10 Reasons 2022 Was Wrestling's WILDEST Year Ever

6. MJF Walkout

Cody Rhodes
AEW

Maxwell Jacob Friedman has always blurred the lines with his promos and work, but things got taken to new heights this summer.

Amidst reports that MJF was disgruntled about his contract, pay and other issues with AEW CEO Tony Khan, the self-absorbed star nearly walked out of AEW before Double or Nothing in May, no-showing a fan event prior to the PPV. He then cut a fiery promo on the 1 June Dynamite before leaving the company for more than three months.

The possibility that one of AEW’s homegrown stars – who has openly campaigned for joining WWE in the “bidding war of 2024” – could be finished with the company just months after AEW co-founder Cody Rhodes departed for WWE was seen as potentially being a colossal shift between the two North American wrestling giants.

Rumors and speculation abounded during that time, until MJF returned and won the Casino Ladder Match at All Out to earn an AEW World Championship match, which he won at Full Gear in November.

And as we close out 2022, it looks like balance has been restored, but don’t expect the “bidding war of 2024” shtick to subside anytime soon.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.