AEW: MJF and Darby Allin’s feud is a look at the future of AEW

On a recent episode of AEW Dynamite, we saw the beginning of a new program when Darby Allin came out to the ring to interrupt an MJF promo.

In just two short years, Maxwell Jacob Friedman has developed a reputation of not only being one of the best promos in the business but also one of the overall top heels in all of professional wrestling.

His promos usually leave wrestling fans talking as he walks right up to the line of what is considered acceptable, and sometimes maybe even a step or two over that line.

MJF’s promo on Darby Allin was no exception.

Friedman started off telling Darby that he was a fan of Darby’s “school shooter mime on a skateboard routine” and it just got darker from there.

MJF would get real personal next as he would reveal to the world why Darby Allin is straight edge, meaning that Allin lives his life without the use of tobacco, alcohol, or drugs.

When Darby was five years old, he was picked up by his uncle who had been drinking.  Darby’s uncle would proceed to get into an accident that would take his life, but thankfully Darby survived.

After recounting this very personal story of Darby Allin’s youth, MJF would remark that it was a tragedy, but only because the wrong man died that night.

As MJF goaded Darby to hit him, Darby opened his eyes and told MJF that he would not hit him, because MJF would not break Allin mentally.

Darby stayed mentally tough and it was clearly visible how much that flustered MJF.  Max had no answer to Darby’s reaction except to retreat and regroup.

And with that, an extremely intriguing program between two young performers on the cusp of becoming superstars was born.

Darby Allin versus MJF is an important feud for AEW.

This segment was very good for a number of reasons.

First, MJF is just an absolutely perfect heel.  His promos are always on point and he always sharpens his insults to cut as deeply as humanly possible.  And he hit the nail squarely on the head once again in this one.

But this segment was different in a way that really stood out.

Friedman has always been able to win the mental game with his opponents before ever entering the ring by being better than everyone else on the microphone.

So much better, in fact, that his opponent usually feels backed into a corner in which the only answer they have is to come out swinging.  And of course, the presence of Wardlow always makes that a bad idea.

But on this occasion, Darby Allin stayed strong and beat MJF at his own game.

MJF went on to even the score last Wednesday when a number of masked men, (who very clearly were the Pinnacle) attacked Darby Allin backstage.

Could this attack be enough to get a rise out of Darby going forward in a way that Darby’s rage will continue to put him in bad spots against MJF and the Pinnacle or will Darby’s ability to stay level-headed frustrate MJF to point that Darby gets in Friedman’s head, the same way that MJF is accustomed to being able to do?

It will be very interesting to see.

But perhaps what is the most exciting thing about his program is something that MJF alluded to in his promo before getting interrupted by Allin.

In the eyes of MJF and many others, there are four young pillars in AEW that are the future of the company, Sammy Guevara, Jungle Boy, Darby Allin, and MJF.

Both MJF and Darby Allin hold victories over Sammy Guevara and Jungle Boy.  So it can be said that MJF and Darby Allin are farther along in their journey to the top of the promotion than Sammy Guevara and Jungle Boy are at this point.

So when Darby Allin and MJF do finally square off in a wrestling match, it may just be for the right to be called the number one young talent in all of AEW, as these two men have done nothing but excel from the moment they arrived in the promotion.

It will be very interesting to see how AEW handles the outcome of this program.  But one thing is for sure.  The promotion’s future is in good hands with MJF and Darby Allin leading the way into the future.