MJF Says Wrestling Tribalism Is Silly: ‘Its a Neanderthalesque Trait’

MJF has weighed in on tribalism, stating that he believes the notion is “silly” while pointing out it’s not confined to wrestling. Tribalism has dominated wrestling conversations for years, particular in the AEW vs. WWE conversation.

MJF has previously said that the notion doesn’t exist in the actual wrestlers and explained on TMZ Inside the Ring why he doesn’t engage in that kind of talk. You can see the highlights below:

On Wrestling Tribalism:

“Yeah, it’s silly. Listen, I grew up idolizing everybody that was in WWE when I was a kid. There was no alternative. It was a complete monopoly, WWE was the only thing that existed. And I would have loved if there was an alternative growing up when I was a kid, but there wasn’t. And now that there is one, I think it’s really cool that both companies kind of push each other to be the best versions of themselves, at least the athletes and what we’re doing out there.”

On Why Tribalism Exists:

“I think tribalism is just a sports thing, right? If I’m in New York and I say I’m a Giants fan and there’s a Jets fan, we can get into an argument over that. Silly, I know. We’re both from the exact same place and we both love the exact same sport, but we’re arguing over that. So that’s what I think it comes from. I just think it’s like a Neanderthalesque trait, if that makes sense, the whole tribalism thing.

“Now I’ll talk all day long about you know what I think we do better from a a business aspect of how we treat wrestlers, or how we treat our fans. But I’m not going to sit here and pretend that like, ‘Our wrestlers are 10 times better than their wrestlers in every single capacity.’ It’s just not true. Every professional wrestler is different, every single professional wrestler has their pros and cons. But if you’re asking me point blank, do I think AEW Dynamite is the best professional wrestling show on TV? I do actually, fully believe that. And the reason why I know that to be true is because I’m on it every week. And I’m the best professional wrestler in the world today. Nobody is more complete than me on the microphone in the ring, fully untouchable.”

On Being Pro-Talent:

“That’s the other thing about this tribalism thing that I do find quite funny is — I will talk about the business aspect of it. Like for example, I said this recently in an interview. I said, ‘I don’t think it makes sense for people to jump from my company to go over there for less money and less TV time just so they can cross their fingers and hope for a WrestleMania moment. I think that that’s f**ked up, right? I don’t think that makes sense. But at the same time, I will sit here and I will tell you that I have plenty of friends that work there and I want them to succeed, just as there are people over there that want us to succeed.

“My issues with professional wrestling landscape is more about the things that are still going on that shouldn’t be going on back from when wrestling was monopolized that they were able to get away with. And I’m a wrestlers-first kind of guy. I’m a talent-first kind of guy. I firmly believe that you have to take care of your wrestlers. What we do is 365 days a year and this s**t is hard. And it takes us away from our families. So I don’t believe in tribalism at all.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit TMZ Inside The Ring with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.