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MJF vs Bryan Danielson, AEW Revolution 2023

Standing across the ring were two individuals who despise each other.  On the left, the AEW world champion who had recently been proclaiming himself as the devil, a nickname appropriate to his cruel antics and deceitful personality. On the Right was the challenger, The American Dragon, Bryan Danielson. He is known as one of the best technical wrestlers that has ever lived, a wrestling prodigy, a violent striker, and a multi-time world champion across many different companies. There was a strong animosity filled the air, both of these men had been waiting months to get their hands on one another and push each other to their limits in a 60-minute Ironman match. But first, let’s look at how we got here.

At AEW ‘All Out’ 2021, Bryan Danielson made his debut in a surprise appearance after the infamous main event between Kenny Omega and Christian Cage. Since then, Danielson has made it crystal clear that he has come to AEW for one reason and one reason only, not to make friends, but to wrestle. In the closing of 2021, Danielson made it his ambition to go after the AEW World Championship, and for anyone who had the audacity to get in his way, he would “kick their f***ing head in”.

The picture shown below was towards the end of a match between Bryan Danielson and long time best friend Colt Cabana. In this match, a side of him was shown that had not been seen for 20 years. In a shocking display to the live crowd and viewers at home, Danielson took both of Cabana’s arms and began stomping his face numerous times, kicking two of his front teeth out before putting him in the LeBell Lock (omoplata + crossface). This match has since defined Bryan Danielson, although his attempt at capturing the AEW world championship was dashed in a successful defense by then champion ‘Hangman’ Adam Page.  

Ever Since his debut, the American Dragon has thrived in AEW, being one of the founding fathers of the Blackpool Combat Club alongside Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli and William Regal.  

Going against the likes of Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, and many others prior to his match at Revolution against MJF.

On January 7, 2019, an announcement was put out that independent pro wrestling star and rookie Maxwell Jacob Friedman had been signed by All Elite Wrestling for a five year deal. But little did everyone know, MJF would turn the wrestling world upside down, becoming the youngest and fastest rising star in the history of professional wrestling.

Since his signing in 2019, Maxwell has surpassed countless milestones in the company, embedding his name in the company and undeniably wrestling history at the age of 24. Some of these accomplishments include  being the longest and only holder of the Dynamite Diamond Ring, establishing a faction that terrorized the AEW roster known as The Pinnacle (disbanded June 1, 2022), being the youngest AEW World champion of all time, and vanquishing some of the top names in the company.

In a match that has been long anticipated for years, at AEW ‘Full Gear’ 2022, MJF successfully captured the prestigious All Elite Wrestling World Championship. But in an unexpected turn of events,   Jon Moxley’s manager and director of the Blackpool Combat Club William Regal seemingly made a deal with the devil in MJF. William passed him a pair of brass knuckles where he promptly hit Moxley over the head without the knowledge of the unconscious referee. With this pinfall over Moxley in 23 minutes, MJF had officially marked his legacy as the youngest AEW World Champion of all time, starting his dictatorship over All Elite Wrestling.

At AEW Dynamite following Full Gear, MJF was speaking for the first time since capturing the AEW World Championship. Alongside Max was William Regal, the man who turned his back on the Blackpool Combat Club. After MJF spoke to the crowd explaining his actions and what led up to his moment, Max thanked William one more time, then while William’s back was turned Max firmly clutched the brass knuckles given to him before knocking Regal out cold with one swift punch from behind. MJF doesn’t need a manager to speak for him, he doesn’t need a group or any type of protection, he is the greatest wrestler who has ever lived both on the microphone and in the squared circle.

Moments after this merciless attack by the world champion, Bryan Danielson rushed out to the aid of his mentor seriously hurt in the middle of the ring. In a rush, MJF left the arena hopping the barricade and racing away past the fans in attendance. After this segment, one thought ran through everyone’s mind, will Bryan Danielson be the man to dethrone the devil? Thus began the feud between the American Dragon Bryan Danielson, and the AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman.  

The following week on Dynamite, Bryan Danielson threw down the gauntlet for the AEW World Championship. He made a vow to the crowd and everyone watching at home that he will run through everyone in his path so he can be the one to put an end to this reign of terror.  

MJF in turn said that if he wants to earn a shot at the king, Danielson first must become #1 contender in the AEW Division, having the best win loss record of everyone in the locker room. If he can do this before March 5th (Revolution) he will give Danielson a championship match at AEW Revolution with no questions asked.

Fueled by the desire to win the AEW World Championship, the mind games that MJF has been playing on him, and to prove who the best wrestler in the world really is, Danielson agrees to wrestle every week under one condition: that he gets to pick the stipulation for their match at Revolution. What he has in mind is something that will show who is the better wrestler, a match that will push both of them way past their limits, this of course is a 60-minute Ironman match.

An Ironman match is a professional wrestling bout set for a specific amount of time. Whoever gains the most falls at the end of the time limit is declared the winner. Falls are decided by pinfall, disqualification, count out, and submission. Should the match be declared a draw, it will go into sudden death overtime for as long as it takes until one person wins. There is no time in between falls and the action resumes immediately after a fall is completed. There is a timer and scoreboard on the titantron for the entirety of the match.

Fulfilling his promise, Danielson went against a different challenger every week. Jumping through hoop after hoop MJF put in his way, Danielson became the number one contender for the AEW World Championship towards the end of February, much to the dismay of an irate MJF.

In the weeks leading up to Revolution, it was nothing less than psychological warfare between champion and challenger. Both got into several physical altercations and needed security to keep them apart until Revolution so they didn’t seriously hurt one another. But this was no easy task, the fans wanted to see them fight and not wait until March 5th. This match meant the world to both men who wanted to prove themselves as the superior talent.

The night of Revolution the match card was already packed, with matches such as Samoa Joe vs Wardlow, ‘Hangman’ Adam Page vs Jon Moxley in a Texas Death Match, the Elite vs House of Black, and many others. There was a tense atmosphere that filled the Chase Center in San Francisco as the ring announcer Justin Roberts introduced both wrestlers. Every single match leading up to this had absolutely torn the house down, but the fans didn’t know what was coming with the main event.

Once the two entered the ring, everyone in the arena was out of their seats.  Both were in the best shape of their lives and had been waiting months to go against each other. There was nowhere to run. The action started off slow with them feeling each other out, neither had gone one on one against each other before and Max was taking advantage of this. Taking multiple uncalled for “breaks” MJF went in and out of the ring every time Danielson laid a finger on him. In an attempt to get in his head, he kept going ringside for water, berating the crowd, and even at one point poured alcohol on a child. Max knew that he didn’t want to get into close quarters combat with Danielson so he wanted to play things slow against the challenger, his way.  But things quickly took a turn when Bryan Danielson hit MJF with his finisher the Busaiku knee, pinning the champion for the three count just 25 minutes into the match (0-1). Thinking fast, when MJF regained his thoughts he delivered an illegal low blow to Danielson, giving an automatic fall to his opponent (0-2). As Danielson was on the floor in unbearable pain, MJF immediately went for the pin and gained the 3rd fall (1-2).  

Taking advantage of the “no breaks in between falls” rule, MJF hastily went to pin Danielson for a second time and much to the bewilderment of fans in the arena, got the three count again tying up the score (2-2).

Attempting to kill three birds with one stone, MJF went for a third pin but Danielson’s pain and shock had worn off and he kicked out, leaving the score at a tie. This turn of events left the fans trying to comprehend what just happened, then the match took a gruesome turn.  

Nearly 40 minutes had passed, both wrestlers were beyond fatigued and running solely on adrenaline. Max’s left leg had been targeted repeatedly, and likewise Danielson was having his left arm attacked relentlessly by the Champion. Fighting through the pain, the match had become much more fast paced, hard hitting, and personal. The brawl was taken outside of the ring and from here MJF gained the upper hand, placing Danielson on the announcer’s table. What did he have in mind? Going completely against his normal style of wrestling, Max went to the top rope and to the surprise of everyone, delivered an elbow drop to a dazed and confused Bryan Danielson.

Quickly after this stunt, MJF, while in intolerable pain, threw himself into the ring hoping to get a count out victory over Bryan Danielson which would give him the lead. But surprisingly Danielson, unlocking a surge of adrenaline, just barely made it back inside the ring before the 10 count.  Anticipating this, MJF took Danielson to the apron where he hit his finisher, the ‘heatseeker’ (rope assisted piledriver) where he then pinned him for the three count (3-2). But instead of attempting to go for a second pinfall, Max fell away from Danielson, tending to his leg which had been taking a toll on him for a great majority of the match.

Time was going by quickly, with 12 minutes left in the match there wasn’t any time to waste. MJF had lost the upper hand and Bryan Danielson was making the most of this opportunity. MJF had mentioned Danielson’s wife and kids on multiple occasions with malicious intent and he was not interested in showing MJF mercy. Danielson went up to the top rope for a diving headbutt.  It was a direct hit, MJF’s forehead was busted wide open and he was losing blood fast.  Trying to take the initiative and even the score between them, Danielson put MJF in a unique arm-trap submission.  Knowing that he had his sight inhibited by the blood going into his eyes and his leg was too impaired to attempt to reach the ropes for a rope break, Max tapped out before any further damage could be done (3-3).

There were 3 minutes left before overtime and both men were on the verge of collapse. MJF was given two black eyes during the match, and Bryan Danielson was struggling to stand upright due to his wounds and lacerations at the hands of MJF. The fans were on the edge of their seats, what was going to happen next? With two minutes left in the match, Bryan Danielson put a Boston crab submission on MJF targeting his bad left leg with the hope of getting him to tap out before the timer ran out. Facing away from the timer, MJF didn’t know how long he had to endure. He was in agony for two minutes straight, but in the end outlasted the timer. This match had been declared a draw, medical personnel and staff entered the ring to administer oxygen to MJF and try to restore feeling in his leg.  Suddenly, the ring announcer’s voice ran through the whole arena, “this match will continue until one man is declared the winner, sudden death rules!”  Hearing these words, both men experienced a second wind, there was a euphoric feeling throughout the Chase Center. 

MJF had already pulled every trick in the book against Danielson to no avail, the energy was tangible in the crowd and every single person wanted to see MJF finally get his head kicked in. About 7 minutes later after several unsuccessful attempts at cheating, MJF rolled out of the ring to hopefully get a much needed rest. But next to him was a discarded oxygen tank left by one of the doctors who came out when everyone thought the match was over. MJF took the oxygen tank and held it just waiting for Bryan Danielson to go after him.  Reaching out from the ropes, Danielson tried to grab Max’s hair to pull him back in the ring when suddenly MJF cracked Bryan Danielson over the skull with the oxygen tank unbeknownst to the referee, he then disposed of the evidence under the ring. Was this premeditated or was this just luck? Nobody will ever know because after this blow, with haste MJF rolled back into the ring with a large, sadistic grin on his face. Max then adding insult to injury, put Bryan Danielson in his own finisher, the LeBell Lock. Danielson tried with all his power to escape, but was unsuccessful in his attempts and MJF wasn’t letting go. With the crowd on Danielson’s side being the loudest they had ever been that night, he tapped out (4-3).

The crowd went nearly dead silent, wondering what just happened.  The ambience in the Chase Center took a sudden and drastic turn, some people were confused, others were too shocked to say anything, and many were devastated. This wasn’t the outcome the crowd was expecting, the two laid motionless on the floor after the war they had been through. MJF laughed through the tears, propped himself against the turnbuckle to look relish in his victory, he had just made one of the greatest of all time submit to his own finisher. MJF had slain the American Dragon, pushing through adversity and multiple injuries. After this match there was only one question left to be answered. Who and what kingdom will put an end to MJF’s reign of terror?