MJF

 

Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF)

Height: 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)

Weight: 226 lb (103 kg)

From: Plainview, New York

Pro Debut: February 13th, 2015

AEW Debut: January 7th, 2019

AEW Accomplishments:

• AEW World Champion (1-time; longest title reign in history ending at 406 days) 
• AEW Awards (1-time)
• Best Mic Duel (2022) - MJF and CM Punk on Thanksgiving Eve
• Dynamite Diamond Ring (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
• Casino Ladder Match (2022)
• ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Adam Cole
• Video Game Appearances:
• AEW Fight Forever (released June 29th, 2023) - as himself

Fun Fact: Before debuting for All Elite Wrestling in 2019, MJF previously held the CZW Wired and CZW World Heavyweight Championships (both once) and is a former MLW World Middleweight Champion (one time) and a one-time former MLW World Tag Team Champion (with Richard Holliday). He was ranked #16 of the top 500 wrestlers in the PWI 500 (2022) and won consecutive Feud of the Year Awards (2021 vs. Chris Jericho and 2022 vs. CM Punk), as well as PWI's Most Hated Wrestler of the Year for two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) and in 2021 won PWI's Faction of the Year (with Inner Circle). He once appeared on an episode of The Rosie O'Donnell show when he was just 5 years old in 2001, where he sung "You Are My Sunshine". 

Biography:

When Maxwell Jacob Friedman made his debut in All Elite Wrestling in 2019 he was immediately made to be a big deal and it was quickly realized how great of a heel he was. On January 7th, 2019 he was signed to a five-year deal. He debuted at AEW Double or Nothing in 2019 as part of the pre-show Casino Battle Royale for an AEW World Championship opportunity. He made it to the final two, before being eliminated by the winner "Hangman" Adam Page. He would compete in a four-way match at AEW;s Fyter Fest, facing Adam Page, Jimmy Havoc and Jungle Boy, which Page also won. The following month at Fight for the Fallen, he teamed up with Shawn Spears and Sammy Guevara to defeat Havoc, Darby Allin and Joey Janela in a six-man tag team match. 

On October 2nd, 2019 on the premiere episode of AEW Dynamite he defeated Brandon Cutler by submission. The next week he intervened in the attack of his "best friend" Cody Rhodes by The Inner Circle, attacking Santana and Ortiz with a steel chair seemingly turning face. At Full Gear 2019, he accompanied Cody in his AEW World Championship match against inaugural AEW World Champion Chris Jericho. The match stipulation was that if Cody lost he would never again be able to fight for the World Title. Cody lost the match after MJF threw in the towel when he was caught in the Liontamer. After the match, MJF turned heel on Cody by giving him a low blow and walked away. Shortly afterward, MJF found a persnal bodyguard in the debuting Wardlow. On the November 20th episode of Dynamite, MJF and "Hangman" Adam Page were the final two entrants in the inaugural Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale. The two met in singles competiton the next week, which MJF won. Diamond Dallas Page then awarded MJF the Dynamite Diamond Ring as a prize for defeating Page. On January 15th, 2020 at Bash at the Beach themed episode of Dynamite, MJF teamed up with The Butcher and The Blade to defeat Diamond Dallas Page, Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall. MJF rekindled his feud with Cody, and lay down three stipulations that Cody must follow to gain a match against him at Revolution 2020 which included not touching MJF till the match happened, facing Wardlow in a steel cage match and receiving ten lashes by MJF on live TV. On the February 5th episode of Dynamite, Cody took the ten lashes from MJF, including one from Wardlow. Cody then went on tl beat Wardlow in the first steel cage match in AEW's history on the February 19th episode of Dynamite to make the match against MJF at Revolution official. At Revolution 2020, MJF defeated Cody by pinfall after hitting him on the face with the Dynamite Diamond Ring. MJF then entered into a feud with Jungle Boy, defeating him at Double or Nothing 2020 with a roll-up. On the May 27th, 2020 episode of Dynamite, MJF unsuccessfully competed in a battle royale to face Rhodes for the AEW TNT Championship, being eliminated by Jungle Boy. At Fyter Fest, MJF and Wardlow were defeated by Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus). MJF then moved on to a feud with Jon Moxley, campaigning against Moxley's AEW World Championship reign and decreed that fans deserved a better champion. The two would face off at AEW ALL OUT 2020 on September 5th, where MJF was defeated, marking his first loss in a singles match in AEW.

Member of The Inner Circle (2021):

On the October 28th, 2020 episode of Dynamite, Chris Jericho and MJF agreed to wrestle each other at AEW Full Gear 2020 during a confrontational "Town Hall Meeting" hosted by Eric Bischoff. Should MJF win, he would join Jericho's Inner Circle. The previous week, Jericho and MJF participated in "Le Dinner Debonair", a meeting over a steak dinner during which Jericho and MJF performed a modified version of "Me and My Shadow". At Full Gear, MJF, along with Wardlow, became members of  Inner Circle after he pinned Jericho. On the November 11th episode of Dynamite, MJF appeared for the first time as a Inner Circle member, where he gave a speech talking the struggles he overcame to get this far in the professional wrestling business and then brought out a surprise birthday party for Jericho, the group's leader, which involved free tickets to Las Vegas and leading the crowd in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday". On December 2nd at the Winter Is Coming themed Dynamite, MJF once again became  contender for the Dynamite Diamond Ring after he and Orange Cassidy were the final two entrants in the second Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale. On the following episode of Dynamite, MJF won his second Dynamite Diamond Ring after pinning Cassidy.

On January 20th, 2021 episode of Dynamite, a tag team battle royale was announced for Beach Break, with the winners receiving a shot at The Young Bucks and the AEW World Tag Team Championship at Revolution 2021. The Young Bucks also participated in the match, with the stipulation being that if they had won, they could have chosen their opponents. Jericho last eliminated Darius Martin of Top Flight to win the battle royale, earning himself and MJF a title match at Revolution. On the February 10th episode of Dynamite, following weeks of growing tension between MJF and Guevara, Guevara attacked MJF following a backstage confrontation, which gave MJF a rib injury. Later on in the same episode, following MJF and Jericho's victory against The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster), Guevara announced his departure from The Inner Circle. In the lead-up to their match at Revolution, MJF and Jericho attacked The Young Bucks' father, Papa Buck, and bloodied him backstage, vowing to take the titles off them. At Revolution, however, MJF and Jericho were defeated by The Young Bucks.

Betrayal and Feud with Chris Jericho/Inner Circle and Formation of The Pinnacle (2021):

On the March 10th, 2021 episode of Dynamite, MJF was kicked out of the Inner Circle after it was revealed that he was secretly planning to perform a coup of the group. However, he then revealed that he had been building his own stable to be known as The Pinnacle (consisting of FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood), Wardlow, Shawn Spears). At Blood and Guts on May 5th, 2021, The Pinnacle would go on to defeat The Inner Circle in the inaugural Blood and Guts match. At Double or Nothing 2021 on May 30th, The Pinnacle lost to The Inner Circle in the inaugural Stadium Stampede match. At AEW ALL OUT 2021 on September 5th, MJF faced once again Jericho, with Jericho's career on the line. After a false victory for MJF, in which referee Aubrey Edwards counted the pin for MJF but did not see Jericho's foot placed on the rope, the match was restarted and Jericho forced MJF to submit to the "Walls of Jericho, losing for the first time against Jericho. 

Feud with CM Punk and Rise To Main Event Status (2022):

On the November 17th episode of Dynamite, MJF began a feud with CM Punk, after Punk interrupted his promo. On the February 2nd, 2022 episode of Dynamite, MJF became the first person to defeat Punk in AEW and also the person to defeat him in a televised match since 2014. During the match, which was held in Punk's hometown of Chicago, Illinois, MJF scored a pinfall over Punk after Wardlow provided a ringside distraction and handed MJF his Dynamite Diamond Ring, which he then hit Punk with. On March 6th at AEW Revolution 2022, Wardlow, who began developing tension with MJF in December 2021, turned on MJF and helped Punk defeat him in a Dog Collar match by handing Punk the Dynamite Diamond Ring, which Punk then used to hit MJF with. On the May 18th episode of Dynamite, Wardlow, as part of a set of contract stipulations which would make him able to wrestle MJF, was lashed 10 times by MJF. The following week on Dynamite, Wardlow completed his final stipulation which guaranteed him a match with MJF at the upcoming AEW Double or Nothing 2022 pay-per-view by defeating Shawn Spears in a steel cage match, with MJF serving as the special referee and being unsuccessful in his effort to cost Wardlow the match after Spears accidentally knocked him out; should Wardlow win, he would be officially released from his contract with MJF, but would be banned from obtaining a new AEW contract and be required to remain under MJF's employment should he lose. At Double or Nothing, MJF lost to Wardlow after ten powerbombs, MJF's first clean loss in singles action in AEW history.

During the Double or Nothing 2022 weekend in May, MJF legitamately no-showed a fan fest. This came after months of rumors about the backstage tension between MJF and AEW owner Tony Khan about MJF's contract and payment he felt he should have, as well as doing an interview with Ariel Helwani without telling management. On the June 1st episode of Dynamite, MJF cut a worked shoot promo about not being respected by the fans and Khan. The segment ended with MJF demanding to be fired by Khan, calling Khan a "fucking mark", his microphone was cut off, quickly fading to commercial, and the commentators not referencing the situation after the break. The next day his profile was removed from the website and his merchandise was pulled from AEW's store as part of the storyline.

Return and Winning The AEW World Championship (2022):

MJF made his return to AEW programming at AEW ALL OUT 2022 on September 4th under a mask, winning the Casino Ladder match as the "joker" entrant and securing himself a future shot at the AEW World Championship with the help of Stokely Hathaway. He was officially revealed to be the person under the mask at the end of the show, when he came out and stared down the newly crowned AEW World Champion CM Punk on the entrance stage.

On the September 14th, 2022 episode of Dynamite, MJF introduced his faction, The Firm, led by Stokely Hathaway. The faction was considered MJF's "Support System" and when they were not supporting MJF, all of the members of The Firm would do their own thing. However on October 26th, MJF was attacked by The Firm, after he had fired Hathaway for disobeying his order not to attack AEW World Champion Jon Moxley because he wanted Moxley to be at 100% for their title match at AEW Full Gear 2022. On November 19th at Full Gear, MJF defeated Moxley after using William Regal's signature brass knuckles. Regal slid them into the ring for MJF, helping to make him the youngest AEW World Champion in the history of the company. On November 30th, MJF discarded the standard AEW World Championship belt, calling it trash, and unveiled his own custom version, which he dubbed the Triple-B "Big Burberry Belt". It features the same exact design as the standard belt; however, the leather strap is brown and fashioned in Burberry's trademark check pattern to match MJF's signature Burberry scarf. Later in the segment, MJF turned on Regal by attacking him, causing him to be taken to a nearby hospital thus ending their partnership. He successfully defended the title against Ricky Starks at the Winter Is Coming edition of Dynamite on December 14th and also defended it successfully at AEW Revolution 2023 on March 5th, 2023, when he defeated Bryan Danielson in the overtime of their 60-Minute Iron Man match, which had ended in a tie. 

At AEW Double or Nothing 2023, MJF would retain his title in a Four Pillars Four Way Match, beating Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin and "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry (the homegrown AEW stars that are considered along with MJF as the "four pillars of AEW"). The following PPV was in June, AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023, where he successfully defended the AEW World Championship against NJPW star Hiroshi Tanahashi. During this time he began a partnership with Adam Cole after defeating Cole in an AEW World Title match. In August 2023 in front of the largest AEW crowd in history with over 81,035 fans in attendance. He defended the title once again against Adam Cole, who by now he had began a partnership that would see MJF turn face. Earlier in the night at ALL IN: LONDON 2023, MJF and Cole won the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship after defeating Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis). A week later, AEW holds ALL OUT 2023 and MJF and Cole successful defend the ROH World Tag Titles for the first time against Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver). 

Adam Cole's Injury, "The Devil" Storyline and Losing AEW World Championship (2023-present):

In September 2023, after MJF defends the AEW World Title against Samoa Joe, Adam Cole breaks his ankle and is out of action indefinitely. MJF, instead of giving up the titles, begins to defend them by himself. At WrestleDream on October 1st, 2023, MJF successfully defends the ROH Tag Titles against The Righteous (Dutch and Vincent) by himself in a 2-on-1 Handicap match. During the lead up to the Full Gear 2023 pay-per-view, Jay White was attacked by a masked man wearing the Devil mask that MJF had previously worn. MJF claimed it had been stolen after ALL IN: LONDON 2023 and that he hadn't seen it. Jay White and Bullet Club Gold (Juice Robinson and The Gunns (Austin and Colten Gunn) steal MJF's belt and he doesnt get it back until the night of Full Gear when he enlists the help of a foe by the name of Samoa Joe, who agrees to help MJF defend the ROH Tag Titles and also keep away the Devil and his goons, so much so that MJF would have to give him a AEW World Title rematch for his help. After he was about to go back to the old MJF ways of telling Joe he aint getting no match and to step back to the end of the line. Adam Cole tells him to put the title up like he said because he's a changed man now. MJF agrees to defend it against Joe. As AEW Worlds End 2023 looms near, the Devil and his henchmen continue to make targeted attacks against MJF's acqantances such as The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and Billy Gunn, who are layed out by the group of masked men after Max Caster had shown interest in MJF and helped defend him against the group. Next, the group targeted "Hangman" Adam Page and framed it to look like Swerve Strickland and his Mogul Embassy group may have been involved but it was all to throw off the fact that Samoa Joe was actually working with The Devil and his henchmen. After turning on MJF right before the PPV, MJF looses the ROH World Tag Titles to the masked henchmen and then at AEW Worlds End 2023 MJF looses the AEW World Championship to Samoa Joe after The Devil and his Goons are revealed to be Adam Cole, The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett), and Wardlow with Roderick Strong. 

Following AEW Worlds End 2023, MJF took a leave of absence to heal multiple injuries suffered throughout his title reign as AEW World Champion. The day before he stepped away from AEW, he announced that he was in so much pain he was having to take pain medication and that he didn't enjoy taking the pills. He is currently healing from a shoulder injury. MJF recently appeared in the professional wrestling motion picture about The Von Erich Wrestling Family called "The Iron Claw", where he had a short role as Lance Von Erich in the film. His role was cur down to only appearing in a couple scenes and the film was released on November 8th, 2023. The film had a budget of $15.9 million dollars and the box office brought in an estimated $35 million. The movie will release in the United Kingdom on February 9th, 2024.