Wednesday’s “AEW Dynamite” was set to be one of the biggest of 2023 so far regardless of how it turned out. With Adam Cole vs. MJF for a shot at MJF’s AEW World Championship as the main event, no more NBA or NHL playoff competition siphoning off viewers, the debut of “AEW Collision” this weekend, and Forbidden Door a couple of weeks away, it’s an important show no matter what. The title eliminator ended up opening the show, tearing the house down with a twist: Cole did not win as expected, instead taking MJF to the 30-minute time limit for non-title matches in AEW.

Referee Bryce Remsburg was bumped near the end of the match, only for MJF to try to flop and frame Cole with a belt shot, but Remsburg missed it while trying and failing to get up, so Cole hit the champion with an actual belt shot and the Boom, which got a two count. MJF then tried to use the Dynamite Diamond Ring, but Remsburg stopped him, allowing Cole to hit his entire finishing sequence and cover MJF, with the time limit expiring before Bryce could slap the mat a third time. After the match, Cole demanded five more minutes, but the champion turned him down.

Cole had been in the world title picture a year ago when he was sidelined by back-to-back concussions, which kept him on the shelf for nine months. Before that, he had two unsuccessful challenges against then-AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page and one against then-IWGP World Heavyweight Champion “Switchblade” Jay White. The second concussion, the one that triggered his long layoff, came in the White match, which was a four-way at Forbidden Door 2022 that also included Page and Kazuchika Okada. He returned on March 29 with a victory over Daniel Garcia.