Maxwell Jacob Friedman is heading home. The AEW World Champion is set to headline AEW Worlds End, a new pay-per-view on All Elite Wrestling’s calendar, this Saturday in his hometown of Long Island, New York. While MJF has competed in Long Island’s UBS Arena, this marks the first time that he is wrestling in Nassau Coliseum.
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“This is the most important match in the history of my career,” MJF told ComicBook.com. “People will say that all the time, but this means more to me than Wembley. I don’t give a f-ck. This is the barn, bro. This is the Coliseum. I grew up in this. This is my arena. It’s my hometown. It’s my people.”
MJF has been receiving big reactions for years, but the tri-state area’s reception to the self-proclaimed generational talent tends to take things to a new level.
“You’re about to hear one of the loudest pops in the history of professional wrestling, and it’s because of the three initials: M-J-F. It has nothing to do with any other three initials involved in the show,” MJF continued. “Not J-O-E, not A-E-W. The only f-cking three initials that matter that night are MJF. I’m going to decimate Samoa Joe. I’m going to retain my belt and I’m going to leave the arena as, already the longest-reigning AEW World Champion, but let’s just face it, the greatest AEW World Champion of all time.”
That pop will mean much more for MJF than just pride. Going into AEW Worlds End, Friedman is banged up. He suffered a legitimate torn labrum during his AEW Full Gear defense against Jay White in November.
“I can’t lift my arm all the way over my head right now,” MJF, who elected to rehab his shoulder rather than undergo surgery, said of his current physical condition. “But it’s for the love of the game. It’s for the love of Long Island. If I’m being totally transparent, if this pay-per-view is taking place anywhere else, I’d probably just bow out. I’d think of some interesting way I can get out of it while still retaining my belt without having to wrestle this gigantic man, this mammoth of a human being, Samoa Joe.”
As MJF noted, standing opposite him at AEW Worlds End will be the 282-pound Samoa Joe. These two tangoed in September at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam, a match that ended with MJF narrowly escaping with his title.
While Joe has been locked in as MJF’s opponent for some time now, many have speculated whether AEW Worlds End would have hosted the never-realized third match in MJF and CM Punk’s trilogy.
Before he was fired by AEW in September, Punk introduced and defended the “real world championship,” the AEW World Title that he was forced to vacate due to injury.
“Was never a thing,” MJF said when asked if AEW Worlds End was originally set to host a unification bout between himself and Punk. “Next question.”
Regardless of who stands on the other side of that ring, MJF emphasized that he is bent on competing in front of the LI faithful.
“I’m not letting Long Island down. I’m not letting the fans down. I’m not letting AEW down. Most importantly, I’m not letting myself down,” MJF continued. “This world title means everything to me right now. Physically, I’m kind of holding it on by a thread, but the thread is the championship. If I lose that championship, I don’t know what that means for me and my future in All Elite Wrestling.”
That future will become apparent in the new year. MJF’s contract is set to expire on January 1, 2024, a detail he has been transparent about with anyone who has asked.
“I want you to print this verbatim. I want you to put it in writing. Everyone thinks I keep bringing this up, that I’m just having fun. ‘Hey, by the way, bidding war!’ I have not brought it up. Once I get asked about it, then I have to answer it,” MJF said. “‘Hey, MJF, is this real?’ And then I have to say yes, and then everyone online goes, ‘Oh, my God, stop talking about it!’ I’m asked about it. From now on, I think what I’m just going to say is ‘pass,’ because it’s just annoying at this point.”
That said, MJF’s contract status had been worked into prior AEW storylines. Friedman first began teasing the “bidding war of 2024” in fall 2021, occasionally citing frustrations with his current employer. Those frustrations reached a fever pitch on June 1, 2022 when MJF cut what many consider to be his greatest promo of his career thus far.
“That night was really cathartic for me,” MJF said of his pipebomb promo. “I said a lot of things. I meant all of them and I think people could tell.”
Those words reached their boiling point in that oratory exhibition, but they had been bubbling since his first AEW match.
“Honestly, I realized that the first time I stepped through the curtain at AEW and I wrestled Brandon Cutler,” MJF said when asked when he first knew he was who he says he is. “I thought to myself, ‘[Brandon is a] great guy, but I am big. I’m a big deal. You got to do something with me here. I personally feel that I bring a lot to the table. I feel I’ve proven that. I feel I’ve proven that I’m a generational talent. It’s not just a tagline.”
That brash attitude was first cultivated to get booed, but the more fans started to realize how much MJF was backing up what he was saying, the tide began to turn. While he remained a heel for months after his first cheerful reactions, MJF embraced the babyface role this past summer. Some had concerns about this switch, fearing MJF would lose his edge, but that criticism only fuels him to perform stronger.
“I think one big thing I want to say is for everybody who fell in love with me, I understand the criticisms. I understand the critiques. I think the reason that people criticize me more now than ever is because they hold me to a higher standard,” MJF added. “Because they know what I’m capable of. On December 30th, I’m going to remind people exactly what the f-ck I’m capable of and I’m going to do it with a smile on my face.”
Whatever does come for him after December 30th, MJF seems to be dealing with it behind closed doors. His imminent free agency has not been brought up on television at any point throughout his recent storylines.
MJF will end this current five-year contract with a laundry list of accolades. Longest-reigning AEW World Champion. Five-time, and only, Dynamite Diamond Ring winner. First-ever Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament winner. Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion. Headlined and won the main event of AEW ALL IN: London in front of 81,035 fans. National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductee. Executive producer on The Iron Claw.
“How much left is there to do?” MJF said when asked about his next five-year plan. “There are names that I would like to add to my hit list as far as guys that I get to be inside the squared circle with, whether it be bumping microphones or bumping ’em in the ring with my fist. Swerve Strickland is one of them. I think people don’t realize how many dudes there are in this company that I’ve not really interacted with or that I’ve barely interacted with. If I do stay, that intrigues me. Then you think about all the opportunities for me to wrestle guys I have not interacted with if I don’t stay. It’s all very interesting.”
Some of MJF’s most untapped accomplishments lie away from the squared circle, and the 27-year-old is keen on realizing more goals in the greater entertainment world.
“I genuinely think in five years from now, I’m going to be a guy that people see regularly on their TV screen outside of the professional wrestling landscape,” MJF added. “Trust me, I love wrestling too much to not still be involved in it. I will, and most likely full-time, but I want to be acting full-time, as well, by then. I would also like to put out an album by then. I would like to be a well-distinguished actor that is recognized as being a great actor that transitioned from wrestling like these greats that did it before me. Like Dwayne [“The Rock” Johnson]. Like [Dave] Batista. Like [John] Cena.”
MJF defends the AEW World Championship against Samoa Joe on Saturday, December 30th at AEW Worlds End.
