MJF Beats Adam Cole to Retain AEW Championship at All In 2023 at Wembley

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MJF defeated Adam Cole in the main event of All In at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday to retain the AEW World Championship.

The best friends, who defeated Aussie Open to win the Ring of Honor tag titles on the preshow, nearly exploded at different points during the match.

MJF caught Cole in a small package for the pin after Cole refused to hit his partner with the AEW title belt that was put in the ring by Roderick Strong.

Strong tried to help Cole win the match when he delivered a low blow to MJF that allowed Cole to hit the champ with the Panama Sunrise.

Referee Bryce Remsburg was unable to make the count right away because Cole hit him with the Panama Sunrise a few moments earlier.

MJF had multiple opportunities in the match to go back to his evil ways, including pulling out the Dynamite Diamond Ring, but he refused at every chance.

The match was restarted midway through after a double clothesline that saw both men get pinned at the same time, causing Remsburg to declare a draw.

In a callback to their 30-minute draw on Dynamite, Cole asked for five more minutes. MJF, unlike last time, granted his partner’s request but said they were going longer than that to determine a winner.

After the match was over, Strong came back to the ring and urged Cole to attack MJF. Cole declined to do so, but MJF was aware of what’s going on and gave his partner a test of loyalty once again.

Last month, AEW began a tournament to determine the No. 1 contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championships with the caveat that teams competing in the tourney were chosen at random.

As a result, some actual teams remained together, while other duos in the tournament were odd couples who would not have otherwise joined forces.

MJF and Cole fell into the latter group, as they clearly weren’t friends, and Cole had made it clear that he had MJF and the AEW world title in his crosshairs.

While things started off a bit rocky, MJF and Cole slowly built chemistry, grew their friendship and went on a deep and impressive run in the tournament.

MJF and Cole beat Matt Menard and The Butcher in the first round and the team of Brian Cage and Big Bill in the semifinals before taking down Jericho Appreciation Society members Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia in the finals.

Throughout the tournament, MJF and Cole engaged in all sorts of hijinks, including a dance battle and MJF bringing a cake to celebrate Cole’s birthday.

MJF and Cole fell to FTR in their AEW World Championship match, and while many felt that would lead to an ugly separation, they remained friends coming out of the loss.

Cole had previously fought MJF to a draw in a world title eliminator match, meaning he would not receive a title shot, but the competitors grew so close as a team that MJF decided to give him a championship opportunity anyway.

MJF and Cole entered All In on good terms and embraced the idea of friendly competition, giving their bout a unique feel compared to most MJF matches.

Ultimately, MJF retained the title and continued his reign of nearly 300 days, creating some intrigue regarding how he and Cole will interact entering next weekend’s All Out pay-per-view and beyond.

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