MJF has spent the last fortnight on AEW television insisting the All In main event is fake and that he should be in it. Backstage, according to a new report, nobody ever considered putting him there.
Fightful Select reports that sources within AEW have said since around February that Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay for the AEW World Championship was always the plan to close Wembley. Rumours that emerged before Beach Break of an internal push to add MJF to that match are described as false and, per the report, the idea was never on the table.
What was planned, and planned early, is where he actually ended up. MJF has been slotted for the men’s Casino Gauntlet since before he lost the world title to Omega, and Andrade El Idolo has been in those plans just as long. The report says the match was built to lean heavily on both of them for name value.
Television has since caught up with the plan. Andrade earned the first guaranteed entry at Grand Slam Mexico, and MJF took the second on Wednesday’s Dynamite from Las Vegas by beating Nick Wayne and Mike Bailey. Both men are now locked in.
The on-screen version has MJF carrying his old belt, calling himself the real world champion, and telling Omega and Ospreay to pray they do not have to face him. He has laid out the plan himself: win the Gauntlet, cash in, take the title back.
All In is on August 30 at Wembley Stadium. Also announced are Willow Nightingale defending the Women’s World Championship against Mercedes Mone, Adam Copeland and Christian Cage defending the World Tag Team Championships against the Young Bucks, and Divine Dominion defending the Women’s World Tag Team Championships against the Brawling Birds.
