MJF On Who He Enjoys Watching In AEW, Which Legends Young Wrestlers Should Study

MJF recently named a few talents in AEW he is enjoying watching, plus which wrestlers he thinks younger talents should study. The AEW star has always been open about his appreciation of the stars of the territory era of pro wrestling, studying them to improve his own game.

MJF spoke in his interview with Bleacher Report about which stars he would suggest younger talent learn from and names Nick Wayne, Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis as talent he enjoys watching in AEW right now. You can see highlights below:

On Who Young Wrestlers Should Study:

“Honestly, they should study me. You know, I always harken back to the ’80s because that is the best era in professional wrestling, in my opinion. I would also talk about territory wrestlers, and I’ll tell you why. I’ll give you one name: Gino Hernandez. He is somebody I have been studying a lot, and the cool thing about Gino is that he’s a guy that not a lot of people know. So if you’re able to take something from somebody that nobody’s ever seen, it’s going to feel original. What’s old school is new school, right? Gino had so many interesting ways he would approach both matches and promos.

“Then you have other guys from that era. This is a manager, and he was a great manager in that era. A guy by the name of Gary Hart, and no, he was not part of The Hart Family, which is probably why he’s not boring as s–t. Gary just had a very intense way of speaking and approaching talking on camera, and there are a lot of guys like that who have been lost not only because of time, not because of a great legacy. I could honestly go on and on and name random names. You know what’s another fun one? When people think of Jimmy Garvin, I fear that they predominantly think of that failed tag run that he had in WCW when he had to pretend to be a Freebird even though he was assuredly not a Freebird. If you watch Jimmy Garvin in his heyday when he’s got the hair all the way out and the gorgeous robes, and was walking around with a gorgeous girl and talking all this mess. I remember the first time I saw him and I was like, ‘Whoa, where did this guy come from?’ And he had a lot of stuff that I was able to implement as well.

“I guess my point is, if you’re a young wrestler, the best thing you can be is a student of the game. “Playboy” Buddy Rose. That’s another one lost to the annals of time. I think there are always names and people that the mass public don’t know who were actually really quite good for a period of time that you can take a lot from.”

On Who Is a Fan of Watching Right Now in AEW:

“I was just in a three-way with him, and I think he’s got a lot to offer. Nick Wayne. I think Nick Wayne’s really special, and he also understands this is an aesthetic business and he’s gotten himself in really good shape in a short period of time. That’s something I really respect.

“I don’t like them, but I think both Kevin Knight and Kyle Fletcher are the guys I’m going to be wrestling in the main events of pay-per-views, probably for the next 10-15 years. Outside of that, I don’t think he’s a sleeper pick because he’s a former singles champion in our company, but I think Mark Davis, to me, is my favorite big man right now in wrestling, for my taste. He is so good, and what I love about him most is that everything he does feels different to me, and it feels like something that harkens back to old, like a Stan Hansen or a [Bruiser] Brody. So yeah, I enjoy his work quite a lot.”