The Ariel Helwani Show - MJF

Episode Date: March 24, 2022

Maxwell Jacob Friedman, one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling, joins Ariel to discuss his young -- but very successful -- career. MJF tells Ariel when he first developed an interest in pro wrestling and then discusses his journey to AEW, if he thought AEW would be a formidable competitor to WWE when the promotion first launched, and what AEW is doing so well right now. He also discusses his influence, getting rejected by WWE early on and his appearance as a child on “Rosie.” Plus, he talks about his upcoming free agency in 2024, his love for the business side of pro wrestling, how long he hopes to pursue this career, and much more.You can follow MJF on Twitter and Instagram @The_MJF.Maxwell Jacob Friedman is an American professional wrestler who currently wrestles for All Elite Wrestling, the top competitor to WWE. At just 26 years old, MJF is considered to be one of the biggest stars in not just AEW, but all of professional wrestling.For more episodes of The Ariel Helwani Show, please follow the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or on Ariel's YouTube channel.Theme music: "Frantic" by The Lovely Feathers

Hello friends! Hope you're doing well. Welcome back to a brand new edition of The Helwani Show. I, of course, am Ariel Helwani. It is Thursday, March 24th, 2022. Shout out to my good friends, The Lovely Feathers, for this theme song. It is called Frantic. Can't wait until they reunite at some point in the near future. And let me tell you, I am so excited about today's episode. I've been looking forward to this one for quite some time. I've talked about today's guest here and there for the last couple of years, and I've said that he right now is my favorite pro wrestler.

He is doing the best work in the world of pro wrestling. His name is Maxwell Jacob Friedman, a.k.a. MJF, a.k.a aka one of the faces of AEW All Elite Wrestling, aka one of the four pillars of AEW. He is the best heel in the business,

best promos in the business. He is so entertaining. He's a throwback. He's a fellow Jew. He's out of Long Island, and the work that he's doing over there, if you're not watching,

you are truly missing out. His feud with CM Punk, which just concluded, was some of the best stuff in recent memory. Again, it's very old school. His promos are old school. His work on the mic is old school. Everything about him is really, really interesting. And the reason why I have been maybe hesitant to reach out to him in the past was he stays in character. And I shy away from those interviews. But as you can see, we get real, if you will. And I'm not trying to say that he is not real, because I actually do believe that the character that we see on television is very close to who he is. It's nice to try to figure out who the real Max is and who, you know, the character

is. And I was hesitant because I thought it would be like my Sasha Banks interview with BT. All kayfabe, if you will, as they say in the business. This wasn't. It was a fantastic conversation. I enjoyed every second of it. If you are a fan of his and or pro wrestling, you'll love it. Even if you're not, I think you'll love it.

He's hilarious. He's a very entertaining guy. Just the way he speaks, his insults, the whole thing. I mean, the guy is just on fire and he's just 26 years guy just the way he speaks his insults the whole thing i mean the guy is just on fire and he's just 26 years young just 26 he's got a whole career ahead of him i can't wait to see how it evolves he's a free agent in 2024 that's going to be a fascinating story to follow as well we get into all that how he got into wrestling his his early days as a guest on the rosie o'donnell show uh the the work that he's done as of late, WWE stuff, MMA, all that.

We talk about it all in this conversation with the one and only, the charismatic, the often imitated, never duplicated, the inimitable, the face of AEW. In many respects, in many people's eyes, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, aka MJF, right here on The Helwani show enjoy oh my this is very exciting i have been wanting to talk to this man for quite some time to be honest i kind of kept my distance i wasn't sure how it would go i do think we have a lot in common of course we're bothOT members of the same tribe. He, in my opinion, is the best Ampro wrestler in the game today.

I know he doesn't like the term heel. He's the best heel, dare I say, in the game as well. He is on fire. He's one of the faces of all elite wrestling. He's one of the four pillars of AEW. He's the salt of the earth. He's the one and only Maxwell Jacob Friedman on the program today. MJF, how are you?

Tremendous job. I'm just going to take it from here as far as the intro goes. You did okay. It was a little mid. It was a little mid. You did okay, though, so I'm just going to take it from here. Ladies and gentlemen, just in case you are deaf, dumb, blind, stupid, or since you're listening to this and watching this interview,

maybe a little poor, my name is Maxwell Jacob Friedman. I'm the youngest and fastest rising star in the history of professional wrestling i'm the three-time beautiful dynamite diamond ring champion and i also beat cm punk twice in chicago and just costed that no good trade or piece of shit wardlow his tnt title shot and i'm better than you and you know there you go that's how it's done ariel you did solid like i said little, little mid, but it was good. It was good. Well, this is an honor. It's great to talk to you, my friend. You are on fire. Happy birthday, by the way, belated birthday, 26. Would you have ever believed at just 26 years young that you'd get a chance to talk to Ariel Hawani? I mean,

this feels like a big deal in your career. It's very cute. Was that good? Was that good? I mean, yes. Yeah. That tickled me. That was very good. Was that good? I mean, yes. Yeah, that tickled me. That was very good. I like when, I like when whores such as yourself have a little bit of a sense of humor. That's great. Thank you.

By the way, is that a, is that a library behind you? What's going on? I've read all of them. Many, oh, I'm sure. Many leather bound books. I like it. That's right.

That's right. This, this, this library's as real as the Burberry scarf that you wear. Sir, now hold on a second. Ariel, you're getting off on the right foot. Let me come for you, okay? Right, four eyes? This is a real pristine, vintage Burberry.

I only rock mage. You know what mage stands for? Majore. Major. Correctamundo. All right? I only rock mage clothing and that's Burberry at its finest. Shout out to the great Dipperstein, I believe, coined the term. My boy Dip. One of my best friends in the whole wide world. How many of those do you own, by the way?

Oh my God. I would say I've got probably around the same amount of Burberry scarves as you do books behind you there. Wow. Okay. Being completely honest. I got ones for specific occasions. I got specific colors for specific holidays. Normally I'm a brown guy. Also occasionally I got Burberry ties, but it's really all dependent on the situation and the scenario. When did the idea start to come out wearing that? Well, it's just the best brand known to man. And it fits me very clearly. If you're from Long Island, I'm sure you would know that people from Long Island, we rock the bird.

It's what we rock. It might as well be the LA flag. You see bird left and right. And yeah, I mean, I've been rocking bird my whole life. For the record, though though i am not from long island proudly not from long where are you from i am canadian maxwell i mean i feel like you should have done a bit of homework a little research like i did i don't think you're of you i'm actually a dual citizen i just became an american citizen last week but proud can you prove it uh yes i

have the certificate of naturalization right over there, but I am born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, now living in the U.S. But it is what it is. Now, you said you came here illegally? No, no, no. We'll have people look into that after this interview. So, okay, a lot to talk about. I do want to kind of start at the beginning because your story is a fascinating one. And in fact, I stumbled upon an amazing piece of footage of young Max on the Rosie O'Donnell show way back when you're sitting there. I mean, how old were you when you were a guest on her program?

Maybe five, six? That skank. I think I was five. I think I was five when that worked out. You were five. She stole money. But we can get into that if you want to. It's really all dependent on how much time we have, Ariel.

I guess she found out about you because you did this sort of opera version of You Are My Sunshine. She brought you on the program. You said you wanted to be the first opera singer slash pro wrestler. How did you end up on the program? That's a really big deal and a great find all these years later. You did become the pro wrestler. Well, the opera thing I just said because I was told to by the writing team of Rosie's. The wrestling thing, I kind of just shot that in there. So what had happened was I have an angelic voice. I have a voice of an angel. I don't know if you're aware of this, Ariel. I am an Allstate tenor two in choir. I was the leader of the all-male acapella group known as the Acafellas. Now at that time at five, I was already a much better singer than everybody else. I mean, I'm a prodigy at practically everything. And what had happened was, is my mom had recorded me singing and she sent it to Rosie O'Donnell. Then Rosie said, my God,

this kid, he's got everything. He's wildly attractive, wildly modest, as we both know, and an incredible singer. So that's how I got on the show. Unfortunately, Rosie, she was supposed to send me quite a large check for my appearance and she forgot, but I got to meet Britney Spears in the back, you know, pre going absolutely insane and shaving her head bald. So that was interesting. She was also a guest on that episode. She was a guest on that episode. Yeah. Yeah. Do you remember meeting her? I do. She kissed me on the cheek and she told me I was cute. And I told her she was, you know, you know, she, she was okay.

She had, she was kind of chubbing it up at that point. A little, little weight, just a little bit of water weight, more than she needed. How did that even resurface? Like who unearthed that footage? I wish I knew, you know, a lot of these fans out there they they want to know who the real mjf is who's the real maxwell jacob friedman and the funny thing is the more they dig the more they realize that this is me um but yeah i suppose some absolute freaking lunatic um found that video and then posted it online and it just absolutely it went went mage. I mean, it was all over the place.

In that clip, she gives you a gift certificate to WWF New York, which is no longer around. Another story. So it had closed almost a week later. I was so excited to go, obviously to this day, I'm a huge WWE fan. They know they're a huge fan of me, as I've been told and as I've read. I was so excited. Then a week later when I was supposed to go, it had completely closed down. Wow. You never went? No. Shot right to the heart, man. I never got to go. I never got to attend. How did you get introduced to pro wrestling? The way I got introduced to pro wrestling was I was, I believe, four at the time.

But I do remember this very vividly. I was over my uncle's house. It was a family little get together at his beautiful, luxurious home. And I'm sitting down. And on the TV, it was a Friday night. So there was SmackDown. I didn't know it was SmackDown at the time. And I remember I'm getting a glimpse of what this stuff is.

And I'm just in absolute awe by what's going on. And, you know, after the fact, but I didn't remember exactly what I was watching. I was just in awe of these, you know, monstrous titans. And I remember looking at my father as we went home and I was like, I just need to see more of this. So he took me to a Hollywood video when I was very young and I grabbed just a bunch of, you know, DVDs. And there was one guy in particular who looked like a zombie and his hand was reaching out in the front. At the time I didn't know it was The Undertaker. So I bring that home and I put in the DVD and I read the back and on the back, it says Hell in a Cell match.

And I go, that sounds interesting. The rest of them didn't have any, you know. So I watched that. So the first match I ever watched, I think I was like four turning five, was Mankind versus The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match. And I was absolutely hooked. Not a bad match to start off with. And so are you then like a hardcore, like, are you watching everything? I mean, obviously you're very young, but watching everything. And luckily I was, you know, I was the born in the age of

YouTube. So I was able to get my hands on anything and everything. And, you know, a lot of my friends were just watching WWE, but what I, what I fell into was watching the throwback stuff. So I'll never forget going on YouTube and there's this guy, he's chewing gum and he's got his feet on a desk and he's looking at this guy who's supposed to be a host. More research I do, turns out that's Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper. And Piper's just chewing gum, talking all this shit. And I'm like, I can relate to this guy because I have the biggest mouth in the world. And here's this guy, he's making money off of just being himself. I'm like, I can relate to this guy because I have the biggest mouth in the world. And here's this guy. He's making money off of just being himself.

I'm in. And I was just so, so beyond hooked. And then I followed his entire career going in the annals, you know, just watching all this stuff in Portland. And then I found out about territory wrestling and I'm like, I'm like eight or nine and I'm watching Mid-South wrestling and AWA and Crockett. And I was just absolutely obsessed with that version of professional wrestling because to me, that's the best

professional wrestling. Why is it the best? It's the best because you don't have a bunch of schmucks trying. Here's my issue with professional wrestling today. And here's why I stand out like no other. I feel like people are putting on a superhero costume before they go through the curtain. They are trying to be something they're not. They're trying to fool people into believing they're a star. The reason why the territory days he walked through the curtain because he was Tully B. Nobody had to tell Flair to act. Nobody had to tell Piper how to act. Nobody had to tell Buddy Landell how to act, Rick Rude. These guys got it because they were just being themselves. It was authentic. It was as real as it got, just like I'm as real as it gets. And that's why, to me, that's the golden age of professional wrestling. And right now we're having a resurfacing of the golden age of professional wrestling. And I am leading that charge.

You're welcome. That was tremendous. I appreciate your love and respect for the good old days. Most kids your age growing up, they're watching Raw, SmackDown. I understand you were a big, quote unquote, tape trader. Is that a thing that you partaked in? So I didn't partake in tape trading just because I had YouTube. Now, if there was something I really, really couldn't get my hands on, there were some websites off of

like Reddit where you would find DVDs and you'd search out for it. But like, I was not, that was way before my time. Like I'm not as old as you are, Ariel. I'm not a fossil. So at that point, pretty much everything I wanted to see was on YouTube or Daily Motion. And your favorite growing up, correct me if I'm wrong, was Roddy Piper? 1 million percent. Still to this day, Roddy Piper. Outside of me, if I'm being honest, I'm better than Piper in Portland. I'm better than Bret Hart in Canada. But growing up, yes, Piper was tremendous. Absolutely tremendous. Did you ever meet him? Never got to meet him. He passed

away before I got to meet him. But I'd like to think based on, you know, I had met, I'd met his daughter when she did that one shot for us. And she had told me that she thinks her father would have been a very big fan and I'm inclined to agree. I mean, come on. So favorite Piper moment match. I mean, there's a lot, right? The coconut. Obviously my favorite Piper moment was the dog collar match against Valentine. Um, as far as to me, that was, again, we're talking realism. We're talking, we're talking as real as it gets because it was just like I am, you know, as much as I hate to admit it, I think that's why people are all emphatically so in love with watching me and CM Punk go at it. As much as a dumb, scumbag, nerdy, straight edge piece of trash as he is, they love seeing the two of us go at it because it reminds them of that dynamic, if you will.

You told a story recently in the build up to the the uh the dog collar match with with punk about being in high school he cheated by the way i had the match completely won and he cheated but we can get into that later yeah we can get into no problem but i you know the the jew boy stuff resonated with me as as a jew you don't hear a lot of jew talk in pro wrestling yeah well you're very jewy looking so i i can see the nose mercilessly just bullied. Actually, I was quite popular, but I related to the kids who got picked on. And the story you told was – I didn't mean to laugh at you when you said you were popular. I should have just internalized that and just laughed at me.

How real was that story? How truthful was that story? It was 110% real. Really? It's like everything that comes out of my mouth is real. So what had occurred was I had tried out for the football team. There was a lot of Gentiles, if you will, on the football team.

I was one of only two Jews on the entire team because Jewish kids are supposed to be accountants, doctors, lawyers. We are not supposed to steer away from that and try to do contact sports. So I was in a weird position. I tried out for the team. I was head and shoulders better than everybody else. And I would go on to break every single school record in football

defensively at my high school. But yeah, at the time, the kids were not a fan of the quote unquote Jew boy taking their spot. So after another day of me having the worst day in school, cause I have severe attention deficit and I was never able to concentrate no matter how hard I tried. I was so stoked because I thought I was going to be able to make friends. And then all these kids rolled up on me, pun intended with quarters and they chucked them at me as hard as I could.

And I still, I still had to stick around for the rest of the school day, which was brutal. Just trying to hold it in and be, you know, just get through it. And then when I got home, I just cried my eyeballs out. And then I remembered everything was going to be okay. Cause I got to see at my time, I didn't realize how much of a piece of shit he was my hero at the Hicksville Broadway mall. So, and, and, and that was the exact same day, the exact same day. And that was the exact same day? The exact same day.

And he was doing what? Like an autograph signing? CM Punk we're talking about? He was doing an autograph signing. This was Friday night. He was on, at this point, he wasn't ECW champion yet, but I'm fairly certain he was getting close to winning that title.

And you are how old? Because that picture that you posted, that's the same day? It was, yes believe it was 2007 i know i said it in the greatest promo of all time that night but i'm just trying to remember now i believe it was because you look 12 in that picture if not younger i was 11 i was 11 you're 11 so but but you're saying you're trying out for the high school football team i'm just trying to so yes so i tried out for the high school football team. I'm just trying to. So yes. So I tried out for the high school football team around, around that time. Sorry, pardon. I had tried out for, this is middle school now. I'm sorry. I'm 11 years old and I tried out. This is why I'm a,

you see, I'm trying to, so I'm my apologies. I misspoke. I was talking about, I got my, my, all my wires crossed because when I was in high school, I had broken all those records. I was 11 years. And by then everybody loved me because let's face it, you were either getting on the train or you were going to get run over by the train. But yeah, so I was 11 years old. So this was, I don't remember what grade it would have been, but I believe I must've been in middle school. Cause I'm out of park. You're out of elementary now. Cause I went to Parkway elementary, but I went to Matlin middle. So I believe this happened to me in Matlin middle school. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. With all the specifics. It's a lot of different specifics.

No, listen. That's why I'm the journalist and you're the meathead guy. I follow the facts. Facts matter. Understood. Yeah. Yeah. It was the same exact day.

I went home and then we drove on over to Hicksville Broadway Mall and I got my autograph. Do you remember what you said to him? I remember what he said to me, which makes which, which makes me realize that he's, he's all the more fake, uh, just a horrible human being. But in that moment he was pretending he was a good person. So I waited in line with my cousin, um, who at the time we, we were not fans of each other. His name's Sammy. Now we get along great, but know your kids yeah your little rivalries going on and he had a cane shirt on and he was in front of me and we had waited on this line for hours we finally get to the front he looks at me and he goes he's gonna love me and and sammy walks up to cm punk and he goes you're my favorite wrestler and punk looks at

him and goes and why are you wearing a cane shirt which was the coolest moment ever because he you know he got to, you know, cut a promo on my shitty cousin. And then I was next. And I looked at him cause at this point, I'd already watched all of his IWA mid South, mid South IWA, um, IWA stuff. And I had watched, uh, all of his ring of honor stuff. So I flat out asked him, I said, coming from where you came from on the independent circuit. And I'm 11 at this point, I was a fucking genius. I go, coming from the independent circuit, how does it feel to know that you have a line of people that are waiting hours just to meet you when you used to wrestle in these dingy gymnasiums?

And he stopped and he looked at me and he said, that's the most intelligent question anyone asked me all day. And I remember at the time how much that meant to me. Now I realize he was just saying that shit because he wanted to be mr nice guy when in reality he's scum of the earth i'm salt of the earth but at what point does the dream of being a pro wrestler actually like start to come together for you so if if i'm being completely honest i went to the first elimination chamber um madison square garden don't ask me names and dates i'm gonna kill you at this point with all

these dates questions i feel like i'm getting a light shined over my fucking i'm trying to i'm trying to put all the pieces together i mean this is great this is like an old school rf video shoot interview you know what i'm talking about yeah yeah yeah you remember those or is that before your time no no no i've watched probably almost all of them especially new jack versus balls mahoney with them just yelling at each other. That was tremendous. Both dead. RIP, but I, oh boy, where was I? Would you ask me again? When did it all start to come together for you? The dream of wanting to be a pro wrestler elimination chip reason.

What had occurred was I went to Madison square gardens, the first elimination chamber and Sean Michaels had that shitty Dutch boy haircut with the Brown doodoo pants. And so he would tell me I'm wrong. It's the truth, whatever. Sean, if you're, if you hear this, if you get offended, you and I both know I'm right. I'm sure you're a great guy, whatever. So he hits the pose and I'm looking around and everybody's standing up. Right. And I look at my dad and even my dad's in awe and he's not the easiest guy to, invested. He's not the easiest guy to impress. And I think to myself, I can do this. I know for a fact I can do this. And I tug my dad and I'm like, I'm going to do this. was growing up to be a five foot nine jew boy from plainview island new york five foot nine jew boys from plainview island new york especially ones with crippling add aren't meant to be professional wrestlers but i defied all the odds because

let's face it i'm a goddamn prodigy but yeah that's the day i said to myself oh i'm i'm gonna be a pro wrestler i don't know how old I was. Fucking Google it, assholes. It was the first ever elimination. It's not that hard. If you're able to find me on Rosie O'Donnell, I'm sure you can figure out how old I was when that went down. And of course, the big turning point for you is when you're scrolling through Instagram,

just sort of like mindlessly scrolling. You go through the wrestling classes. You see that photo. Why did that photo mean so much to you? Punk shaking hands with Bryan Danielson. That's when your life completely changes. It made me livid. So I would have to go back. This is a part of the story I couldn't tell because in television, you only have so much time. Oh, this is great. Exclusive? A little exclusive stuff. So what had occurred was, is I had a full ride scholarship to play football.

Where? scholarship to play football. And I go to University of Hartwick. So what had occurred was I had all these division one offers. They were offering me solid money, but not full ride. So my mom told me like, you're going to go to this D3 school because they're going to pay for your education entirely. I said, you're a fat whore, mom, whatever. So I go, right? She's a bitch. Don't even get me started on her. So I go. And after a week, the head coach tells me, we want to start you. Now, as a freshman, I should have been absolutely over the moon elated. I didn't care. I was dead inside. I felt nothing, nothing because my whole entire life, all I wanted to be a pro was a pro wrestler. But then I see a guy who is the best in the world and he left. So why, why can I do it?

That's where my brain went at the time, unfortunately. Then I realized I was 10 times better than him in the first place. So the coach tells me that I go back to my dorm and I'm scrolling on Instagram and I see that photo and I'm fucking livid. I'm livid because here's the guy again that made me question whether or not I was supposed to follow my dreams. And I look to the guy to my right and I go, you know what? I'm out of here. I think I'm going to leave. And he goes, okay. And left the room weird reaction, right? He fucking narked on me because he wanted to be the middle linebacker at the time. He was another freshman buying for the same position. I get called to the coach's

office. The coach got his fat, disgusting belly on top of the desk. He's fucking got a huge dip in his lip. And he looks at me and he goes, I heard you want to leave. And I go, well, this isn't exactly professional, fat boy, but yeah, I'm trying to get out of here. I'm just being honest with you. And he goes, well, I can't have you do that. And I go, what's that supposed to mean? He goes, well, I think you're homesick. And I was like, I think you're dumb.

I don't know what's going on here. I'm going to go home. And he's like, no, no, no. I'm going to assign you an accountability. I go to kind of what in walks. I still, I'm friends with this guy on Facebook to this day, six, six, 300 plus pound at the time. Now he's lost some weight offensive lineman named Sal Levante and South followed me everywhere, man, me everywhere. For two days. If I went to the bathroom, he waited outside. If I went to go eat at the chow hall, he was sitting right next to me. They literally were holding me hostage. When I told Tony Khan this story, he explained

to me the litany of legalities that were crossed in this scenario in NCAA. It's just wildly illegal. So what I ended up doing was I waited till 2 a.m. in the morning. I grabbed the essentials. I got in my car. I put my key in the ignition. And I'm a religious man. I don't know if you are, Ariel. And I remember I stopped.

I paused. And I said, God, if you do not want me to leave this campus, give me a sign. I counted to 10 Mississippi. Nothing. Drove home. rest is history. Wow. And how soon after that do you start training? Almost immediately after. So I go home and my two anxiety-ridden Jewish parents are obviously cursing at me, up a storm. What are you doing here? What are you nuts? You're going to be a

gas station attendant if you don't graduate from college. And I'm just like, yeah, whatever assholes, I'm going to be a pro wrestler. And I remember my dad looking at me, he's like, if you're going to do this, you only have a limited amount of time in my house to get it done. And you better give it 110% or you're out of here. And I said, don't worry about it. And then I got very lucky because there's only a handful of reputable professional wrestling schools. There's plenty of professional wrestling schools, but there's only a handful of reputable ones and i you know it was kismet i go online i go wrestling schools long island and i thought to myself i'm gonna have to i'm gonna have to move to a different state probably right and 15 minutes from my house in hicksville long island a new school that had opened up maybe only five months

prior five months prior create a pro wrestling run by Pat Buck and Curt Hawkins. And yeah, I went right there. So how long after that do you have your first match? Three months. Wow. So this is me being blunt as shit. I, I took to it like a fish in water and it was so hysterical to me because I'm just a freak athlete and I just get shit right away.

But I got the stuff at next, like it was a next different level because I was such a student of the game. I remember my trainers would say stuff and they'd be like, do that. And I do it right away and everybody else would have difficulty with it. Like, do you guys not watch? Do you not understand the mechanics of this? Like everything came to me so easy, you know, as much as it would pain brian myers and pat buck to say if you ask them they'd tell you you knew after a week what i was going to become and it was so fast and my first match i was only three months in

and the match i watched it back recently it's on youtube um it's not easy to find um but i believe it's on the creative pro youtube if it's, it's on like a separate side link. Either way, if you can find it, you can find, sure you can, you, you,

you fucking weirdos find everything. It was a great match. Like it literally, I didn't, I didn't come across, you know, scared or skittish. I cut a great promo before we even wrestled.

It was a great match. So speaking of YouTube, yes. of YouTube, um, on YouTube, there is your tough enough application video. Yes, there is. Yes. Trip wasn't smart enough. If you remember the promo I cut, I did. Uh, I watched it recently. Um, and it's, it's amazing to watch now how far into your career, you know, as career as a budding wrestler? I was 19. I was 19 years old at the time. So I was about a year in the biz and maybe not even a year yet. Probably not even a year yet. I was 19 and I wasn't even a year in the biz. And I remember cutting this promo, sending it. And I thought to myself, nobody's cut a better promo than me. And I was a hundred percent right. I ended up having the most views at the time of any of the applicants and I still didn't get in. And to this day, I just have a feeling that it might've rubbed certain people the wrong way with some of the verbiage I used in the promo, but I had the most views. I got through one casting call and then that was it. I didn't hear from them again. But if I'm being honest, like I said,

everything happens for a reason. I think if I went there at that point in time, I would have been doing fucking roles. You know what I mean? They wouldn't have understood what they had. Now, not only do they understand, but they're going to be unloading an absurd amount of money by 2024, just to hopefully get a sniff at getting MJF in their company. And I want to ask you about that in a moment, but just like ego-wise, was it tough when you didn't get it? No, no, no. To me, I just thought, oh, okay, so you guys are dumb. Got it. No problem. No problem. I meet dumb people every every day i meet dumb people everywhere um just dumb people but then you know as i got older and i look back on it i'm really glad i didn't get signed and i'm glad i didn't go on that show because a i would have won i mean pretty sure i could have done better than zz i think i would have been okay um you know so it it is what it is and they look back on it now i'm sure they're fucking slapping themselves silly for it. Well, I know they are. And the interest for me in that company now is probably more so than anybody who's about to be a free agent. So that's just the way the world works, man. That's business.

Have you ever had a conversation with anyone from the McMahon family, Triple H, Pritchard? It's like anyone in a position of power. This is a shoot. Bruce Pritchard and me, everything I say is a shoot. Bruce Pritchard and me go way back. When he was in MLW, he was one of the lead producers there. And I mean, he would watch me do promos.

And I mean, he was floored by me. Absolutely enamored by me. I was the prettiest girl at the ball. And we would just sit down, we'd shoot the shit. And I love Bruce. I think Bruce is a hell of a guy and has a hell of a mind. I think he produces incredible television. And so yes, I've talked to Bruce multiple times. As far as how I've been reached out to, legally, it's not smart for me to answer that question. But what I can say emphatically is there's an absurd amount of interest in me. Tony Khan knows

that. Tony Khan knows that. Tony Khan claims he's not afraid of that and that's good. So I hope you're not afraid to shell out a lot of fucking money. Even prior to signing with AEW. Oh God. Yeah. So I had a decision to make there. I was, I believe I was 22 at the time. I was either 21 turning 22 or I was 22. Again, don't know. Don't kill me with the math. But, you know, I knew there was serious interest in me in WWE. But again, I thought to myself, are they going to let me be me? That's my biggest thing. Because I'm not fake. Everything about me is real. Are you going to let me do what I do best and let me be me. And then I got to talking to Tony Khan. I was linked up with him by my good friend, Cody Rhodes. Hope you're doing good, buddy. And we talked for hours on end over

the phone, me and my BFFTK about Mid-South, about AWA, about Buddy Landell, about Butch Reed. And I immediately thought to myself, okay, this guy gets it and he gets me. And that's what was the most important thing to me. So at that point in my career, it was a no brainer. Now, you bring me anywhere, I'm going to be a top guy in your promotion. So it doesn't really matter. But at that point, I needed to make sure I had the perfect launching off point in my career. Did you think- Does that make sense, Ariel? It makes total sense. It's a beautiful story. I love how he believed in you, you believed in him.

It's an upstart company. Did you believe though, we're three years into this thing, that AEW would be as successful? Honestly, you believe that? This is not happening a little sooner than you thought? And if I'm being completely frank and people can scoff if they want, but realistically, I'm the best right now healing the business, even though I despise that word, I'm salt of the earth. I don't agree with that at all.

I'm a good guy, okay? But I knew going into it, if they had guys like me, Jungle Boy, Darby, Sammy, leading the charge for the next generation, and we had guys at the time like Chris Jericho, who's a household name, like Jim Ross, who's a household name, people were going to check us out. And once they got to see me, they were going to stick around. And that's been proven because I am one of the highest, actually scratch that, I am the highest minute for minute draw on average in AEW. Specifically on Wednesday nights. Now, I guess you don't have to specify that because the war is over.

Respectfully, we won. But yeah, so I knew what I was bringing to the table was special. I knew it hasn't been seen yet. And I knew it would also remind people of those, in fact, good old days. So I wasn't worried at all. I knew if you gave me the time and if you allowed me to do me, that I was going to draw. had the either the the most or the second highest most uh pay-per-view uh buys for this past pay-per-view at revolution with me and punk obviously being the most important match on the card what do you think aw is doing right right now that wwe isn't doing see i think wwe is doing great i love everything wwe is doing i just think we're fresh and we have fresh faces that people haven't seen before i think everything right now that Bruce Prichard and Vince are putting out there is absolutely incredible.

I love it. I love NXT 2.0. I love Raw. I love SmackDown. I love what Roman's doing. I think Roman's putting out some great work. Paul Heyman, fellow member of the tribe, absolutely killing it. Sorry about what's going on with Brock. You deserve better than that. I think they're putting out a great product. I think the big differential is, quite frankly, is AEW has MJF. I think that's the biggest difference maker you could possibly have. So you said earlier, you know, everything I say is the truth. I actually feel like this is a promo right here. No, no, absolutely not.

Absolutely not. No, I genuinely love NXT 2.0. It's great. What is great about it? promo right here like i actually no no absolutely not absolutely not no i genuinely you genuinely love nxt 2.0 it's great what is great about it it's great i mean honestly there's so many charisma machines on that program there is i don't know why you're laughing i think it's a great show and i you know they had a makeout competition this past tuesday gripping television how can you not like a makeout competition? I mean, I practically had a makeup competition with that hot redhead a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if you saw that, Ariel. But I mean, who doesn't like a good makeout set? So I'm enjoying it. I

think Bruce is doing a hell of a job. And at the end of the day, quite frankly, there's a lot of guys there that are developing and they're trying to figure out who, who they are as, as human beings, not who they are as acts, but who they are as human beings. And, you know, it's fun to watch. You get to see these young guys develop and figure it out. Speaking of, uh, Paul Heyman, have you ever met him? I have never met Paul Heyman. We, we have, we have texted and we are both big fans of each other. Would you like to work with him one day? God, yeah, absolutely. I think that would be, that would be a match made in heaven. I think him and CM Punk was a little bit mid, but me and Paul Heyman, that would be mage for sure. I mean,

that's huge. That's, that's huge. Uh, you mentioned Cody Rhodes. He was the one that introduced you to Tony. He introduced me to Tony Khan. How do you feel about him leaving AEW? I wish him the best of luck. I really do. I hope he finds happiness and I hope he makes a boatload of money. Have we had our issues in the past? Absolutely. Do I love him as a human being?

Maybe not, but I respect him as a businessman. Look, this is the same guy who I whipped several times as I watched his wife cry and weep. I'm not saying we're buddies. I'm not saying I like the guy, but what I am saying is I respect what he's doing as a businessman. And quite frankly, by 2024, if people have an issue with me leaving to go make real money, then me and him are going to be fighting on the same exact Island. So are you surprised that he decided to leave that AW was okay with him leaving that, that ultimately I'm not surprised because we, we, we have so many weapons and we have so many top guys in our promotion. You know, the wheel's just going to keep on turning.

Now, is Cody Rhodes a big, big weapon in our arsenal? Absolutely. I think that's why I look forward to seeing what he as a weapon does, you know, for the rest of his career. What do you say to the people who say they're bringing in AEW, bringing in too many of the, you know, old WWE guys? They're getting away from what got them here. Guys like you, guys like Sammy, Darby. Guys like me are drawing the highest numbers. Guys like me are on TV every week. Guys like Sammy Guevara just had the TNT title for an incredible reign, as much as I hate his stupid face and the fact that he has to stick out his tongue.

Is that a tick? I don't understand what's going on there. Darby Allin is on TV weekly. Again, another emo loser scumbag, huge star in our programming. Jungle Boy is currently a tag team champion. So to those people, what I would say is that's a bad faith take. Now, are we bringing in professional wrestlers that have been in other quote unquote territories and companies? Yes. Just out of curiosity, Smart Mark fan, are you aware that when you watched AWA and Mid-South and Atlantic that all these guys didn't start in those promotions that were top guys?

They're journeymen. We move around. We go where the money's at. And right now, I'm where the money's at for me for now. So to those bad faith takes, because that's exactly what it is. It's bad faith takes. Professional wrestlers, we go where we feel we are going to be handled best and where we feel we're going to make the most money. And where we feel we have an opportunity to become world champion.

So if people want to come over here to go for, in my opinion, the most important world title in all of professional wrestling right now, the AEW world title, then how can you not respect that and understand that? So I get it. What do you make of WWE letting go of all these guys? It seems like every few months, it's like, wow, they let this guy go. They let that guy go. You know, it's like, whether it's Bray Wyatt or, you know, Keith Lee.

I mean, it's just like every, do you guys sit back and be like, wow, what is going on over here? Do you just feel that? I think that's a moment where you have to look in the mirror and go, okay, it's sink or swim time. Am I as great as I think I am? Because if I am, I can go elsewhere and shove it to Vince and Triple H or whomever that decided to let me go. Correct or incorrect, Ariel. So again, let's go back to Tough Enough. They didn't want none of

MJF at that point. Okay, Here's the chip on my shoulder. I'm going to make you swallow it. And that's what I did. So these guys are all great talents. I'm sure they're, you know, good dudes. Not that I'm really going to hang out with anyone. They're all kind of poors, but you know, to each their own, if they're as good as they think they are, then they're going to make it. Aren't they? Whether they go to New Japan, whether they go to Ring of Honor, which is now owned by us, whether they go to Impact Wrestling, whether they go to the Independent Circuit and get huge. Look at Zack Ryder. Let me talk about Matt Cardona for a second, another LI boy. He's killing it right now. Absolutely killing it right now. Do you think that when he got released, he sat down and went, oh, man, this isn't fair? No, he went for it. He attacked it. Now, is it a brutal inconvenience? Is it upsetting? Absolutely.

And I feel for those guys. But now you got to pick yourself up and make something of yourself all over again. Will you rise to the occasion? That's up to you. You've referenced 2024. Is your contract up January 1st? When are you truly a free agent? January 1st, 2024. And you mentioned this a lot, which I appreciate. As someone who talked a lot, I cover MMA for a living. Free agency is a very interesting thing.

A lot of guys don't talk about this. A lot of guys don't mention this. They don't want to bite the hand that is currently feeding them. Why do you bring this up so much? So when you're as talented as over and as much of a draw as me, if I want to, I can bite off Tony Khan's fingers. Okay. He knows, he knows where his bread is butter. And if that offends somebody in the locker room, which I know it does, oh, well cry about it. Get more over than me. Oh, wait, that's right. You can't. Cause I'm literally the best talker in the history of the business and one of the best wrestlers in the history of the business, Bell to Bell. Because I don't just spam moves like I'm in a video game.

No, I make people feel something because I'm going out there to win. I'm not going out there to show off. I'm not going out there to try to make sure that I get all these people talking about my star ratings. No, if that happens and it's a byproduct of what I do, fantastic. But I didn't get into this business to hit moves. I got into this business to make money. That's why I got into this business. So that's why I'm not afraid to talk about when my contract is up January 1st, 2024. And I'm not afraid to stir that pot because it's a constant reminder of Tony Khan. Okay, I need to step my game up. And it's a constant reminder for WWE who has extreme interest in me. Okay, we're going to need to make him a serious offer

that he can't refuse. How do you know they have extreme interest in you? Again, I know for a fact, it's already been leaked several times. And even if it wasn't leaked, I would have known. But legally, I cannot discuss why. What happens if Tony Khan comes up to you, let's say, June of 2023? Hey, let's figure this out. Let's get this done. I'm not signing shit. I'm not signing shit.

No shit. You want to test the waters. It's not a test if you know you're going to win. I got the cheat code. I got the answers on a piece of paper. So no, that is not something I consider unless the number was absolutely astronomical, but even then I'm not sure I'd consider it. What's a number that you would consider?

That's not something that I'm willing to discuss, but I'm sure if you see what the top guys in our industry make, that's cool. I want to make more than that. Is there a part of you that feels a sense of loyalty because he took a chance on you? Does that give him a bit of an edge? Like I said, mama didn't raise no punk. Although mama herself is a punk, but that's a different story. Yeah. I mean, look, this isn't friend business, right? What is it called, Ariel? Show business. there you go is there a part of you because you grew up at w that was your first introduction to this

my first love that was my first love with professional wrestling i mean will it feel somewhat uh i don't know empty disappointing if at some point in your life you don't get to see what it is like over there absolutely Absolutely not. Like I said, I was a child, right? Now I'm not a wrestling fan anymore. I'm a, I'm a professional wrestler, keyword professional. And my whole deal is I can't look at it that way. I can't go, Oh boy, I hope I get to do WrestleMania. Oh boy. I, I, I, I hope, uh, I get to main event in a pay-per-view. None of that stuff means anything to me. All I care about is the bottom line. And right now, to me, the most important thing is winning that AEW world title.

Not because, oh boy, who else has won this? Look at the lineage. I could give a shit. Because if I win that world title, what does that mean, Ariel? It means that you have to pay me more money. And that means that when I win, I get a bigger bonus because it's a championship defense. This is the stuff that people forget about. People don't understand that there are winner's purses in professional wrestling. If you win, you make more money. If you lose, you make less money. That's why we're wrestling. We're not wrestling for a sense

of pride. And if anybody tries to tell you that's the case, they're full of shit. I don't wrestle because I love professional wrestling. I wrestle because it makes me money. And that's why I want to be the AEW world champion. And that's why the fact that Cody Rhodes is going over there, that's great. Good for him. But I wouldn't leave there because of anything else but money i would not leave where i'm at right now because of anything else i asked you if you were surprised he's leaving aw cody uh would you be surprised if you went back i mean all signs point to him going back it seems like a complete that's what professional wrestling is and i wouldn't be surprised if

anybody that you were upset that got or offended that got fired from WWE, as I'm sure they were upset too. I wouldn't be shocked if they got rehired. Right. This is professional wrestling. This is pro sports. We move around. We move around. That's just the nature of the beast.

Has Tony tried to lock you up recently before you get too big? I'm not going to get into that, but I'm sure you can imagine that Tony Khan is a billionaire. Tony Khan is a very intelligent man. Tony Khan's doing everything he can to make sure that his heaviest hitter is sticking around. Did you like the AEW product or do you like the AEW product more so now that Tony is kind of the booker? He took everything in house, right? At some point it was like this committee. I thinkony khan he gets all the credit in the world for what he's doing and he should because he is ridiculously intelligent um the way he decides to showcase his talent and the matchmaking he decides to do is i mean it's pretty much perfect. There is a reason why within

the span of three years, we have created some of the newest and biggest stars that pro wrestling has seen in decades. And it's because Tony Khan is a very bright, intelligent man. And he knows how to use his chess pieces. And don't get me wrong. That's what pro wrestlers are. We're pieces on a board. The question what are you are you a pawn or are you a king now i'm a king so you better give me king money but yes tony khan is a very very intelligent man there's a reason he's won booker of the year it's two two years in a row now i believe or is it three i mean according to who yeah whatever I mean he's won several awards And I believe it's very obvious

That the fans Our fans are rabid Our fans love the product I know you love the product I know you watch the product Because what we're bringing to the table It's fresh, it's intelligent It doesn't defy logic

Everything that we do makes sense. And everything that I do definitely makes sense. And a lot of that has to do with Tony Khan and his presence in the company. The more real pro wrestling is, the better it is. That's why I love MMA, right? Because I actually felt in the early 2000s that pro wrestling was getting to be too predictable. And you know what has happened is that. And what really turned me off, and I think we're kindred spirits here, I grew up in a time where the finishing move was the finishing move.

Hogan hits the leg drop, it's over. It's not let me hit nine of these and then it's over. And something that really pissed me off, remember when Ronda Rousey, if I may just stand on this soapbox and share this with you. Ronda Rousey had the privilege of coming over from MMA with a finishing maneuver that was already quote unquote over, right? How many people come over to pro wrestling and your move is already over? The fans know that when you hit this thing, it lights out. She had the armbar, right? From actually submitting people in multiple UFC

fights. And what happens in her WWE debut with all due respect, a, you know, a mother of three, who's a CEO of the company kicks out of it like nine times. So right then it should have been, you hit that thing.

It's lights out. Now you could build up to it. And she scrambles it. She gets shouldn't Rhonda have hit her harder well i'm just saying what do you mean shouldn't ronda have hit her harder to ensure that she would have won the match okay that's on ronda right well clearly didn't train hard enough point is okay these quote-unquote spot fests not your thing right do you feel like this is hurting pro wrestling these these nine times now so so wrestling fans think they're smart and they think they're in the know you're not i know you're watching this right now you're not are you talking

no no no well yes you do but it's fine here's the deal people want to say spots whatever this shit's real to me okay it? It's because it is real. And here's the deal. When I see dudes running the ropes, spamming moves, it's because in all reality, in the confines of the fight, they're not trying to win, are they? They're just trying to be cool. Correct or incorrect, Ariel? Correct. Everything I do in a match is to win. And that's why my matches evoke emotion. Real,

legitimate emotion. People go home after they go to an AEW event. They put their head on the pillow and they're mumbling themselves, God damn it, that MJF, what a piece of shit. Are they doing that with anybody else? No.

Because they don't believe anybody else because everybody else is trying to spam moves and trying to look cool. Right? That's not my job. You hate me? You hate me watching this interview? Good. Cool. That means you feel something.

And I come through the screen and I grab you by the fucking face. That's what I do. And that's why I don't like a lot of the modern era of professional wrestling. I don't like watching 30 crash and burn car wreck bullshit just for the sake of a pop. I'm not in it for the pop. I'm in it to win. And the byproduct of that is making you, the viewer, emotionally invested. Now, again, we're going to go back to money because that's all I give a shit about. If you're emotionally invested, what are you going to do? Ariel, what are you going to do? Watch, then pay for the pay-per-view. Damn fucking straight. And that's why I make money for my company and any company that I'd work for.

Moves don't make money. Moves do not make money. I'm just going to take a couple more minutes of your time, if you don't mind. I'm getting annoyed, but okay. What's up? I'm enjoying this tremendously. And I've watched a lot of interviews with you where it feels like the interviewer is trying to outwit you.

This is your thing. I appreciate you not trying because, A, everybody fails. Right. And, B, it's cringy, right? It's just awkward. You said it. Yeah. It is what it is.

Past interviewers that are watching this interview, I hope you realize you're a schmuck. But continue, Ariel. You have been called like a low rent Ms. How do you feel about that when people compare you to Ms.? So it's really funny. So that was, so before Ms. It was EC3 and before EC3, I think it was Jericho just because of the scarf. So it went Jericho, EC3, Ms.

At points Baron Corbin, which I thought was funny because he's over six feet tall and he's a mastodon of a man. I think it's funny now because I don't get, that doesn't happen anymore. Like I look for it because I am a nut. So I used to do this. I used to type in MJF Miz, right? I don't see it anymore. And I think it's because I have proven myself at such a level. Now, when I type in MJF, I'm the one that people are getting compared to. And I think that's really funny. I'll go online and people will say, oh, Matt Cardona is trying to be MJF. Oh, such and such heel is trying to be MJF. I think it just comes down to who's at the pinnacle, pun intended. Who's at the Mecca?

Because the guy who's at the Mecca is going to be getting the comparisons with everybody else. Because you're going to compare the greatest, right? The reason that we compare LeBron James to Michael Jordan is because why? Michael Jordan was the best. And that's me giving a huge, huge, huge congratulatory, you know, to the Miz. Because for the longest time, he was one of the guys that did what? Made you feel something. So I understand why that happened.

It's not happening anymore because now I'm head and shoulders above the rest. I respect Miz like no other. I don't know if you've seen this, but Miz complimented me very highly in an interview. I complimented him very highly back because he's incredible. But we are no longer getting compared. And I appreciate that because that means that I gave people no choice but to uncross their arms, go on their keyboards and write, fuck, I don't like MJFf but he's damn good so uh you got a shout out in the new york times i did a year and a half or so ago which is tremendous for your your your song and dance oh my god it was it was it was really impressive and pretty damn cool that the times gave you that

shout out uh how long did it take you guys to actually put that together what do you mean well i mean i mean the the choreography the dude it was it was it was a shoot it was a one and done during the moment i mean it's fantastic yes i really appreciate that you know and jericho as i'm sure people know i am not the biggest fan although this incarnation of chris i'm digging no i'm not saying we're going to be friendly anytime soon. I beat that pansy like three times. But he's doing something interesting. He's gotten himself in great shape.

But yeah, I mean, that dinner debonair thing, it was incredible. I was able to sneak my way into the inner circle and I sucked its life force out from within. And as you can tell, I did it very successfully because the pinnacle is still together, but the inner circle, not so much. So once again, another dub for MJF. Do you have aspirations at some point, like some of the other greats, Rock, Cena, to transfer over into Hollywood? Bingo. Yes. That's why me and Dip are in talks. Brian Dipperstein, who is an incredible agent. What's that?

Is this an exclusive? This is an exclusive. Brian Dipperstein at ICM is my agent. Wow. And we've created a great team. I'm also with Activist, who is my management team. John Kanak, shout out to him justin deanda uh bernie cahill and uh i got a great team and i've had a lot of offers for a lot of different things i'm in a lot of talks with a lot of different people that part legally i will not discuss i have already done a voiceover for an animated movie that i cannot discuss but that'll be coming out in 2023

um and i I'm excited. I mean, quite frankly, when people think about professional wrestlers and acting, they, they, you get nervous and queasy, right? Because most professional wrestlers cannot act, you know, you put a red light in their face and their best thing that they can do is you know, but that's not my MO. I'm a bright guy. And just like John Cena is a very bright guy. Just like the rocks, a very bright guy, just like The Rock is a very bright guy, just like Batista is a very bright guy.

And that's why I feel I bring something entirely different to the table. I am a huge, huge, huge fan of Don Rickles. Do you remember Don Rickles? Of course. The cool thing about Don Rickles was he could walk into a room. He could talk to anybody any which way he liked. And the people loved it. And I feel that that's something I can bring to the table. I

could be a, again, hate this word, heel in Hollywood. And it's very exciting. Is there an age, is there a cutoff in your mind? I don't want to work past in terms of wrestling past this date. I don't want to be wrestling at 45. Have you thought of that? I've absolutely thought of it. It's an age I'm not willing to give out right now at the tender age of 26, but yes, I've absolutely thought of a cutoff. Why won't you give it out? Because I feel, A, that can kill your biz, right? So for example, let's say I sat here at 26 and I say, I want to be out of the business at 30, which is not the case. Well, let's say that was the case.

Are they going to be willing to give me a butt ton of fucking money if they're only going to be able to have me for an X amount of years? Again, Ariel, business. That's all I care about. 24-7, business. Some people might say, oh, you want to let the world know you only got four years left of me, so appreciate me while you can. Sure. Not if you're trying to make a fat, fat, fat stack of dough. Do you have a dream opponent before it's all said and done? You'd love to work with this guy? No. Honestly, no. I feel I've had incredible matches with the likes of Chris Jericho, CM Punk. I mean, the list is wide as far as top stars and top acts. And now I'm a top star and top act, and I'm in the position to give people a rub, if you will. I firmly am of the belief that the reason that that trader Wardlow

turned on me is because he understands that the MJF rub is massive, massive. If he gets an opportunity to get in the ring with me, which he won't, he's under contract with me, but that's a different story for a different day. That would be the biggest rub quite possibly he could have in all of AEW. So now I'm in the position where people want to have matches with me and that's a pretty damn good spot to be in. Are you an MMA fan? Not really. I mean, here's the thing. I follow it enough. I quasi know what's going on. So enough. I follow it enough. Okay. You don't go out of your way to watch the pay-per-views,

all that stuff. No, not really. Like I'll watch people get their shit rocked on Twitter and I'll be like, oh, that was cool. But I'm not like privy to the names and stuff. I enjoy the interviews you have done with professional wrestlers.

I'm going back to the original one with a Punk that I was a big fan of until again, found out who he was as a human being. But yeah, I'm not a big MMA guy, but I will sit down if it's like a quote unquote big match with my friends if they want to go out to some stingy bar and I want to fucking gag myself. But I'll go because I'm a salt of the earth guy and I'm trying to be nice. Do you watch the WWE pay-per-views? All of them. And they're not pay-per-views. They're premium live events, Ariel.

They're premium live events. If you're going to say it, say it right. Like you'll watch Mania and all that stuff. Wherever you may be, you are going to be watching. I am constantly watching all the products because I want my finger on the... There's nothing going on in professional wrestling right now at this moment, whether it's the Indies or whether it's a televised professional wrestling company that I, that I don't watch. I watch everything. Wow. I see everything. I watch everything except new Japan, new Japan sucks. Why do you have a beef with new Japan? It's just the shit. I don't know. Like there's, there's some guys there that are cool that like think the Great Ocon is kind of cool.

But yeah, I don't know. Not my thing. It goes back to the move thing. But go on, go on, go on. Back to the what thing? The move thing. They just crack each other in the skull over and over again. Okay, okay. They're dummies.

Concussions are real. Right. But anyway, go on. Two last things, if I may. If someone is just just fine i mean i don't know who they may be but if they're stumbling upon this interview and and like what you're saying and like your vibe what would you if they want to be like i want i want to see the quintessential mjf match i want to see his top stuff right off the bat like what's what's the

first match that you would tell someone to go out and watch any of the punk matches or my match against darby and i believe it was full gear i think you watch that you'll learn how to get people emotionally invested as opposed to how to get them to go oh and then not care for a another five minutes until you do the next dumb thing so and when the hell are you gonna get a chance to actually be the aw champ like it feels like this is a real slow play if i had beaten punk i am fairly certain that i would have moved up very high in the rankings to the point of number one contendership um unfortunately i did not because he decided to cheat and he had Wardlow hand him a ring, which by the way, who hits somebody with a ring to win? I mean, the amount of disturbed sociopathic energy you must have in your brain to cheat in a sport.

You're cheating. He cheated. And we're all just clapping for him. It's sickening. But yes, if I had beaten CM Punk, I believe I would have been in the number one contendership. Now, personally, I have to deal with this whole Wardlow issue, which will be easy. I have this guy under contract. You're going to see soon enough how I'm going to handle this schmuck. But outside of that, after I get that big dumb oaf out of my way, it's time for MJF to win that world title and to do what Roddy Piper couldn't do and become champion of the world. Let's go. Last one, July of 2024, where are you wrestling? I believe, I actually don't know. What? Is that UBS, the house that MJF built or no?

It's July of 2024. Okay. So we're now six months removed from when your contract is up. Six months removed from when my, after my contract is up? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm trying to get you to predict something. I see what you're doing and I'm trying to avoid the question. Come on, stick with me, MJF. I'm trying to put you over here, buddy. I will be wherever the money is.

Sorry. Leaning, leaning? I am leaning, but I can't say which way. Wow. But I'm certainly leaning. There's a front runner. Oh, there is a front runner. I'm not quite sure it's the one people would expect, but yes, there is a front runner. That is a tease. That is perfect. I mean, there's nothing I like more than a good free agent chase. There's nothing more exciting than that. So I say we build this up. I think we i said you build this up i think we did that a little bit i think we did that i think this was an absolute pleasure this was a real pleasure i wish i could say the same thing is it over can i leave now it is over it is over i just

want to thank you i want to wish you all the best continued success mjs pull the limo around i'm out of here there he is one of the faces of AEW. Appreciate his time. Go watch him. No, yeah, we're done. The interview sucks. TBS Friday night TNT. I mean, that guy was such a nerd. Okay, how good was that? I could have gone another two hours with him. Amazing stuff. I was cracking up at times. And it's true what I said. I've heard a lot of conversations with MJF where I feel like the interviewer

tries to be the gorilla monsoon to his Bobby Heenan. And I didn't want to do that. Let him do his thing. This is his time to shine, his platform. I'm not trying to get myself over. He's the star. He's the man. I'm a fan of his.

And I enjoyed that immensely. I hope you did as well. Check out his work every Wednesday night on TBS, AEW Dynamite, every Friday night on TNT, AEW Rampage. He's doing amazing stuff. I can't say it enough. And I think if you're an old school fan, you'll really, really like it. So thank you, MJF. Thank you to our production team. Thanks to all of you. Please download, subscribe, comment, review, all that stuff and more wherever you get your podcasts. It means a lot. It goes a long way. If you want to watch this interview, go to youtube.com slash Ariel Hawane. That's where we'll be up. It's up right now, including all of our interviews to date. And we've had some good ones as of late. So please do check that out. Appreciate your support. Again, thank you to MJF. Thank you to the lovely feathers. And most importantly, thank you to all of you. Love you all. Appreciate you all more than you know. Thank you for letting me be who I am and letting me do what I want to do and give you conversations like this. I love this. And this is exactly why I did this

show and started the show for conversations like this. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Hope you have a great weekend. I'll talk to you next week.