MJF Explains Why He’s The Face of AEW

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) spoke about how he’s made the most of his opportunity in AEW and why he’s the face of the company. Here are highlights:

On becoming a star in AEW: “A lot of our top guys got a rub from Vinnie Mac, or a rub from a giant promotion, but I didn’t. I came into this promotion as a new, fresh face. I’m the only person who can legitimately look into any hard camera and say, ‘AEW was my first big break, and I’m the one who’s doing the most with it.’ That’s why I am the face of this company.”

On if he ever doubted he could be a top guy in AEW: “There was never any doubt. The funny thing about the independents is you got bookings based off of GIFs, the GIFs you see on Twitter. Someone doing a 759-30-splat-yada-yada, Darby’s coffin drops with the f—ing skateboard attached to his back, Orange Cassidy kicking people in the shins real slow, Jungle Boy doing flippity do-dahs and flippity-ays, the list goes on and on. I had a chuckle after my match with Jungle Boy when I saw everybody saying, ‘I had no idea MJF was such a great wrestler!’ Well, I knew. But why on earth would I put myself in a situation where I have to take these stupid moves? I’ll watch other matches and see moves and ask myself, ‘Why?’ I’m as old-school as it gets in this modern era. I’m the last of a dying breed. I didn’t care about GIFs. I didn’t care about making people go home happy. I didn’t care about people going, ‘Oh, my god, his work rate is absolutely fantastic. I can’t wait to see his next five-star match.’ What I care about is making sure that when the people watching me put their head to their pillow, I’m the last thing they think about. Not because I hit the coolest moves, not because I’m putting my body on the line for their entertainment, but because I’m captivating. I do things my way. I don’t do things to make people happy or appease them. That’s what makes me different.”

On Cody: “Cody saw me at an independent wrestling show, and he thought to himself, ‘I can use this kid.’ He thought, ‘I can suck the money out of him that he’s going to make for my company.’ He’s right that I am a talented freak. I’m the best on the microphone, I’m the best bell-to-bell, nobody can touch me. And he would have been perfectly content with me being the Robin to his Batman for the rest of my life. He called himself my mentor, but to me, it was the equivalent to the Wizard of Oz hiding behind a curtain and pulling all the levers. You think it’s this big, giant man, but in reality, it’s this small, weak, feeble human being. He knows I’m going to be the bigger draw so deep down, with that stupid smile on his face, he wanted me to be under his thumb forever. So if people want to continue to boo me, that’s on them. It doesn’t change the fact that he was wrong, it doesn’t affect my paycheck, and it doesn’t affect the fact that, when I’m on TV, I continue to hit a home run.”