AEW: Everything you need to know about MJF

AEW Dynamite premieres on television for TNT this Wednesday, but before it airs, let’s get acquainted with one of their breakout stars, MJF.

With All Elite Wrestling coming to a television screen near you in the near future, there’s a lot to be excited about. Not only excited, but curious. Curious to get to know some of the folks at AEW, particularly the lesser known faces. Among the familiar faces like Cody Rhodes, Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho, AEW will be housing a whole crop of underseen, fresh talent on its roster. It’s exciting, yes, but it also means there’s a lot of wrestlers new fans need to learn about and little time to do so.

Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.

Let’s start with introducing you to one of the standouts of the AEW roster: Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Or MJF for short.

Granted, providing a comprehensive history of a man who seems to stay in character 24/7 is no easy task (some find it hard to believe that MJF is just a character and not the real embodiment of the person playing him), but we’ll try our best.

This young man came a long way from singing “You Are My Sunshine” on Rosie O’Donnell’s interview couch at 5-years old. Now, at age 23, he is regarded by many as one of the very best heels in the business. But at a time when he was still honing his craft, he only started training in 2015.

Seeing how fast he’s developed in the ring and on the mic in just four years is just astounding. You can thank WWE’s Curt Hawkins and Pat Buck as the men who trained him to become the man he is today. After training at the Create a Pro Wrestling Academy, he moved on to the indies, but made his footprint in Combat Zone Wrestling. Originally, it was under the name Pete Lightning, but as he continued to add compelling gravitas to his character, he’d quickly morph into the Maxwell Jacob Friedman we know him as today.

The MJF we know today even comes with his own bonafide backstory, which he’s committed to telling consistently in spaces like Kenny Johnson’s documentary on him and even during a podcast interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin. He’s mapped everything out about his character from his family’s riches to nearly getting a full ride to an Ivy League college that he legally can’t disclose after breaking records in high school football.

Much of the character’s backstory seems to be modeled in some form or another on the real man’s real life (because he did play football at Plainview – Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School and briefly attended Hartford College before dropping out to become a wrestler) but in any case, the MJF character has a very intricate backstory to say the least. More than anything else, you gotta give him credit for being able to commit to these stories every time without breaking character or missing a single detail.

His earliest successes came in CZW where he became the Wired Champion (twice) and the promotion’s World Heavyweight Champion. He then made his way to Major League Wrestling, where he became the first ever MLW Middleweight Champion, defeating Joey Ryan to do so. He still does work for MLW as of this writing, serving as one-half of their Tag Team Champions after defeating The Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart and Brian Pillman Jr.) for the titles back in July.

For those wondering how he could work for AEW and MLW at the same time, well, as he explains in his Talk is Jericho interview, it was due to a very specific loophole: his 3-year contract with MLW specifically mentioned that he could not sign with WWE. Now, the contract didn’t say a word about AEW because at the time of signing, AEW did not exist yet. Then, after talking it out, MLW management was completely cool with MJF signing with AEW.

Which brings us to All Elite Wrestling.

MJF was one of the promotion’s earliest signings, having been announced as a member of their roster just a week after announcing their inception in January. Since then, he has made an impression at every AEW PPV. Whether it’s staring down Bret Hart at Double or Nothing or heckling the crowd at Fyter Fest or standing by AEW exec Cody’s side at All Out, MJF has been one of the most memorable highlights from each show so far.

By the way, that last part is worth mentioning in itself. The MJF character has been getting buddy buddy with Cody ever since signing with AEW, often citing him as a best friend and a mentor. That’s why he stood in Cody’s corner to even the odds at AEW All Out when The American Nightmare wrestle Shawn Spears (who had Tully Blanchard in his own corner).

The impression we’re supposed to derive is that MJF is kissing up to the boss hoping for some perks that come along with it. He teased turning on his “best friend” at All Out when glaring at him while wielding a chair behind Cody’s back, but for now, it was merely a moment of foreshadowing.

The real beauty of this partnership is that MJF’s commitment to his character has, in some ways, endeared him to the hardcore fans of AEW. Well, maybe not the Dungeons and Dragons fans or Joe Manganiello, but outside of those sub-categories, a lot of people love the guy. So the phony babyface schtick somehow works as legit babyface fire and when (if) he finally turns on Cody, it’ll produce just as much heel heat.

Keep an eye on MJF when AEW goes live on TV. Not just to see if he ever throws any shade (or chairs) towards his buddy Cody, but because he is a naturally charismatic superstar in the making. He is bound to become a staple of AEW programming and the promotion’s main event scene. This kid’s going places.