MJF’s status for AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view was suddenly called into question on Saturday night. After months of publicly stating his frustration regarding his frustration and even cussing out the company on Twitter following recent comments from Tony Khan, Friedman no-showed a scheduled appearance at AEW’s Fan Fest on Saturday. News then broke via Fightful Select that a plane ticket had been booked for Friedman out of Las Vegas back to Newark, but by the end of the night had confirmed he never got on the plane.ย
AEW remained quiet about the situation, but on Sunday its YouTube channel still uploaded a video previewing Friedman’s match with Wardlow. The company’s official website also still has the match listed in its official preview.ย
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Max has been quiet on social media over the weekend. The stipulation for Sunday’s match states if Wardlow wins, he is free from his contract with MJF and will presumably be signed to a deal with AEW right away (in kayfabe). But if Max wins, Wardlow is never allowed to sign with AEW.ย
“I think wrestling thrives when real life meets on screen. The real-life conflict is often just as exciting as any conflict on screen, which is one of the great things about what AEW has brought to the wrestling business. There was no real, major free-agent market with the top stars crossing promotions, and debuting, and frankly the competition needed to be brought to the biggest stage. In the 90s, we had TBS and TNT both in the wrestling game. And now with the launch of AEW, we’ve been able to bring that back,” Khan said in a media conference call earlier this week when asked why he let Friedman’s contract issues make their way onto AEW programming.ย
I think taking what’s happening in real life, and potential movement and contract negotiations, it’s exciting stuff. And it’s added another element to what’s already a very exciting match at Double or Nothing with Wardlow versus MJF, who has been very vocal, not only about his own contract but about his former bodyguard and how he feels about him, and how he’s tried to hold down his career,” he added.
Check out the full card for Double or Nothing below and stay tuned for any more updates on the situation. Tonight’s pay-per-view takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.ย
- AEW World Championship:ย “Hangman” Adam Page vs. CM Punk
- AEW Women’s World Championship:ย Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb
- AEW World Tag Team Championship:ย Jurassic Express vs. Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland
- TBS Championship:ย Jade Cargill vs. Anna Jay
- The Hardys vs. The Young Bucks
- Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz (Anarchy in the Arena)
- House of Black vs. Death Triangle
- MJF vs. Wardlow
- Men’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament Finals:ย Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe
- Women’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament Finals:ย Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho
- (Buy-In) HOOKHausen vs. Tony Nese & Mark Sterling
Update: The aforementioned YouTube video preview was pulled from AEW’s YouTube account and later put back up. It’s also unclear if Friedman has arrived at the venue as of yet.
