MJF On What He Learned From Chris Jericho, Adding a Woman To the Pinnacle

MJF discussed his time in the Inner Circle, potentially adding a woman to The Pinnacle and more during a recent interview. MJF spoke with Steel Chair Magazine before the Blood & Guts match on last week’s Dynamite, and you can check out some highlights below:

On his plan to make the Inner Circle implode: “Absolutely, it was a plan in the making for a very long time. Personally, I made it my mission to get inside that group and rot it from the inside, from its core, and I accomplished that greatly. I was able to get them to turn on one another, I was able to get them to forget about the fact that there was, like you said, clearly a fox in the hen house, but I personally feel I’m a master manipulator, that’s something that I’m proud of, most people wouldn’t be, but I’m proud of it. You gotta love it when a great plan comes together and, pretty much, I’ve never had a plan that hasn’t in the history of my professional wrestling career. I genuinely can say that my men in The Pinnacle, this is the first time I feel genuinely care about or care for the people that I am fighting with. I care about Dax and Cash, FTR, I care about Shawn Spears, I care about Tully Blanchard, I care about Wardlow. I feel that right now we easily are the stronger team and definitely the smarter team at the same time.”

On what he learned during his time in the group: “If there’s one positive thing I learned from Chris Jericho, it’s definitely that, I learned how to be a leader of men. That’s not something I could ever comprehend in the sense that my whole entire life I’ve been front and centre, I’ve been centre of attention, I’ve only ever had to worry about myself, it’s just that simple, but I actually got to learn how to lead men under Chris Jericho. I’d say that’s the main thing, and that’s benefited me greatly with The Pinnacle so I will give him credit on that.”

On possibly adding a woman to the group: “Right now, our main objective is to get the Inner Circle out of the way, and they do not have a woman in their ranks, so right now, I’m not too concerned with that. Am I saying that, down the line, it might not where it may make sense to add a woman into our group to make sure that we, The Pinnacle, have every single piece of platinum in AEW? I wouldn’t lie to you and tell you that’s not in the cards because it very well might be, but right now, that’s not our focus but absolutely, once we all win gold who’s to say we wouldn’t want a crusade for more by finding a woman that we feel deemed fit enough to join The Pinnacle. I hear about Brit a lot, people are saying they wanted to be in The Pinnacle and, like I said, I’m a very affluent man, I am open to conversations if it makes sense for me economically, but on top of that, I will say this about Brittany, she is clearly not just the face of the women’s division in AEW, but at this point, I think it’s fair to say she’s the face of women’s wrestling as a whole, just like I feel it’s fair to say that I’m the face of men’s professional wrestling as a whole. I get why people keep bringing this up, it makes complete sense.”

On where he sees himself being when his contract expires in 2024: “I’d say I’d be near the end of my contract. I would be the AEW World Champion, I would still be a part of the greatest faction in professional wrestling known as The Pinnacle, all of my brothers in arms would also have gold and then, at that point, the highest bidder, baby. Me and my boys were willing to go wherever the money’s at, it’s that simple. Don’t get me wrong, AEW runs deep in me, I don’t want to leave, but I am a businessman at the end of the day, and I can’t help myself if somebody’s got an offer for me, I’m going to listen to it.”