MJF did not walk out Full Gear unscathed.
The AEW World Champion has now held onto the title for over a year following a successful defence of the title against Jay White. Playing the valiant babyface, Maxwell Jacob Friedman was sent to the hospital following an attack by The Gunns on the pre-show before making a valiant return just before the main event, saving Adam Cole, who was still on crutches, from competing on his behalf.
While the injury inflicted by The Gunns was of course all part of the storyline, a spot in the main event match did more damage. As noted by Dave Meltzer in a daily update, the World Champion dislocated his hip in the match, but is not expected to miss TV time:
While MJF is in great pain from a dislocated hip, it did pop back in and he is scheduled to appear at TV this week.
MJF was setting up White on the announce table to dive off the top rope to the outside with an elbow drop. However, the table would break as White was placed onto it. Still wanting to execute the manoeuvre, the World Champion dove off the top rope and landed on the mat, not having the table to break his fall.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer revealed that this was the spot that caused the injury and noted that even Hall of Famer Mick Foley would not execute the spot in his career:
He was on the top rope. And it’s like, it’s kind of exactly what I thought. It’s kind of like, I’m up here, the guys down there. I guess I got to do it. And it probably wasn’t the smartest move.
And hopefully next time the situation is similar, if it ever happens, again, with the table that, you know, breaks at a time. Just climb down, you know, because that was when I saw that I was just like, Oh, God, you know, I mean, you know, you could see the spot being set up, you know what the spot was. But when the table broke, I mean, it’s like, it’s one thing to do that move off the apron, like Mark Briscoe and Mick Foley do it.
That was pretty crazy for a guy who’s usually not doing crazy moves. And, you know, there’s a reason that Mick Foley never did that move. And Mick Foley was crazy when it came to inflicting punishment on himself. And so MJF actually did something crazier than Mick Foley, which is probably not, you know, smartest thing I guess, in hindsight.
Meltzer concluded by stating that although MJF is in a lot of pain, he will be available for the Worlds End pay-per-view, which takes place in his home town of Long Island:
But, you know, yeah, he’s dealing with a lot of pain and you know, but yeah, I mean, he’ll be apparently he’ll be ready for the Pay-Per-View, with Samoa Joe, which looks like that’s the December show in Queens or in Nassau Coliseum.
In a further update in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was revealed that the World Champion decided to do the spot even though the table broke as he thought if he didn’t dive off the top rope to the outside then the crowd would go flat.
MJF Reportedly Decides His Future
At the start of the year, the World Champion made it very clear that he had no loyalty to any promotion and was simply looking to take the highest offer in “the bidding war of 2024.” It has been noted that The Generational Talent has been quieter about this in recent months, only bringing up his contract status to fans in attendance when the cameras have stopped rolling. This is because according to a new report, there has been a major update on MJF’s contract status and talks with WWE.
The Full Gear match was not well received by everyone. According to a new report, Jay White was not thrilled with the events that took place at AEW Full Gear.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit Wrestling Observer Radio and leave a h/t to Inside The Ropes.