Has AEW found its Rock? Jonathan Coachman says AEW star reminds him of The Final Boss
An AEW star recently made his return to the company. Following this, Jonathan Coachman drew a comparison between him and The Rock.
MJF has been one of AEW's top-performing stars. His consistency in the ring and on the mic helped him to reach the top as the longest-reigning World Champion in the company's history. After losing his title at Worlds End pay-per-view, Friedman wasn't seen on television for several months. However, he returned at Double or Nothing last Sunday and confronted his former best friend Adam Cole, who betrayed him at last December's event and revealed himself as The Devil.
MJF's sudden return turned a lot of heads as he looked in the best form he's ever been in. Speaking on Behind The Turnbuckle, Jonathan Coachman also made note of The Devil's look and said that he reminds him of The Rock from 1998-1999.
"Clearly, he [MJF] spent a lot of time in the gym because he looks amazing. I mean it's as good as shape as he's ever been in. So, somebody got in his ear and said, 'listen, if you're going to dictate 10 to 20 million dollars a year, you got to look like 10 to 20 million dollar a year player' which he now does but he reminds me so much of The Rock circa 1998-1999 and at that point, The Rock was still trying to figure out who he was gonna be."
The former WWE backstage interviewer continued:
"He comes out in 1997 and he was wearing all these colors and doing all these different things. When did The Rock truly become an iconic star? When he became that cool heel. When he said, 'I don't care about anybody' and he was edgy." [From 04:10 to 04:59]
MJF is set to appear on AEW Dynamite next week
Since losing the World Title to Samoa Joe at Worlds End, MJF hasn't even been seen on TV, and his name was rarely mentioned. However, since his return, he has been the talk of the town after revealing that he is staying with Tony Khan's promotion for the foreseeable future.
However, MJF didn't show up on Dynamite last week. Instead, it was advertised that he would be appearing on next week's show. This will be his first appearance of the year on the company's flagship show.
It will be interesting to see if MJF will address Adam Cole's shocking betrayal at AEW Worlds End.