{"id":215557,"date":"2026-04-27T15:02:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=215557"},"modified":"2026-04-27T15:05:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:05:44","slug":"aew-rising-and-fading-stars-mjf-is-on-a-role-and-heres-what-hes-doing-that-really-stands-out-but-will-ospreays-direction-is-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/04\/27\/aew-rising-and-fading-stars-mjf-is-on-a-role-and-heres-what-hes-doing-that-really-stands-out-but-will-ospreays-direction-is-off\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW RISING AND FADING STARS: MJF is on a roll and here&#8217;s what he&#8217;s doing that really stands out, but Will Ospreay&#8217;s direction is off"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2843797271\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Welcome everyone!!!<\/p>\n<p>I am back with another AEW Rising and Fading Stars of the Week column. We had another solid week of AEW television. Now when we get to Dynamite this Wednesday we will be in day 14 of Darby Allin\u2019s reign as AEW World Champion.<\/p>\n<p>Before we get there, let\u2019s look back at last week.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>RISING STAR OF THE WEEK<\/h3>\n<p><strong>MJF<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am so happy to be able to write this one about the generational talent, the Devil, Big Hebrew, the man who is better than me and I know it &#8211; M\u2026J\u2026.F.<\/p>\n<p>For everyone who felt MJF losing the title to Darby was a joke, I say look at last weeks Dynamite and how MJF acted during the show. Was that not fun? MJF being unhinged and excuse filled after the loss was perfect. He was a jerk, obnoxious, delusional, funny, and most of all serious. MJF losing the title is going to be okay if this is the MJF it produces.<\/p>\n<p>AEW has conditioned their fans to think most AEW World Title reigns are going to be pretty long. So what they have done in the last nine months is different and keeps everyone on their toes, in my opinion. Also, four title changes over nine months is not crazy or, everyone\u2019s favorite phrase, \u201chotshot booking.\u201d Instead it\u2019s just a change of pace and I think it\u2019s refreshing. Not to mention two out of the four reigns during those nine months went 100-plus days. Did you know &#8220;Stone Cold&#8221; Steve Austin only had one title reign that eclipsed 100 days? All I am saying is that sometimes it\u2019s good to switch the title back and forth as long as you do have those longer title reigns to anchor the title.<\/p>\n<p>Back to MJF. He showed that the loss will not hinder his, awful, relationship with the fans. MJF is a guy who will always be able to talk himself out of a hole. If he loses, he will act just like he did last Wednesday. Then if he wins, he is going to gloat all day, every day.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1146395820\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Now this match between MJF and Kevin Knight seems a little weird. Personally, after Wednesday\u2019s third-person promo, I refuse to call Knight &#8220;The Jet&#8221; anymore. I felt Knight came off as a heel more than a babyface in the promo. I say that with no ill will; it\u2019s just how it came off and I think Knight will make a good arrogant heel very soon.<\/p>\n<p>As for this match coming up and it being for the TNT Title, I think it\u2019s weird, like I said, but I do think MJF might win. Darby\u2019s comment about MJF needing to put something on the line to get another AEW World Title shot has my antennas on alert. Darby has held that title before and I\u2019m sure he would like to hold both titles at the same time, because in 2026 that\u2019s what everyone wants?<\/p>\n<p>If MJF doesn\u2019t win the TNT Title, what is he going to put up to get the match with Darby? That is something I am really intrigued with because I\u2019m kind of clueless. Unless MJF is going to put the same thing &#8220;Hangman&#8221; Adam Page put on the line except MJF wins? I\u2019m not sure but I\u2019ll definitely be watching Dynamite to see what happens.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of the &#8220;All Elite Conversation Club&#8221; with Joel Dehnel and Gregg Kanner, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/all-elite-conversation-club-dehnel-kanner-talk-darby-defending-title-against-ciampa-double-or-nothing-developments-ospreay-storyline--71627626\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"All Elite Conversation Club - Dehnel &amp; Kanner talk Darby defending title against Ciampa, Double or Nothing developments, Ospreay storyline\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=71627626&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>FADING STAR OF THE WEEK<\/h3>\n<p><strong>WILL OSPREAY<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I get it; they are telling a long term story with Will Ospreay right now and I\u2019m here for the story. What happened with him and the Death Riders, specifically Jon Moxley, on Collision was great. Mostly because of Mox, though, as Ospreay just sat and listened.<\/p>\n<p>What I don\u2019t get is why, when Ospreay is in the ring, the story for every singles match has to revolve around his neck. It has just been too much. If he really is one big move from retirement then how does he get cleared to even get in the ring? It all just takes me, and at times the crowd, completely out of his matches.<\/p>\n<p>Going forward I hope they really do away with all the neck stuff. Have the Death Riders teach him some neck strengthening techniques or something. We, as fans, don\u2019t need or want to think Ospreay might be paralyzed because of a crazy move. Just tell a good wrestling story and the AEW fanbase will happily accept it.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3160681386\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show (4\/22) - AEW Dynamite w\/Keller &amp; Zilem\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BS44Auv3nhg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2058720666\"><div id=\"pwtor-725843791\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Welcome everyone!!! I am back with another AEW Rising and Fading Stars of the Week column. We had another solid week of AEW television. Now when we get to Dynamite this Wednesday we will be <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/04\/27\/aew-rising-and-fading-stars-mjf-is-on-a-role-and-heres-what-hes-doing-that-really-stands-out-but-will-ospreays-direction-is-off\/\" title=\"AEW RISING AND FADING STARS: MJF is on a roll and here&#8217;s what he&#8217;s doing that really stands out, but Will Ospreay&#8217;s direction is off\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":215559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,4309,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-rising-star-fading-star","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-27-at-2.55.40-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215557"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215563,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215557\/revisions\/215563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}