For the first time in AEW history, a tag team championship was put on the line in a handicap match. MJF once again opened the show, following his tag team victory over The Dark Order at AEW All Out 2023.
Due to Adam Cole breaking his ankle at AEW Grand Slam 2023, he was forced to go it alone against The Righteous in the first match at WrestleDream 2023.
MJF came out to a huge pop, carrying all three belts (both tag team titles and the AEW Championship), with a mic in hand ready to cut a promo for the live crowd. He immediately addressed the rumors that he attacked Jay White on AEW Dynamite, denying he had anything to do with it – even claiming somebody stole his mask to put on the attack.
MJF then claimed he was going to bodyslam the larger of the two wrestlers (Dutch) up against him. He the threatened to grab the other’s dreadlocks and shove them up his parners rear end. With the preamble out of the way, MJF made his way to the ring for this two-on-match for the ROH Tag Team Championships.
Much like the other tag team title defenses, MJF played more to the character aspects of his newfound face wrestling. He played up to the crowd, encouraging the fans to cheer and posturing as he beat up Tne Righteous. However, it soon came back to bite him, as they ganged up on the AEW Champion and went to work in wearing him down.
MJF continued to do his best impression of Hulk Hogan, shaking wildly as he tried to escape from submission moves. He even tried to tag in Adam Cole after escaping, looking sad as he remembered his partner was gone. He tried multiple times to bodyslam Dutch, failing in various different ways.
The Righteous hit a number of big moves, including Powerbombs, Boss Man Slam’s and even attempted chair shots, but MJF fought back. He squeezed the testicles of Vincent to stop him nailing MJF in the face with the chair, as Bruce Remsburg caught Vincent red-handed with the chair.
MJF barely avoided catastrophe, sitting up to avoid a Swanton Bomb at the last minute. He crawled over to the corner, looking for tag to Adam Cole that would never come. Instead, he just performed the hot tag sequence himself, as the crowd chanted for him to “Bodyslam” the larger Dutch.
The AEW Champion mimicked Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania III, calling for the bodyslam before sending Dutch slamming to the ground – a clear reference to Hogan vs Andre The Giant. He then threw Vincent headfirst into the bottom of Dutch, completing his promise before hitting his famed Kangaroo Kick. MJF then hit Dutch with the Heatseeker Piledriver, but put his foot on the ropes so he could still cheat to win.
This was a fun performance from MJF, who retained the ROH Tag Team titles in one of his most hilarious performances. He is embracing being a face, and made it clear that he can keep those belts until Cole is back from injury.