The highly anticipated episode of AEW Dynamite on Tuesday night took an unexpected turn when the company ran an angle than many are accusing of being antisemitic in its nature.
The angle took place during a promo between wrestlers Juice Robinson and Maxwell Jacob Friedman. During the promo, Robinson taunted MJF — who is Jewish — with a roll of quarters, which he had written Friedman’s last name on.
https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1711916376401866848?s=46&t=mYkoGqE5zAT2TX08RvS4Og
During promos in previous, unrelated angles, MJF has referenced being pelted with quarters by antisemitic bullies in high school. Meanwhile, Robinson has previously used a roll of quarters — an old school wrestling trope — to hit opponents as a part of his heel (bad guy) character.
But while the use of quarters as a weapon is a common thread in both wrestler’s backstories, the decision to use that reference — especially in an antagonistic manner toward a Jew — is especially controversial this week following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
The full segment can be seen in the social media post below.
Jay White challenged #AEW World Champion MJF to an 8-man tag match!
But will anyone team up with Max?
Watch #AEWDynamite Title Tuesday LIVE on TBS!@The_MJF | @JayWhiteNZ pic.twitter.com/WITImXJE1B
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) October 11, 2023
Shortly after the promo aired on TBS, many took to social media to criticize it and its poor timing.
Yep I am not down with this. https://t.co/D2NCOR1mt8
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) October 11, 2023
https://twitter.com/Kazeem/status/1711915461015699879
I’ve said this many times – politics and religion are two things you shouldn’t touch publicly because you risk dividing your audience. A storyline involving the suggestion of antisemitism is bad business, period. https://t.co/zs6Zvq6EFL
— Jimmy Van (@jimmyvan74) October 11, 2023
https://twitter.com/davidbix/status/1711919899994423575
AEW is legit running an anti-Semitic storyline https://t.co/ZoFQy19hpI
— Gus (@WashedUpTweeter) October 11, 2023
As noted by Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, even if Friedman approved this promo, that doesn’t mean it should have been approved by AEW. Tensions across the world are understandably high right now and an angle with even the slightest implication of antisemitism is insensitive to that.
It’s also worth noting that AEW was under an even bigger microscope on Tuesday, as the show went head to head against WWE NXT. With the rival wrestling promotions squaring off thanks to Dynamite being moved as a result of TBS’ coverage of the MLB Playoffs, both WWE and AEW loaded up their cards and secured commercial free stretches in an effort to beat the other in the ratings.
It will be interesting to see if/how AEW, (company owner) Tony Khan, and broadcast partner Warner Bros. Discovery respond to the backlash to the segment.
[AEW]
