#38: Jungle Boy vs. MJF, AEW Double or Nothing (5/23/2020).
These two have certainly changed since this, haven't they? MJF is almost as ripped as PAC, and is one of the most popular wrestlers in the company, while Jungle Boy is just Jack Perry, the bearded heel in the Elite who made a bitter and pissy punk go back to WWE.
MJF was talking of injuries he had sustained leading into this...which weren't serious injuries at all. One of them was a hang nail. What a heel. Jungle Boy wants to shut him up, and move one step closer to the top of the promotion.
They lock up, and they go apart quickly. MJF is already annoyed. Side headlock by MJF. Shoulder tackle and JB nips up. JB with some acrobatics to throw MJF off. Shoulder tackle to MJF, and he nips up. JB sends him to the outside. JB gets MJF trapped in a body scissors. They do that thing where their legs are trapped and they stand on top of their heads. Slaps and exchanges, and JB gets the upper hand.
Chops by JB in the corner. MJF is down with a knee injury - just kidding. He attacks JB from behind and drives his boot into his face. "What an ass." - Tony Schivaone. Sleeper hold next by MJF. He drops his whole weight to add pressure. Front sleeper belly to belly by MJF. He does the Flair strut and JB slaps the shit out of him. Middle rope crossbody by JB. Big back elbow to the nose by MJF. JB tries a poison Rana, and MJF blocks. JB turns it into a roll up for 2. MJF with a backbreaker, and some punches to the head.
Slap to the back by MJF. He sends JB into the buckle with an arm whip. JB blocks a chop with a boot to the hand. He comes off the ropes with a clothesline. Chops in the ropes, then a jumping double handed chop from JB. MJF sends him to the outside, then a baseball slide transition into a slap to the face. JB is back on the offensive with two topes, and a springboard dive.
JB comes off the middle rope with a Swinging DDT, and MJF gets his foot on the bottom rope. MJF dives off the middle rope with a double stomp to the extended arm. Stand off in the middle. Chop by MJF, and one from JB. Nice back and forth exchange! MJF with a chop to the injured arm. JB fights back with more of his own. MJF with a chop to the throat. JB with a thrust kick, MJF with a forearm, JB with a Destroyer. MJF with a kick. He falls on JB and gets 2. JB with a Crossface out of that. He couldn't retain the grip due to the Hurt arm.
MJF hits JB with the JML Driver and that gets a nearfall. On the apron, JB with a poisonrana. In the Ring, JB trips on the top rope. MJF meets him up there, and JB hits an avalanche Liger Bomb from the top for a close 2 count. JB tries for a deadlift German Suplex, but his arm gives out. Back slide from MJF gets a 2 count. He tries for the Salt of the Earth. And JB pops a roll up for 2.
MJF with a roll up, JB counters into one of his own, and MJF counters that into a roll up with the tights to win. I definitely liked this match more in 2020 when it aired than I do now. That's not to say it's bad. It's just that I can see the flaws more after four years. A lot of this match feels like it's on autopilot, and they are just moving from sequence to sequence.
That said, I'm okay with a match like that if the sequences are fun, and here, they are fun. This is a battle between two men who would go on to be top level players in AEW, and it's awesome to come back to this so many years later, especially while seeing where they are at present day.