Characters Discussed: MJF, Adam Cole
Brief Mentions: Sammy Guevara, CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston
"You need friends for that."
Maintaining a friendship is something I've always had problems with. I don't want to info dump, but to keep it quick, a lot of things have not gone in my favor, whether it was in school or just in life. When I just sit down to even think about how most of my friendships have gone, I remember how the countless nights of playing single-player Mine-Craft have driven me into madness.
When MJF "lies," we are all aware of how incredibly sincere he acts. He's all smiles, smirks, and guffaws until he turns on them. But Adam Cole is something entirely different because he's an ass too. You saw today (07/12/23) that Adam Cole joked about turning on Max, they both made the same joke, but I don't care about the humor of imminent betrayal because it's the fact that they did the same thing. They're both so cruel that they're willing to humiliate each other for the sake of coming out on top as the guy with the belt. And that's what keeps their link strong. They're opposite sides of the "I want what you have" coin
Max wants the fandom. He wants people to cheer his name as the music comes on. He wants to pose and be the person the crowd "yays" for instead of being on the receiving end of the "boos" in a slap fight. Cole wants the power the championship belt has. He's seen how Max slacks off and controls his matches and appearances, and Cole wants people to come to him for a fight like he did with Max.
That line just stuck with me. He's acting; he's playing a character for a sport that is more or less theatre for boys. And I play video games alone in my room and type essays on Tumblr. Why should it stick with me?
Because, in all honesty, I want this to last. You saw how cruel it was when Max tried to "befriend" Sammy Guevara, and you saw it with CM Punk. He's lying. He wants something from these people because why else would he be talking to them? It's going down the Punk route because Max is opening up, he's showing the weakness he showed Punk, but this time, what he's doing is going to be worthwhile.
Because he's not doing what he's done before, he's not ditching Cole like he did Sammy with the car and he didn't attack after being open with Cole like he did with CM Punk. Because Cole comes back for him because he wants this to work, and he wants to win. That's what it is built around for Cole,
"You're a winner, why aren't you acting like it?"
He drags Max kicking and screaming (metaphorically), back to where he needs to be. But I think it's because Cole is just as bad as Max. He hasn't done anything bad to show for it, but they both have egos to match. And the character of Cole is probably biding his time and satiating Max's ego because he's waiting for a time to strike. I'm almost sure Max is, too, because that's just who he is. If I could point this story in any direction, I would try the Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston route. Because I want their friendship to last, I want them to get close enough to such a degree that Max willingly gives him a title shot. I want Cole to be the single guy who tries to protect Max if he gets dogged on by an opposing faction. I want them to talk backstage and work together because all I want is for this silly little character to get a win, not in a maintaining the title sense, but in maintaining a bond sense.