AEW’s broadcast partner would prefer if the company didn’t talk about MJF in any way, shape or form right now.
That’s the word from Mike Johnson at PWInsider, who cites a source at Warner Bros. Discovery claiming there “was an edict issued to remove MJF from all promotional spots and commercials for AEW programming going forward.” First rule of the MJF story: Don’t talk about the MJF story.
Johnson notes that AEW had already stopped following him on social media and removed his merch from its online store, as well as creating a new opening montage for Rampage that didn’t feature MJF. Those moves were likely just AEW following through on its own story after MJF’s incendiary, expletive-laced anti-Tony Khan promo last week on Dynamite, but having TNT and TBS’ parent company ban him from the air is different — and could signal that Warner Bros. Discovery isn’t super comfortable with the blurring of the lines between pro wrestling storytelling and real life in this manner.
And that blurring is really at the heart of the MJF situation at the moment. While a number of wrestling industry insiders believe his legitimate dissatisfaction with his status and pay within AEW got the ball rolling, it’s clear that after the Dynamite segment, the company has turned it into fuel for its own storylines.
Where it’s headed now, though, is anyone’s guess. MJF participated in his match against Wardlow at Double or Nothing last month, which was the finale of a long-running feud. He was stretchered off after the match, which would have given AEW storyline cover for him to be away from TV for a while.
Instead, he appeared on Dynamite three nights later “as Max Friedman” to deliver his much discussed promo. AEW has not mentioned it nor made the video available online, and MJF has been quiet on Twitter since May 27.
If this is a collective effort to protect the reality of that narrative, it’s an impressive one, but there’s at least a chance now that the networks broadcasting AEW aren’t super thrilled with how it’s playing out, and that’s interesting in its own right.