The situation between Maxwell Jacob Friedman and All Elite Wrestling has been interesting. According to several notable wrestling outlets including Dave Meltzer, Tony Khan, and the AEW star had a heated discussion following a recent interview that MJF did. By now, the situation has been reportedly smoothed over between the two sides; however, MJF’s future in the company does feel a bit murky. To the shock of everyone, former TNT Champion Cody Rhodes left the company back in January. The former Executive Vice President was one of the founding fathers of the promotion, and though neither side has spilled the beans on why their relationship deteriorated, Cody has been dropping major hints that it was a personal issue. Cody won’t be the last big name to leave AEW for WWE. Based on some of Khan’s behavior towards the Big Swole situation, and him outright ghosting Chavo Guerrero and Joey Janela, it’s possible that the AEW boss’s behavior will get the better of himself.
Should the environment for MJF get so bad that he’s unhappy then of course he should leave AEW. However, the AEW star has made it clear that it’s not just about the way he’s positioned in the company. MJF isn’t in the same position as Joey Janela or Marko Stunt, as he’s heavily featured on Dynamite weekly. It’s clear that Tony Khan has big plans for the up-and-coming star, with MJF beating big names such as Cody Rhodes, Adam “Hangman” Page, and even handing CM Punk his first official loss. MJF will be a future AEW World Heavyweight Champion, it’s just a matter of when he wins the title. However, MJF made it clear in his interview with Ariel Helwani that he’s going where the money is at:
“We move around, we go where the money’s at. Right now I’m where the money’s at for me…for now. So to those bad faith takes, because that’s exactly what it is. It’s bad-faith takes, professional wrestlers, we go where we feel we’re going to be handled best and where we feel we’re going to make the most money, where we feel we have an opportunity to become World Champion. So if people want to come over here to go for, in mu opinion, the most important world title in all the professional wrestling right now, the AEW World Title, then how can you not respect that and understand that?”
Reading the entire quote, it doesn’t appear that MJF is only money driven; however, with rumors that the young star is frustrated with his contract, the first two sentences stick out more. Here’s the thing about MJF, It’s not impossible for him to become a top star in WWE. He’s a tremendous performer for a guy at such a young age. While he won’t have the creative freedom that’s allowed in AEW, WWE would likely offer him big money since he’s a top star in the company. Just like The Miz, MJF could go on to win the WWE title and headline a WrestleMania. WWE’s track record is more hit than miss in the past five years, but MJF would fit perfectly within the WWE product. The sky is the limit and if MJF truly values money over the freedom and top spot in AEW then he should give the biggest professional wrestling company in the world a shot. MJF is a young guy, so he has the option to explore different avenues if he chooses to do so. There’s no guarantee that Tony Khan would welcome him back with open arms, but life is about risks and it would be foolish for MJF to not take a gamble and see if he’ll make it as a top level talent in the company.
Entertainment wise, WWE may not be in the same league as AEW right now, but it would be silly to dismiss the notion that MJF shouldn’t go over to the company for that reason. As I previously mentioned, if MJF is happy with the money and position in AEW, then there’s no need to leave the company. But it wouldn’t exactly be a surprise if he’s using AEW as a launching pad to jump ship. WWE desperately needs young stars, and it would be surprising if he didn’t test the waters to see what the opposing company offered. Even if MJF turned out to be a flop in WWE, then there’s no shame in taking such a risk. Tony Khan would be wise to invest in the future AEW World Champion. Unless MJF is asking for an absurd amount of money, then trying to keep the AEW star should be a priority, but it would be foolish for MJF to not send feelers to WWE.
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