Maxwell Jacob Friedman has reached the pinnacle of All Elite Wrestling. The 26-year-old self-proclaimed generational talent has been with AEW since the company launched in January 2019 and has found himself as a staple of weekly programming since. Upon AEW’s television debut in Fall 2019, MJF engaged in a high-profile blood feud with Cody Rhodes, which culminated with him getting a victory over the former AEW Executive Vice President on pay-per-view. MJF’s momentum only skyrocketed from there as he locked up with top stars Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, and CM Punk en route to an eventual world title win.
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Even though he currently reigns over his employer as AEW World Champion, MJF’s future remains far from certain. Friedman has made it well known that his contract expires in January 2024 and has emphasized that he will be testing free agency when that time comes.
Speaking toย K&C Masterpiece, AEW President Tony Khan admitted that MJF is a difficult talent to work with.
“He’s one of the most dislikable people there is. He elicits that emotion for a lot of people. He’s a very challenging personality and very hard to work with, but he’s a great professional wrestler,” Khan said. “We saw it last week, that incredible match to kick off Championship Fight Night on Dynamite. MJF is a great wrestler, he showed it out there one-on-one against [Konosuke] Takeshita.”
MJF gets his biggest test next month when he faces Bryan Danielson in a 60-minute Iron Man match at AEW Revolution.
“It’ll be the ultimate test for a champion, for a pro wrestler, on March 5 at Revolution, in the main event, a 60-minute Iron Man match when MJF goes one-on-one with the greatest technical wrestler in the world, maybe the greatest technical wrestler of all time, ‘The American Dragon’ Bryan Danielson,” Khan continued. “MJF, if you don’t like him, get ready to see him get put through the ultimate test of punishment. We’ll see what kind of wrestler and champion he is. Knowing, as a fan, you’re going to see Bryan Danielson wrestle for 60 minutes, what a treat.”
MJF is set to appear tonight on AEW Dynamite and will defend his title against Danielson at AEW Revolution on Sunday, March 5th.
