>>8984169I specifically named Claudio because he's the prime example of a supreme wrestler who is sorely lacking in the cunning department, and that's where MJF gets the extra edge and retains his title. Not only does wrestling have the flexible storytelling advantage of getting away with having dumb babyfaces, but here we have a case of a relatively smart guy vs an unholy combination of evil and intellect, and what better heel than a guy who wins through both of those attributes. If they want to call him the devil, then that's one way to act like him, considering the fact that Satan himself is noted for having fallen because of his insecurity, in spite of his noted brilliance as a mastermind
First couple of weeks in the feud, Claudio gets the intimidation across through his body. Have him cut off one of those smarmy MJF promos with a sucker punch, impose the rules of nature on this snake. MJF retreats back, has to resort to truly evil shit to soothe his wounded ego. What could the evil tactics be? I don't know, maybe involve Claudio's kayfabe family, or establish something dear to him prior to the feud for it to get broken down the line. Match comes, Max wins through a psychological swindle. He keeps his heat, and an extra momentum for his next opponent.
Now ideally they'd building up somebody new in the background of all this huzzah. Hell, why not have it be Takeshita? Get him over with an ultra babyface character who simply cannot yield to little petty issues, he's clearly naturally sympathetic, so use that to push him instead of "entertaining japanese wrestling who does moves". There, you have a guy who is impervious to evil tricks. And so on, and so forth.
The endgame? Max loses the title to a worthy babyface because of resorting to cheap tricks this time, and this ultimate implosion creates an opportunity to finally overcome his insecurities with goodness, therefore finally earning his babyface turn.
This is all happening in a personally ideal realm.
