I’m not sure if you know this, but at one point in time, MJF tried out for WWE and was let down by a seemingly endless stream of veterans that he now shares a locker room with. Last year, MJF’s riveting tale of disappointment made for some dramatic television between the AEW World Champion and former Blackpool Combat Club manager William Regal, but something about this Wednesday’s invocation of MJF’s fateful tryout felt lazy and uninspired.

MJF, already plagued with neck issues, already dealing with his best friend Adam Cole’s former friends, seemingly put a hat on a hat last week by bumping into Samoa Joe, which led to a showdown between the two men.

Wednesday night, MJF called out Joe and brought up the infamous moment on an “NXT” TakeOver, when Samoa Joe shoved the then-WWE extra into a wall during his entrance. While a bit formulaic, MJF was able to hit the same beats he hit when dressing down Regal for not believing in him. The crowd invested in the novelty of MJF delivering his “WWE let me down” speech as a babyface, and at one point the two men went back and forth on who has the smaller d**k. The verbal war of words led to a confrontation between Joe and MJF, in which the Ring of Honor World Television Champion dropped MJF on his neck.

An already long segment ran even longer as MJF was helped to the back by physicians, overacting the whole way. Commentary, usually known for slipping into the “Owen Hart Tragedy Voice” at the drop of a hat, almost jovially talked over MJF’s injury, further deflating an already limp segment.

MJF has successfully used his trauma in past promos but eventually, wells run dry, and lodes get mined, and MJF is seemingly scraping the bottom of his barrel of bad memories.