As part of the AEW Double or Nothing 2023 main event, a storyline relationship began to build between Sammy Guevara and MJF.
Sadly, it showed that Sammy Guevara is not a main event player in AEW.
The AEW Championship match between the Four Pillars of AEW should have been a star-making performance for the three challenges, but just went to show how far ahead of the pack MJF truly is.
MJF and Sammy Guevara Storyline
The real meat of the AEW Championship storyline, going into Double or Nothing 2023, came between the two heels in the match – MJF and Sammy Guevara.
After his big win over Bryan Danielson at Revolution, the challenger for MJF’s world title was still a mystery. However, fans erupted why he was interrupted during a Dynamite promo by Jungle Boy, Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara.
The three men challenged MJF to a match, but he rejected it. Instead, a tournament was set up, with the three men battling it out to become the number one contender for the AEW Championship.
MJF later helped Sammy Guevara to defeat both Jungle Boy and Darby Allin, helping him earn the title shot against himself. He compounded this by offering Guevara a huge amount of money to lie down in their title match.
This seemed a very odd choice for the storyline. MJF and Sammy Guevara had never got on over the years, with their tension being the main sticking point in MJF joining the Inner Circle all those years ago.
In fact, the thing that got MJF ousted from the group was a plot by Guevara, showing he has no love lost for the AEW Champion, going back years.
It’s not as if Guevara is hard up for money, either. He has a successful blog, is part of one of AEW’s biggest factions (the Jericho Appreciation Society) and wrestles for one of the biggest companies in the world.
Is a boat load of money a good motivator? Of course, it is, but the chance to win the AEW Championship is something that every wrestler should be aiming toward.
By taking the money and agreeing to lay down for MJF, Sammy Guevara is muddying the storyline. If he didn’t want the title, why did he challenge MJF in the first place?
The idea that Guevara is placing money about title makes the Championship look weak. It makes MJF look weak, but he the heel champion, and wants to look like he can’t win to rile the crowd up even more (something he does to perfection).
The MJF/Sammy Guevara storyline has had its funny moments, though. The pair work well as a comedic duo, both showing faux-friendliness toward one another, to get what they want.
MJF recently posted about himself and his cat facetiming with Sammy and his cat, calling it their “first play date” with each other.
They also shared hugs on TV (“Friends hug!”) and walked out to the ring with their hands held, to a remixed version of their theme songs.
Guevara got sick of being told what to do in that match, turning on MJF with a stiff kick to his skull. His team lost the match against Darby Allin and Jungle Boy, which saw the latter team added to the Double or Nothing 2023.
Sadly, in all of this, Guevara has not only shown some illogical reasoning, he has also shown that he is not a main event talent.
His promos have been dull and stilted, with his delivery being the worst of the four pillars (yes, even worse than Jungle Boy). He had not captured the fans’ imagination, failing to convince anyone that he could win the title.
The only person coming out of this feud looking good is the champion himself. MJF has shown he is leagues above the other three men both on the microphone, but also in presenting himself as a main eventer.
Sadly, I think Sammy Guevara has been given enough chances to prove himself. He has been featured alongside Chris Jericho for four years now, and hasn’t seemed to improve much at all.
Hopefully he proves me wrong, but the Sammy Guevara and MJF parts of this Four Pillars feud have done nothing but convince me otherwise.
Who do you want to win the match between MJF, Sammy Guevara, Jungle Boy and Darby Allin? Tell us what you think in the comments down below.