MJF’s homecoming includes lots of betrayal

After his nemesis mocked him and his hometown, MJF showed up to UBS Arena for the Dec. 8 Dynamite in a celebration of all things Long Island - and all things Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

The Pride of Plainview mocked Punk’s return in his hometown a bit during his walk to the ring, wiping away “tears” and celebrating with his people along the ramp. Then it was all business as he entered the Dynamite Battle Royal, the final two from which will advance to fight for the Dynamite Diamond Ring MJF’s won the past two years.

Max had an advantage with two members of The Pinnacle in the match. Wardlow was his biggest ally, both literally and figuratively. But he didn’t hesitate when he was able to get rid of Lio Rush and Lee Moriarty by dumping Wardlow, too.

That MJF will be one of the men competing for the ring at Winter is Coming is coming should come as no surprise. The other one might, though. And the way that Dante Martin advanced — by dumping Ricky Starks and ripping off his FTW armband to reveal that his signing with Team Taz was a ruse all along — definitely was a shocker. And a bit of a weak payoff to that angle, but that’s another topic for another day.

On this day, it led to Starks beating down Martin after he shook hands with Friedman in a show of sportsmanship ahead of their showdown on Dec. 15. That let MJF feign saving the young high flier before going the FTW champ in the assault. And that brought out CM Punk for an actual save.

We still didn’t get to see those future foes touch though, as Friedman bailed just as Punk predicted he would. That’s a fight for after he retains his Dynamite Diamond Ring.

Get complete results and coverage of everything that happened on tonight’s edition of Dynamite here.