Maxwell Jacob Friedman has become one of the fastest rising stars in professional wrestling. His vitriolic promos and extraordinary in-ring ability have made him a breakout star this year.
MJF was a guest on Talk is Jericho and spoke about his start in wrestling, his annoyances and the stars of AEW.
"I had a full-ride football scholarship as a middle linebacker," MJF recalled. "The coach looked at me and said, 'We are thinking of starting you as a freshman.' In my head, I was thinking, obviously because I'm the best. But I had to rewind and think 'Why aren't you excited, why aren't you jumping for joy?' It was because I didn't want to waste another four years and not be a professional wrestler.
"I told the coach and he was not happy. So, he assigned me an accountability buddy, this was a 6'8 offensive lineman following me around for three days straight. So, I had to wait until 3 a.m. to grab my keys and drove off."
For MJF,
WWE was once a goal. However, once he heard about
AEW he knew where he was supposed to be.
"Of course, if someone says it wasn't, they are lying," MJF proclaimed. "Once I found out about this, who was going to be running it, I was like cool, I knew what I wanted for me. I'm not trying to s--t on WWE, they are not competition, we are trying to do our own thing. We are showcasing professional wrestling, the way it should be, as a sport. I do not need anybody telling me how to do my thing. I do not care how great they are, if it is somebody I respect, I will listen."
With venom-filled promos, it is safe to say MJF can be annoyed by many things. During the interview, he discussed being most annoyed by "poor people".
"Poor people," MJF exclaimed.
"They just feel like they deserve handouts. 'I don't have a house, I don't have a job, I'm starving.' You're starving because you are lazy, you don't have a job because you are lazy. You are ugly, not because you are lazy, you were born that way, but that's not my fault. It's my fault you were born looking like a hogwart? No, that is not on me. I didn't conceive you, your ugly poor parents conceived you. It is this cycle of disgustingness."
MJF did not stop there, as he also took exception with some members of the AEW.
"Have you seen Joey Janella walk around here?" MJF asked. "He is like a bag of milk that grew legs. I do DDY five times a week. Dallas gives me a hundred bucks anytime I punch someone in the face that calls it yoga. Shawn Spears, he is a scumbag. He decided, after years of friendship with one of the greatest men to ever live Cody Rhodes, to waffle him with a chair. No one should be laying a finger on that man, he is a saint.
"Second, why Shawn? Why would you do that to someone who has treated you with respect, someone who has given you a job, you no longer must scrounge on the indies, you are now getting paid because Cody decided to give you, a complete jabroni, a job."
One-man MJF would not attack is
AEW EVP Cody Rhodes. MJF considers him his best friend and spoke of the good times they had and how Cody has mentored him.
"I stay at his house almost every other week," MJF stated. "Dude swimming, hot tub, barbecue, video games. There I literally nothing he hasn't helped me with. I was over at his house, we were going to cut promos and I forgot to bring a suit. He was like here take my suit. It fit like a glove, when I was done, I went to give the suit back to him and he was like, 'No it is yours now.' He is just an incredible human being and some may say he is the face of this company. I'm just trying to live up to his hype of me, hopefully, someday I will have his spot."
