MJF Talks AEW Hiatus, Double Or Nothing, & Contract Details

In a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, MJF took the opportunity to clear up a number of rumors regarding his past and current AEW activities (via Fightful). A number of topics were addressed in the interview, including his time away from AEW, the “plane ticket” rumor prior to his match with Wardlow, and his contract details. You can read a few highlights and watch the complete episode below.

On the stories about him bailing before ultimately showing up for Double or Nothing: “I cannot confirm or deny there being a plane ticket. What I will say is this. I’m a businessman. I do what I have to do in order to ensure that what I need gets done. It got done. I’m back. I’m making a stupid, absurd amount of money now, and I didn’t have to sign a contract extension.”

On why he returned to AEW: “Money. I’m a simple man. I go out there, all I do is win. I’m winning in the ring. I’m winning on the mic. I’m constantly winning. Obviously, I had no problem with how I was being showcased. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was money. I was looking to my left and my right, and I was hearing rumblings about what guys were making when I was two times, three times the draw they were minute-by-minute. I’ve seen the analytics. I went, ‘That doesn’t work for me.’ I’m MJ freakin F. Pay up. Not just in AEW. Guys in WWE, guys in IMPACT, guys in Ring of Honor at the time.”

On his three-month hiatus prior to All Out: “When I went home, I made it very clear to Tony Khan, ‘Pay up or daddy doesn’t show up.’ Fact. I took my now beautiful fiancee to Greece for two weeks. On the last three days of the trip we went to Venice in Italy. I then went home, and I stayed home. I did not leave my home because I did not want one single solitary wrestling fan to see me out in the wild. They don’t deserve to see me unless I’m getting paid to be seen. That’s why the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he does not exist, which is exactly what I did for three straight months. I take what I do very seriously. If you want to see a star, pay to see a star. I stayed in my home. I went to a gym inside of my home. I did not leave my home. The only time I left my home was for those two weeks. I was committed to making sure that, if any wrestling fan wanted to get a taste of MJF, MJF needed to get that money, and I did.”