MJF and Adam Cole’s tag team was surprisingly successful, and as “Better Than You, BayBay,” they quickly became fan favorites. However, everyone expected MJF to betray Cole, only for the “Panama Playboy” to turn on Friedman instead, but injuries and odd booking resulted in the angle ending on a sour note instead.

“Here’s what happened: at the time, and this is just a fact, we were the highest minute-for-minute drawing angle, not just in AEW, but all of professional wrestling at that point,” MJF recalled about his pairing with Cole during an interview with Fightful. He additionally pointed out how he and Cole sold the most merch in AEW at that point. “Bloodline’s going to go down as one of the greatest long-term [storylines], right? But at that point, there was a bit of a lull in their story, at that point in 2023, and we had taken the lead.”

Friedman further opined that everyone was talking about “Better Than You, BayBay,” but criticized Cole for sustaining an injury midway through their feud. However, MJF was able to find a silver lining to the rough year.

“But I learned a lot in that year, I learned a lot about myself. You know, when I was out – full disclosure – I was in a dark place…when I had that time off, I had a lot of time to reflect, and it made me angry.” MJF interestingly admitted that he shouldn’t have been angry at the fans, but he angry at himself for his injuries.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Fightful” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.