Maxwell Jacob Friedman is the latest guest on Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast. During the hour-plus discussion, MJF was his humble self and provided some interesting details on his status with both AEW and Major League Wrestling (MLW).
MJF recently signed a long-term deal with AEW and spoke to Chris Jericho about how he was able to do that, in light of his multi-year MLW contract. MJF acknowledged that working for WWE was once a career goal of his, but has a pretty great situation for himself working with MLW & AEW.
After his standout performance at All In last Summer, Cody Rhodes pulled MJF aside and told him, ‘I’m sure you’re going to have a much easier time now going to WWE.’ Even though working for WWE was an early career goal for him (as it is for practically all pro wrestlers), that wasn’t an option for him at the time.
MJF’s MLW contract allowed him to work for other non-WWE promotions and at the time, AEW wasn’t even a thing. He spoke to MLW CEO Court Bauer and AEW President Tony Khan and some deals were made.
“At no point in [my MLW] contract did it state anything about AEW because AEW was not even a thing yet,” said MJF. “Once we figured out the logistics of everything, and Court [Bauer] was 100 percent cool with it. I lucked out. Cody hit me up and said, ‘Here’s my friend TK.’ Tony Khan. Don’t know if you’ve ever heard of him. Me and Tony talked for about an hour and a half.”
MJF continued, “In my head, I had two ideas. There were rumblings that there was interest for me from [WWE]. But once I got to talk to Tony, I instantly went, ‘This is where I’m supposed to go.’ The idea of someone walking up to me and being like, ‘Hey kid, here’s what we want out of you. Here’s what you’re going to do.’ I don’t do well with that. Nobody can tell me how I talk.”
Once he learned about what Tony Khan and company had in store with AEW, he knew it was the right fit or him. He reiterated the AEW company line that WWE is not their competition. In fact, they’re not trying to compete with anybody.
“We’re doing our own thing. We are showcasing professional wrestling the way it should always be showcased; as sport.”
Other topics discussed in the Talk is Jericho appearance include MJF’s disgust for poor people and several examples of why he’s better than virtually everybody.
You can listen to the full podcast in the embedded player below or here.
H/T to Fightful.com for the transcribed quotes
