me like I’m some sort of scumbag, these fans treat me like I’m a scumbag, you know, I don’t know if you people hate me because I’m twisted or if I’m twisted because you hate me but here’s what I do know, I know that a man does not know what he is truly made of until he is met with adversity. I remember the first time that I was, oh yeah, Lexy Nair, it was junior year of high school, and boy, oh boy, was I a speed demon. I loved whipping around in my beautiful blue Camero, and I just kept getting speed ticket, after speed ticket, after speed ticket, and eventually, I was only one point away from getting my license revoked, and then junior prom hit. Me and my football buddies, we showed up in our letterman’s, and we hooked up with all the fine hotties Long Island had to offer. But there was one girl in particular, for legal reasons, let’s call her Liv, man she was my high school crush, she was perfect. I saw her across the dance floor, beautiful sun-kissed brown skin, amazing light brown eyes, short curly brown hair, and the most infectious smile you’ve ever seen. She was perfect.”

“So I walked up to her, and I said, ‘baby, let’s go for a spin.’ We hopped in my beautiful Camero, I got to driving, and she got to (you know,) and it distracted me. Once she finished that up, I decided to put the pedal to the metal, and unfortunately, that night, it was raining like cats and dogs. We then hydroplaned, and we went roaring, spinning off the road. I panicked, and I went to put my foot on the brakes, but instead, I hit the accelerator, and at 90 miles an hour *boom,* we hit a telephone pole.”

“When I woke up, and I came to, I tasted pennies in my mouth, and I didn’t know why. I was confused, I was concussed, I looked down, and my hands were covered in blood, and then I looked at my sweet Liv. Her head had cracked my windshield, she was not moving at all, and when I put my finger under her nose, and thank god she was breathing, and then, off in the distance, police sirens started to roar. There it was, ‘Dragon,’ adversity, and in that moment, I found out what kind of man I am. Do you want to know who I am, ‘Dragon?’ I’m the type of guy who grabbed Liv’s lifeless body and switched seats with her, so when the cops showed up, I wasn’t the one driving.”

“In this life, there are winners and losers, the history books don’t care how you get the job done. You want to talk about exposing me ‘Dragon,’ well tonight, I expose you! You will be met with adversity, and everybody watching from home will know that you don’t have the guts, you don’t have temerity, you don’t have the balls to do what it takes to be a winner. There will be no match at Revolution, there will be no Iron Man Match, and you will never, ever come close to holding the grandest prize of them all, the Triple B. Because yes, Brian, I am a scumbag, and I’m d*mn proud of it!”

Did MJF just admit to tampering with a crime scene at best and potential vehicular manslaughter at worst on national television? Did MJF just accept that being an over heel doesn't require even a little bit of empathy and that he should just fully embrace being the best wrestler but the worst guy? And what about his high school sweetheart, who, again, almost died and was never mentioned again despite MJF being a fixture of the rest of the show? Needless to say, after watching Danielson punch his ticket to Revolution with a win over RUSH, the AEW Galaxy has a good vs. evil match on the books that would even make MJF's mentor Cody Rhodes blush. Buckle up, folks, this feud is only speeding up.