Say this for MJF: He’s not one of those athletes who says it’s not about the money when it actually is.
It wasn’t that long ago when MJF seemed disgruntled with AEW, back when there were serious questions about whether he was even going to show up at Double or Nothing. He eventually did, losing to Wardlow, then showed up at Dynamite, cut a promo complaining about not being paid enough and disappeared from TV, social media, the whole nine yards for months.
As it turns out, MJF was unhappy with one thing, and only one thing, which he clarified in very clear language during an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (h/t to Fightful for the transcription).
Obviously, I had no problem with how I was being showcased. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was money. I was looking to my left and my right, and I was hearing rumblings about what guys were making when I was two times, three times the draw they were minute-by-minute. I’ve seen the analytics. I went, ‘That doesn’t work for me.’ I’m MJ freakin F. Pay up. Not just in AEW. Guys in WWE, guys in IMPACT, guys in Ring of Honor at the time.
MJF also told Helwani that all it took for him to return was to be paid more, and that he accomplished that without having to commit more of his future with AEW — which means we’ll undoubtedly be hearing plenty more about how he plans on seeing what WWE will offer him come the end of 2023.
“I’m a businessman,” MJF said to Helwani. “I do what I have to do in order to ensure that what I need gets done. It got done. I’m back. I’m making a stupid, absurd amount of money now, and I didn’t have to sign a contract extension.”
Even though MJF’s return at All Out was overshadowed by the CM Punk press conference rant and ensuing altercation (in no small bit of irony, considering many observers felt his behavior did the same to Wardlow at Double or Nothing), he and AEW have found their way back together at the perfect time, given that several top stars are still suspended and Punk’s future remains cloudy. Thanks to his Casino Ladder Match victory at All Out, MJF figures to be first in line to trouble whoever emerges from AEW Grand Slam as the new AEW World Champion, Jon Moxley or Bryan Danielson.
The relationship between MJF and the promotion may have been “not good” to begin the summer, but now that he’s being paid what he feels he’s worth, he says there are no issues going forward.
“Now, it’s great.”