WWE Hall of Famer voices impact of AEW returns at WrestleDream

A WWE Hall of Famer recently shared his views on the shocking returns of MJF and Adam Cole at AEW WrestleDream 2024. The personality in question is Mark Henry.

The Wolf of Wrestling stepped foot in an AEW ring for the first time since All Out 2024, confronting Daniel Garcia in the Tacoma Dome this past Saturday. MJF was poised to brutalize The Red Death with his Dynamite Diamond Ring, but his plan would be foiled by a returning Adam Cole, who rushed to the ring and prompted MJF to flee the scene. The former WWE NXT Champion helped Garcia to his feet and later sent a clear message to his former friend and tag team partner on his way to the back.

Reflecting on the segment on Busted Open Radio, Mark Henry said that despite the narrative discontinuity signaled by Adam Cole's comeback as a babyface to confront a now-heel MJF, the returns of the stars solved one specific issue affecting the promotion - the lack of fresh faces who have been absent and who could contribute to the company's mid-card picture.

"It doesn't necessarily make sense, but it does something that I was saying [in the past] that AEW needed," Henry said. "They needed to get guys back because I was bored with the same old, same old. There's still three or four guys that are not back. Will Hobbs is not back. Ricky Starks is not back. ... Like, they need bodies. They need guys that, even if you don't have them at the main event capacity, they can work in the mid-card and make stories that make you want to watch wrestling." [H/T Wrestling Inc]

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Adam Cole and MJF's previous history in AEW

Several fans and analysts who watched AEW WrestleDream 2024 have expressed mixed opinions about Adam Cole and MJF seemingly switching face - heel dynamics during their confrontation at the pay-per-view.

This was because, within their storyline, it was Cole who betrayed Friedman first, revealing himself at the Worlds End pay-per-view to have been the man in the Devil mask who had plagued the former World Champion towards the end of 2023.

Notably, MJF returned to All Elite Wrestling at Double or Nothing earlier this year to take out his former Better Than You Bay Bay teammate with a vicious brainbuster. Friedman later regressed to the dark side when he turned on and attacked Daniel Garcia in July.

Arguably, Adam Cole making the save for the former ROH Pure Champion can lead to him being presented as a heroic figure once again, albeit with a complicated history.