AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland Addresses MJF's Return

MJF made his first AEW appearance since December 2023 at Double or Nothing.

By Liam Crowley

Maxwell Jacob Friedman is back. Early in the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view broadcast, Adam Cole made a surprise appearance to run down the Las Vegas crowd. The Undisputed Kingdom leader's promo was interrupted by a vignette that took a POV shot through MJF's trophy room, culminating in the longest-reigning AEW World Champion's music hitting and the man himself emerging from the entranceway. MJF would coerce Cole into an embrace before hitting him with a low blow and a brain buster to send him packing. The MGM Grand Garden Arena erupted throughout, applauding the self-proclaimed generational talent as he declared he had re-signed with AEW.

This was MJF's first AEW appearance since losing the AEW World Championship at AEW Worlds End in December 2023. While his original AEW contract had expired on January 1st, he had reportedly quietly signed an extension long before then and was actually away from the company to heal up a number of injuries.

Swerve Strickland Addresses MJF's AEW Return

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(Photo: AEW)

The landscape of AEW has changed drastically during The Devil's absence.

Speaking during the AEW Double or Nothing post-show press conference, AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland addressed MJF's return to the company.

"While you were gone, I was building. I was building and making this place a fortress," Swerve said. "You can come in. I'm not saying you can't challenge for the World Championship, but you have work to do. Just like I had work to do. You have work to do. Show me something. This isn't the same All Elite Wrestling from when you left. It's up to Maxwell Jacob to figure out where he fits right now. I'm not going to make it easy."

Swerve and MJF previously teased feuding with one another during the lead up to AEW Worlds End, as MJF questioned if Swerve and his then-faction Mogul Embassy was behind the devil mask attacks on him. At that time, MJF was AEW World Champion and was in the midst of the longest reign in that title's history.

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(Photo: AEW)

In a past interview with ComicBook, MJF spoke highly of Swerve, expressing big interest in having a program with him.

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"A feud between me and Swerve Strickland is absolutely massive," MJF said in December 2023. "I think Swerve Strickland has all the momentum in the world. He used to not be very good at talking. He's clearly proven that's not the case anymore. His theme music, I think has over a million plays on Spotify. He has broken outside of the proverbial glass bubble of professional wrestling fandom and has become a part of cultural zeitgeist. I think if me and him, that was just a taste that three minutes of us talking backstage, imagine us in the ring in front of thousands of people, whether that's on the microphone or bell to bell. I think that does numbers and I think that sells merch and sells tickets."

AEW returns to television this Wednesday, May 29th with AEW Dynamite on TBS at 8 PM ET.

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