Backstage Update On MJF’s Contract Status With AEW

So far in 2024, AEW has soldiered forward without the presence of star MJF. The former AEW World Champion hasn’t been seen since AEW Worlds End in December when Samoa Joe defeated him for the AEW World Title, and while some have attributed his absence to his AEW contract expiring in early 2024, as MJF teased it would, it’s also believed that MJF is recovering from several injuries that plagued him during his final few months as champion.

Months later, those injuries remain an issue. PWInsider Elite reports that, at this time, MJF is still on the road to recovery, and is still working towards rehabbing his injuries, which included a torn labrum in his shoulder. No information was provided on whether MJF had surgery to help heal the injury, as previous reports had him debating whether to have a procedure or let his injuries heal with rehab.

Regarding MJF’s contractual status, while he is currently not listed under the AEW roster, the belief remains that MJF is signed with the promotion and his contractual status is a work. In addition, it’s been confirmed that MJF was in Boston, Massachusetts shortly after “AEW Dynamite: Big Business” was held there on March 13, where he met with AEW officials. MJF was not backstage at “Big Business,” however, and is said to have not been backstage at an AEW event since Worlds End.

When/if MJF returns, it’s expected he will resume his ongoing storyline with former friend Adam Cole, himself still recovering from a broken ankle suffered last September. Cole added insult to injury following MJF’s loss to Joe, revealing himself to be the mysterious “devil” figure that had tormented MJF for months, while forming the stable Undisputed Kingdom with Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, and Wardlow in the process.

Update On What Former AEW Champion MJF Has Been Up To

As AEW gets set to enter into the second month of 2024, it will do so without a single appearance so far this year from MJF, as the former AEW World Champion hasn’t been seen since he lost the title to Samoa Joe at AEW Worlds End, followed by his best friend, Adam Cole, betraying him. While there’s been plenty of speculation on how MJF has spent his time off, from recovering from injuries to potentially exploring free agency, one thing he has been doing is finding himself back on the film set.

“Deadline” reports that MJF is part of the cast for the upcoming film “The Floaters,” which recently wrapped up filming in New York. The “Salt of the Earth” isn’t the only name wrestling fans will be familiar with from this film, which stars Jackie Tohn, best known from the Netflix wrestling series “GLOW,” and former “WWE Raw” guest general manager Seth Green in key roles.

Described as a “Jewish summer camp comedy,” “The Floaters” focuses on Nomi (Tohn), a struggling musician who takes on a job alongside her friend Mara (Sara Podemski) mentoring a “misfit group” called the Floaters at the pair’s old summer camp. Nomi, Mara, and the Floaters are forced to contend with an unnamed rival group, as they attempt to keep the summer camp from going under.

This will be MJF’s second live-action film role, coming off the heels of “The Iron Claw,” where he made a brief appearance as Lance Von Erich while also serving as an executive producer. The AEW star has made it known he would like to pursue a career in acting, even going as far as to say that he would like to follow in the footsteps of wrestling-turned-acting star John Cena.

MAJOR Update On MJF’s AEW Future After Roster Deletion

MJF lost his AEW World Championship to Samoa Joe at Worlds End on Saturday, 30 December and was deleted from the company’s public-facing talent roster the following day – but don’t take this as a sign he is on his way out of the Tony Khan-helmed promotion.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reports that his outlet had spoken to within AEW believed MJF was legitimately leaving AEW. Instead, they think this is a storyline, playing into the long-teased “bidding war of 2024”, which has always been predicated on the idea that MJF’s AEW contract expires early this year.

Following Worlds End, where MJF was dethroned by Samoa Joe, Fightful Select reported that the former World Champion was expected to be taking time off from television following the defeat. Despite working through several injuries, the 27-year-old had been adamant about seeing his World Title reign through.

Although MJF has never confirmed an AEW contract extension, Fightful states most people within AEW believe he re-signed “well over a year ago.”

MJF’s apparent write-off came following the Samoa Joe defeat, where Adam Cole was revealed as ‘The Devil’, with Wardlow, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, and Roderick Strong as his henchmen.

Samoa Joe Wins AEW World Title At Worlds End, MJF’s Historic Reign Ends At 407 Days

Samoa Joe upset the Long Island faithful as he captured the AEW World Championship from MJF at Worlds End.

MJF defended his 407-day title reign in his 12th overall title defense against Joe, a rematch of their “AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam” title bout in September, but the task proved to be insurmountable for MJF in the face of his injuries. MJF was joined by his former ROH Tag title-winning partner Adam Cole at ringside, who would prove instrumental to the result as he fumbled the “Dynamite Diamond Ring” in trying to give the champion an advantage. Joe would capitalize on that slight hiccup, locking in the coquina clutch, though for a brief moment MJF looked to have snatched victory with a roll-up, but Joe reaffirmed his submission for the referee’s stoppage. Even referee Bryce Remsburg was surprised by the result before calling for the stoppage, and the crowd didn’t seem to know how to react. Joe then walked out with the world title while MJF lay broken in front of his hometown crowd.

Joe will now head into the new year as the reigning world champion after an entire calendar year with MJF holding the title. It was revealed recently that MJF is suffering from a torn labrum.

AEW Champ MJF Opens Up About The Importance Of Competition In Pro Wrestling

Before All Elite Wrestling came into existence in 2019, it had been many years since WWE had serious competition in terms of talent acquisition. That allowed the massive promotion to determine the pay structure for its performers without influence from a major competitor. In his recent op-ed for The Player’s Tribune, AEW World Champion MJF elaborated on the impact AEW’s creation has had on the wrestling industry.

“There’s a reason that ‘workers rights’ get brought up so often in conversations around AEW: it’s because we have a lot goddamn more of them now,” MJF wrote. “Competition [is] bad for management, good for labor. There used to be one major American wrestling company, now there [are] two. That fucking matters.”

Friedman pointed out that everyone on the AEW roster now has a job that didn’t exist five years ago. Additionally, the AEW World Champion feels that the wrestlers in WWE have benefitted as well, as the company will pay them more and treat them better to ensure they don’t leave for the competition.

“While I welcome anyone being critical of AEW (God knows I am), … if you’re actually actively rooting against us? Against us existing? Guess what, you’re the fucking worst.”

When it comes to the best things that AEW has done for the wrestling industry since coming into existence, MJF stayed true to form and said that it was putting him on TV. However, the AEW star said that the second best thing would be making the industry better for its workers.

MJF is currently preparing to defend the world title against Samoa Joe tonight at AEW Worlds End. The show will take place at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, New York — just a few short miles from where MJF grew up.

MJF Provides An Update On His Current AEW Contract Status And Future Plans

It’s a very busy time for Maxwell Jacob Friedman. He currently holds the AEW World Championship as well as half of the ROH World Tag Team Championship all while being injured. Meanwhile, MJF is promoting his upcoming appearance in “The Iron Claw,” as well as preparing for a big match against Samoa Joe on Long Island, New York at AEW Worlds End later this month. Amidst this already chaotic situation, the champion’s contract may or may not be coming to an end quite soon. Appearing on “SI Media with Jimmy Traina,” MJF commented on his current AEW contract status.

“I’ve been saying the same thing. I’ve never lied,” MJF said. “January 1, 2024. … I love AEW. I want to stay in AEW. After this pay-per-view, it’s time to assess the situation in a professional setting.”

When asked to clarify whether or not he had signed a new contract with the company, MJF stated that he had not. As always, MJF’s words should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s impossible to say for sure whether he’s leaning into AEW’s onscreen story or offering an actual update on his contract and upcoming plans.

For well over a year now, MJF has talked about “The Bidding War of 2024” on AEW programming, though his tone has shifted considerably since becoming a babyface over the summer. While he’s spoken about his contract less on TV in recent months, it does seem as if the storylines surrounding MJF are all coming to a head, building to the PPV on December 30.

AEW Star Shoots HARD On Lack Of Promo Time

AEW star Britt Baker has taken to Twitter/X and vented her frustrations over a lack of live promo time on flagship programming like Dynamite in 2023.

The former Women’s Champion posted a quick rundown of her live mic time on the ‘A’ show compared to several other major stars. Wednesday’s show featured speeches from the likes of MJF and Christian Cage, and that caught Britt’s eye.

Baker said that MJF received “7 mins” and Cage got “10 mins” on the broadcast. Meanwhile, throughout the entirety of 2023, ‘DMD’ has received “0 mins” to put her points across over the live mic on Dynamite. That’s according to Britt herself.

She’s clearly a bit miffed by that.

Baker hasn’t worked a match on AEW TV since losing a TBS Title bout to Kris Statlander on the 16 September edition of Collision. That’s something else fans popping into the replies beneath Britt’s initial post mentioned – some even alleged that Tony Khan is dropping the ball by not booking Baker more frequently.

This could be something to keep an eye on, especially amidst reports that QT Marshall quit AEW because he didn’t like the creative approach.

Why WWE Hall Of Famer Kevin Nash Says Fans Are Wrong About AEW Champ MJF

MJF competing against Kenny Omega on “AEW Collision” was seen as a dream match in the eyes of most fans, but the show only brought in an average of 518,000 viewers against the World Series. While this was seen as a disappointment by some, WWE Hall Of Famer Kevin Nash defended the AEW World Champion and his overall ability as a draw. “I was thinking, they still did a half million views,” he said on “Kliq This.” “People are such asshats, ‘It was against the World Series,’ and then in the next paragraph the guy goes, ‘It was the least viewed World Series game ever.’ They’ve always got something.”

Professional wrestling competing against sports is always tricky considering the wider popularity that live sporting events tend to bring. Adding a big match like MJF vs. Omega was something that could have been seen as strong competition against the World Series, but with AEW only giving it a few days worth of build, it was not given the full push that could have happened.

However, on “AEW Dynamite” last week the show was able to garner an average of 832,000 views, which was a 7% rise overall, while the important 18-49 demographic saw a 14% rise. MJF played a big part in the entire night, as he was in the opening segment backstage to tease the main event, and the entire show ended up being built around him finding tag team partners, proving there is an interest in him as a character, showcasing the importance of build and the fact he can be a draw. 

AEW’s MJF Says Perfect Wrestler Is An Amalgamation Of Three WWE Hall Of Famers

AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman recently appeared at a New York Mets game to promote AEW, and the Long Island native took some time to answer questions for the team’s official YouTube channel. When asked to combine the look, promo skills, and in-ring ability of three different performers into one to create the perfect wrestler, MJF chose three beloved WWE legends.

“[For the] look, I’m gonna go with Triple H,” Friedman said. “Promo, I’m gonna go with [Roddy] Piper. … In-ring ability, I’m gonna go with Shawn Michaels.”

It should be noted that the AEW World Champion was told that he could not choose himself. If that was an option, it’s likely MJF would have put himself forward, maybe even in all three categories. However, with his seemingly genuine answer, it’s possible to glean some insight into Friedman’s influences.

This isn’t the first time MJF has cited Piper as an inspiration, having previously said the WWE Hall of Famer is the one who helped him fall in love with professional wrestling. Piper passed away in 2015 after highly-accomplished wrestling and acting careers. The wrestler and his classic “Piper’s Pit” segments have had a strong influence on modern wrestling, and few of today’s performers exemplify Piper’s attitude more than MJF.

As for Triple H and Michaels, Friedman has talked a lot about the former and not quite as much about the latter, with the AEW star previously stating on TV that Triple H, as well as Nick Khan, would love to bring MJF over to WWE. While MJF has been largely quiet about Michaels in the past, it seems he views the 58-year-old as one of the best in-ring wrestlers of all time.

MJF And Tony Khan Comment On Possibility Of AEW Running Shows In Mexico

AEW’s success in their first-ever show outside of North America this past Sunday at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London has led to plenty of interest in the company from across the globe. In the main event bout, MJF retained his AEW World title against his ‘brochacho’ Adam Cole in a dramatic affair, before the pair hugged it out to a raucous ovation. 

The ticket sales and aura surrounding the pay-per-view could also open the door for other countries to host major AEW shows, with MJF putting pressure on Tony Khan to enter a new market soon.

“I’m just gonna say this right now -– I want to go to Aztec Stadium so fucking bad,” MJF said in the post-show press conference. “It’s not up to me, but you can fit a whole lot of people in Aztec Stadium. I’m gonna let him [Khan] take that question and I’m gonna hope I peer-pressured the fuck out of him into saying maybe or yes.”

AEW has thus far only worked shows in the United States, Canada, and England, but fans from a long list of nations across the globe have expressed interest in attending the growing promotion. However, the potential to run an event at the Aztec Stadium — which can hold up to 90,000 people and will host FIFA World Cup matches in 2026 — is not lost on the president and CEO of the company.

“I think that’s a great venue and there are so many great venues and that is a great idea … it’s definitely something to consider,” Khan said. “That’s absolutely something that we would like to do under the right circumstances, we have some great partners in lucha libre and that’s a really exciting idea.”

Last year, Khan said he would be interested in hosting an AEW show in Japan, which he said is a great market for the promotion.