A certain pocket of wrestling fans are always hoping to see more promos and character-building moments on AEW television, but there is such a thing as talking in circles, and that’s exactly what Jay White and MJF did this week. The idea for the two of them to have a confrontational promo segment to establish White as MJF’s next challenge for the AEW World Championship was a good one on paper, but the two men didn’t execute it well.

Both MJF and White are good talkers, have great facial expressions, and have the charisma required to carry a segment like this. However, they spent large chunks of time saying the exact same thing on repeat rather than being short, snappy, and to the point. It didn’t help that AEW had already run a big promo angle immediately before with Adam Cole announcing his injury and Roderick Strong appearing — the fans’ patience by this point was strained by another big chunky section of talking in the same segment.

However, had MJF and White gotten to the point sooner and then ended things, it would have worked perfectly fine, as the audience was initially intrigued. Instead, MJF rambled on about not wanting White to take shots at the audience, followed by the Bullet Club Gold leader talking a whole lot without saying anything of real substance. He made his point about wanting to take the title from MJF, and then did so again, and again, and again as the crowd reactions started to wane — not the hot start to the angle AEW was looking for.

Mysterious show-closing angle aside, it’s important to remember that MJF is not facing White at WrestleDream. Considering this was a go-home episode for a PPV, it would have made more sense to cut some time from this segment and promote the matches that will actually be on that card.