New York Times Names Le Dinner Debonair As One Of The Best 2020 Performances, MJF Responds

AEW got a little bit of mainstream attention this week as The New York Times included MJF on their ‘Best Performances of 2020’ list for the Le Dinner Debonair segment from AEW Dynamite in October. The two did an entire song and dance routine to ‘Me and My Shadow’, which has been polarizing among wrestling fans.

The article’s segment reads: “Some weeks the athleticism at this professional wrestling start-up is more exciting than anything happening in Vince McMahon’s empire. And no one in the WWE has this kid’s combination of diction (Juilliard by way of Long Island), intensity or cheesiness, either. Even when Friedman’s lost his cool (his nom de ring is MJF), he still has astounding control. The character is part heel, part tool (hair gel, loafers, Burberry bling — tacky, tacky, tacky) and part goodfella wannabe; his mouth does more running than he does. For reasons only the producers of this show can explain, a long segment in October between MJF and the veteran Chris Jericho culminated in a version of “Me and My Shadow” complete with dancing women and live singing. It was less than spectacular, though not for anything Friedman did. He wasn’t embarrassed at all. He was smooth in a way that should worry Ric Flair. This kid makes you wanna say, “Woo!””

MJF caught wind of the news and responded on Twitter, delivering a heartfelt message before eventually going to a more on-brand reply.

He wrote: “My grandpa just died of cancer. His biggest love was music, and he led one of the biggest party bands of all time. I grew up going to his house every week. I practically lived there. It was always the same. The day would start with him reading his daily New York Times paper in the morning as we’d eat my grandmother’s delicious challah French toast, and then we’d go downstairs and have a nice chat about current events. Later in the evening we’d get in his car, drop the top and he’d blast jazz. I’d listen to the Rat Pack era in awe with him. He loved every second of mine and CJ’s rendition of Me and My Shadow. And so did the New York Times! So basically what I’m getting at is Chris, me and the spirit of my Poppa would like to say…EAT SHIT TURDS!”

https://t.co/Y7FF1vqLbd pic.twitter.com/5QQ8Hg19Cy

— Maxwell Jacob Friedman™️ (@The_MJF) December 4, 2020

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— Maxwell Jacob Friedman™️ (@The_MJF) December 4, 2020