MJF Fires Back at Criticism of AEW's WWE References

By Liam Crowley

All Elite Wrestling has never been shy about sending shots to Titan Towers. The digs at WWE have been running since AEW's first event, which saw Cody Rhodes destroy a Triple H-esque throne with a sledgehammer. Since then, AEW has sporadically blasted World Wrestling Entertainment on weekly television, regularly coming in Max Caster's entrance raps and various in-ring promos. One star who's never been shy about dropping the odd allusion to the other side is Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF has built up the "bidding war of 2024" as part of his gimmick, even if the lines between fiction and reality have become blurred in recent months.

Dating back to September 29th, 2021, MJF revealed on AEW Dynamite that he has Bruce Prichard "on speed dial," referencing the fact that the two worked together in Major League Wrestling. Prichard currently serves as the WWE Executive Director of Raw and SmackDown. Months after that promo, MJF engaged in a layered storyline with CM Punk that revolved significantly around Punk's WWE exit and MJF's WWE aspirations.

The WWE references reached a fever pitch on the June 1st edition of AEW Dynamite, when MJF blasted AEW President Tony Khan for how he's built his roster.

"Make sure he hoards all that money so he can give it to all the new ex-WWE guys he keeps bringing in, who can't lace my godd--n boots," MJF said. "Hey boss, would you treat me better if I was an ex-WWE guy?"

Following that promo, MJF disappeared from AEW programming for the remainder of the summer. The self-proclaimed Salt of the Earth would return at AEW All Out and set his sights on the AEW World Title, making those intentions clear on the following episode of AEW Dynamite. That subsequent promo was also riddled with WWE references, as MJF name-dropped WWE superstar Cody Rhodes, WWE co-CEO Nick Khan, and WWE Chief Content Officer "The Game" Triple H.

Former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas took exception with these references, citing concerns over what the allusions to the competition did to WCW. 

"Yes he was fantastic on the mic, and he hit home, but all those references to the other company, and The Game and all that sort of stuff. It draws big time attention to the other company. Especially coming from one of your biggest stars, who that audience knows all the inside 'behind-the-curtain' goings on about him, and possibly reaching out to the other side or them reaching out to him, and all this sort of stuff," Korderas said. "Look, ignore the other team, because that was the biggest downfall for this company right here [WCW] when they were in competition with the WWE, they didn't ignore them, they kept referencing them. Ignore them, stick to your business, and grow your audience that way."

MJF fired back at Korderas's comments, believing that he is not in a position to give him feedback.

"Former Referee jimmy Korderas try's to tell greatest promo of all time MJF how to do his job," MJF wrote. "Former bell times keeper Herbert ponzarelli try's to tell MJF how to do a headlock."

MJF returns to TV this Wednesday on AEW Dynamite. Stay tuned for ComicBook.com's coverage of the broadcast.

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