The devil is in the details.
Everyone knows what that means. Whether it’s sitting across the desk from an obnoxious salesperson for hours on end trying to buy a car, negotiating a new salary at work, or hammering out expectations in an “eat this and you can get that,” battle of wits with your children, it’s the pesky details that get in the way of a smooth operation.
AEW knows this better than anyone right now. The Devil storyline that has been a regular episodic feature of AEW programming for the better part of three months is still running rampant and seemingly will come to a head at the company’s upcoming World’s End PPV event on December 30. The details in this devil story, well, they’re as pesky as ever and it’s imperative AEW pay attention to them in order to put a bow on their biggest story of the year.
The Mystery of The Devil
This is the situation. A rogue star with an inside track on the happenings in AEW has commandeered MJF’s devil mask and has been threatening and physically harming various members of the AEW roster with a gang of masked thugs.
The Devil was the alter ego of MJF and he famously appeared wearing the mask when he made his return to AEW at All Out in 2022 after a summer vacation hiatus. MJF went full “devil” that night, dressing up as the villain, but also walking out to a specialty entrance song, Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones. The presentation got him cheered in Chicago opposite CM Punk, who had just won the AEW World Championship.
The AEW Devil and his masked assailants have left a who’s who of top AEW talent dropped and hurt including former number one contender to the AEW World Championship, Jay White, former champion Adam Page, The Acclaimed, and presumably MJF in a vicious backstage assault — one that nobody saw.
So, the mystery at hand here is, just who the heck is The Devil and what the heck do they want? The conspiracy theories are out there among fans and media. Hidden clues have populated discussion around AEW programming and within AEW programming itself. Even AEW stars have made public comments that allude to involvement with the angle.
The Devil story in AEW is the biggest of the year and the most important long term arc they’ve attempted in their four years on national television. With the finish line in sight, they have to get it right and it means shoring up the devil’s details in the story.
Who is The Devil?
There are names that make sense as the AEW Devil and potential names that make you want to bash your head into a door. Let’s start with the good ones.
Adam Cole is guilty party A. Cole and MJF had a budding friendship prior to The Devil making an appearance and he only did once Cole was sidelined with a serious ankle injury. Or, was it a fake injury? Cole and MJF are friends, but have done battle on two different occasions for MJF’s AEW World Championship. The two wrestled to a time limit draw on AEW Dynamite and MJF defeated Cole at AEW All In late in August.
Cole failed twice to secure the world championship from MJF. Is that a good enough reason to stalk your best friend and turn on the entire company? Maybe it is. Cole as The Devil is the least sexy choice of everyone possible, but is the most logical given the history he has with MJF and the fact that the devil has centered his attention him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0N9ACT3CH0
Guilty party B? Kyle O’Reilly. O’Reilly has been away from AEW for months nursing an injury, but reports indicate he’s potentially ready to rejoin the company soon. What a better way to make an impact upon returning than to forcibly threaten your way back in as a masked maniac? O’Reilly has history with Adam Cole, which makes him a viable candidate. Cole would stay an MJF ally in this scenario, but O’Reilly would feel betrayed by his former best friend and want to take out the man who stole him away.
Could it be Britt Baker? Sure it could. Baker has obvious ties to Adam Cole as his better half and she’s posted scud missiles on social media that rail on the company for neutralizing her talents. A bit of a longer shot with her, but it makes sense.
Cole, O’Reilly, and Baker all work as the identity of the devil, but there are details that don’t add up around each of them.
If it’s Adam Cole, why would he attack Jay White? White was an MJF opponent at the Full Gear PPV. If Cole wanted to get to MJF, he wouldn’t help him out by attacking his opponent would he?
As for Kyle O’Reilly, the devil’s detail is more of a gargantuan issue and that is he simply just isn’t a big enough star in AEW to be the reveal of such a major storyline. The reveal has to be a home run and O’Reilly isn’t that at this point.
Baker checks the star box and the logic box as being a devil character that just wants to watch AEW burn. The missing detail with her is the payoff. Because of being terrorized by The Devil like he has, MJF has vowed revenge in the form of violence. AEW isn’t going to run with Baker vs. MJF. If not, what’s the point? The business of this angle is a match between MJF and whoever the devil is. It’s immediately off the table if Baker is revealed in the end.
Other theories about AEW’s Devil
Who are some bad choices, but options that AEW potentially has on the table? Well, Jack Perry comes to mind. Perry was suspended because of a backstage incident with CM Punk at All In and hasn’t been seen on AEW TV since. A return as the AEW Devil would immediately put him into the top tier of AEW, but he’s not ready for that. His character isn’t either. Bottom line? Nobody would buy it.
Dolph Ziggler? A long shot, but it has to be put out there. AEW loves nothing more than overhyping sub-par talent acquisitions and this would certainly fall in that bucket. Ziggler becomes a free agent as of Thursday December 21 after being released from WWE earlier this year.
The worst of the bad choices is MJF himself. Yeah, it could be ‘ol MJF just up to his mean tricks again and he was the one that set everything up, attacked everyone, and made it all look like it wasn’t him. He’d certainly be a heel if that was the reveal, but it would be a nauseating one. AEW cooled off it’s biggest star with a babyface turn this summer and the smart play isn’t to turn him back until he’s hot again — if ever. Too much effort has been put into MJF working as a babyface and this would derail all that effort. Plus, what, MJF took himself out backstage? He recorded promo videos on his own to interrupt his own promos in the ring? It’s just too much and too cute to believe.
It was the devil, in the parking lot, with the pipe
Now, mysteries in wrestling are always fun because of the clues at hand. They are there to analyze with The Devil story as well with more pouring in week after week, day after day, and show after show. How about this one?
Last week on AEW Dynamite, The Devil appeared from a car as his henchmen attacked Adam Page. With one nod he demanded that they put Page through the windshield of a car. Sound familiar? It should. Jack Perry is synonymous with car wind shields for better or worse — it was a spot on a car during his match with Hook at All In that sparked the backstage incident with CM Punk and his indefinite suspension from the company. Coincidence?
How about
this one? A giant devil henchman has been spotted by fans throughout the last month and some hat hair possibly gave the surprise away. In one segment, the giant man threatened in the ring with a mask on and in the next segment Wardlow appeared with messy hair that could only come from wearing a mask and pulling it off fast perhaps? Coincidence?
More nuggets and clues are sure to drop prior to the reveal, but the reality is AEW is juggling a lot with this angle. The details will either make this a memorable moment and story for the company or a giant eye roll for a company that consistently is weak at telling week to week stories on their episodic television show.
Regardless of whoever the devil ends up being, the reveal has to tie the loose ends and teases together so that everything that has happened to this point makes sense. Did The Devil have a reason to attack heel and babyface talent? Did The Devil have enough of a connection to MJF to make the stalking of him believable? Same thing with Samoa Joe. Joe is the challenger to MJF’s world title at World’s End, but is in the mix with The Devil now because of his relationship with MJF. AEW has to make those details blend together with logic.
Final Dynamite before AEW World’s End
Next week on AEW Dynamite, Joe and MJF will team up to take on some of The Devil’s henchmen in a tag team match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. The match was made official on this week’s Dynamite after Joe and MJF destroyed a large contingent of devil supporters in black outfits. Will there be more clues dropped next week? Likely.
The bottom line with this is angle is that AEW has to hit on it. Not only has the company driven some fan interest with the mystery, but a hot story is a smart way to enter the new year with some momentum. Plus, the company hasn’t proven it cares to or can effectively execute week to week stories that engage an audience to watch the show. Hitting here with The Devil would alleviate that criticism.
To hit, AEW has to have key answers to major questions. Does the reveal make sense? Can it connect back to the history of the story? Is the revealed devil a big enough star to command the time the story has gotten and the interest its generated?
The devil is in the details, remember? It’s imperative AEW gets these right.