Brochachos Forever: Looking back at AEW’s unlikely duo of MJF & Adam Cole

AEW

Take a look back at the dynamic duo of Adam Cole and MJF, Better Than You BayBay that took over the AEW fandom this time three years ago.

Being originally paired together in June 2023 for the AEW Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament, the duo of Adam Cole and MJF would end up taking the Summer and Autumn of 2023 by storm.

Unlikely alliance to best friends forever

The road from random match partners to fully established and beloved tag team was actually more linear than one might imagine.

Catching on in popularity with fans, there was something special about the pairing that led to the AEW fandom getting behind the odd couple.

While both Cole and MJF were seemingly intent on playing nice until inevitably betraying the other, the blend of the two bombastic personalities ended up delivering surprising vulnerability.

With fans watching the friendship grow on-screen between the pair, the dynamic humanized the MJF character in a way that had been teased out in the past but never fully executed.

Competing together as a tag team in the AEW All In Zero Hour to defeat Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis)  to become the ROH World Tag Team Championship, the duo would go on to have an emotionally charged and highly entertaining main event bout for the AEW World Championship.

In the end, MJF would retain his title but also retain his best friend as Cole would pose with him after the bout, celebrating MJF’s AEW World Championship victory despite being the man who suffered defeat.

High praise from Tony Khan

Sharing his thoughts on the Better Than You BayBay storyline in the book This Book is All Elite, Tony Khan summed up the special moment in AEW history perfectly.

Khan said:

“The charisma of Adam Cole and MJF together clicked so well, and the story of their friendship resonated with people all over the world and created some of the best AEW TV ever.

“I think pro wrestling at its best can be about all different kinds of rivalries and relationships, friendships and grudges.”

Pairing the duo together served to not only humanize MJF but to also add a layer of outside of the ring storytelling that the company has gotten away from in recent memory.

However with some of the most enjoyable moments between the pair occurring in vignettes that had very little to do with wrestling – such as a night on the town turned video game session or even attending a children’s indoor trampoline park together – both men brought comedic timing and sincerity that sold the story.

Never say never

While Adam Cole has remained out of in-ring competition and focused on his health, there could be a potential future that sees the Better than You BayBay team reunite.

Even if Cole doesn’t return to in-ring action, his hilarious timing with MJF could lead him to become the perfect manager for the three-time AEW World Champion Friedman.

A pair of characters so beloved that they could simply wipe away any ill-will directed towards the clumsy ‘Devil’ storyline and awkward reveal that inevitably sealed their division in December of that same year with ease, there could always be a path forward for the Brochachos.

But if they never reunite on-screen again, at least we have the memories.

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• AEW
• mjf
• adam cole

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