Wardlow beat MJF so badly at AEW Double Or Nothing that it will likely keep The Salt Of The Earth off television for a while, which might not be an excellent thing for the breakout star of All Elite. Leading up to Double Or Nothing, Wardlow had been picking up momentum on a weekly basis, with fans chanting his name as he walked to the ring and cheering as he got closer to getting his hands on MJF. One stretcher job later, though, and now the June 1st episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite appears set to go on air with Wardlow and without Friedman. That could create a strange vacuum in on-air programming for the company, as Friedman has been a staple of the broadcast for months now, regardless of the feud he's been in.
Usually, being the one to give a heel their comeuppance is a good thing. It's one of the most influential storytelling devices in professional wrestling. It's why the outcome of Wardlow's match with MJF felt so cathartic while the finish of the Anarchy In The Arena match felt so flat. MJF isn't some run-of-the-mill villain. He's too charismatic to boo unless he's running down the city you're from, which means that AEW must tread carefully in how they handle Wardlow's win. Not even CM Punk gloated too much about taking down the wrestler who may as well be referred to as Mr. Wednesday Night. He just went right after Hangman Adam Page instead and secured himself a shot at the AEW World Championship, which he won.
Having Wardlow go over at Double Or Nothing was the right move, but booking him to boast about how he's "why Friedman won't be comin' round here anymore" might not be such a good idea. Up until recently, crowds were still popping for MJF, and he's a legitimate driver for AEW ratings. Another wrinkle here, of course, is MJF's ongoing contract dispute with Tony Khan and AEW. He no-showed a fan meet-and-greet ahead of Double Or Nothing and seemed to have real heat from the Las Vegas audience because of it. It remains to be seen whether or not that heat will carry over to the national level. Odds seem good that audiences in St. Louis and Ontario aren't going to care too much about MJF no-showing a fan event in Nevada.
How AEW handles Wardlow's victory at Double Or Nothing is almost more important than who his next feud will be against. He's too over to keep off of television for an extended period, which should be capitalized on. However, giving him the OK to hit the ring and put MJF through the wringer verbally might work against him. And once that viper is out of the basket, there's no getting it back in.
That is, unless AEW takes a page out of the Attitude Era playbook and allows Wardlow to bring up all the backstage issues that have been swirling around MJF for several weeks. All of this could go in any number of directions. If MJF and Khan managed to get onto the same page during their recent sit-down, then this work-turned-shoot could flip back to being a work, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats, wondering where the line between reality and wrestling actually is. However, should this turn out to not be the case, then Wardlow taking MJF off AEW could end up hurting him in the long run.