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Before he became AEW World Champion, MJF was a detestable heel who made no bones about the fact that he may look to head elsewhere (as in WWE) as soon as his contract with AEW was up on Jan. 1, 2024. Since he won the title and had a change of heart, he’s let up on the references to the “bidding war of 2024” for the most part.
That led many to believe it was all an act in the first place, and that perhaps MJF had signed a contract extension but kept it a secret for the sake of entertainment value. It certainly sounded plausible enough.
According to the man himself, however, that’s not the case. On this week’s episode of the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast, MJF dismissed the notion that he’s locked in with AEW past the end of this year while maintaining that he’d prefer to stay (h/t Fightful for the transcription).
I’ve never lied. January 1, 2024. When stuff like that gets leaked out, it makes me laugh because I remember something got leaked out about Cody having secretly re-signed, and then he showed up. Something got leaked out about CM Punk and Tony Khan are actually fine. I think fans leak out things that they want to be true. I love AEW, I want to stay in AEW. After this pay-per-view, it’s time to assess the situation.
Could he be telling the truth? Sure. But it’s wrestling we’re talking about, so it’s possible, maybe even likely, that this he’s still working the fans here.
Though he’s been slowed a bit by injury, MJF remains in the midst of a lengthy world title run. He was front and center of the hottest story AEW cooked up all year, the rivals-turned-BFFs angle with Adam Cole (which ironically ended only because Cole got hurt), and has remained the centerpiece of other narratives as well.
Would Tony Khan and AEW really make him the focus of so much of its programming when there’s a chance he could walk away in January — particularly after seeing the effect that parting ways with CM Punk (albeit under much different circumstances) had on its business?
We can’t say for sure, but one would hope not. The guess here is that MJF and AEW will be sticking together well past Jan. 1, and we won’t have to wait long to see if that is indeed the case.
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