Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Contrary to what some wrestling fans may tell you, the business is filled with loads of talented workers who know how to turn a crowd against them. In NXT, you have Shayna Baszler and you had Tommaso Ciampa. Daniel Bryan excelled as an antagonist for a while before his slow-burn face turn started a couple of months ago. Last time I checked, the New Japan fans still despise “Switchblade” Jay White. In Impact Wrestling, you’ll find World Champion Sami Callihan catching his own spit in his mouth to the disgust of everybody watching.
But the man who may stand head and shoulders above those phenomenal heels plies his trade in AEW: Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF). Following his betrayal of Cody at last Saturday’s Full Gear pay-per-view, MJF sauntered down the ramp to Cody’s entrance music — in a manner that made you want to jump through the TV screen and punch him — and addressed why he threw in the towel during “The American Nightmare’s” title match against Chris Jericho and kicked his supposed best friend low.
The promo itself was pretty standard fare — it included the usual “[babyface] is the real bad guy” and “[babyface] was using me” charges — but MJF’s delivery, mannerisms, and ability to read the crowd made this stand out. It also helped that Friedman immediately sucked up to “Christopher” Jericho, who was gloating about his win over Cody before MJF came out, and lobbied for a spot in Jericho’s Inner Circle faction.
Between that, the spontaneous Juventud Guerrera references, and a nod to an old Jericho/Kevin Owens RAW segment, MJF did more than enough to get fans frothing at the mouth for his eventual beatdown at the hands of Cody. You know, like a great heel does.