AEW's MJF "Loves Everything WWE Is Doing", Including Makeout Competitions

All Elite Wrestling star Maxwell Jacob Friedman has heaped praise on Bruce Prichard, Vince McMahon, and the WWE product in a new interview with combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani.

MJF, who worked with Prichard in MLW, said that he thinks the WWE Raw and SmackDown Executive Director makes "incredible television." He added that while he has been "reached out to" ahead of his free agency in early 2024, he couldn't legally comment on whether or not this means WWE discussions have gone down (h/t Fightful):-

"Well, Bruce Prichard and me, this is a shoot, Bruce Prichard and me go way back. When he was in MLW, he was one of the lead producers there and he would watch me do promos and he was floored by me. Absolutely enamored by me. I was the prettiest girl at the ball. We would just sit down and shoot the s**t. I love Bruce. I think Bruce is a hell of a guy and has a hell of a mind. I think he produces incredible television. So yes, I've talked to Bruce multiple times. As far as have I been reached out to, legally it's not smart for me to answer that question but what I can say emphatically is that there is an absurd amount of interest in me. Tony Khan knows that. Tony Khan claims he's not afraid of that and that's good, so I hope you're not afraid to shell out a lot of f*cking money."

Continuing, MJF said that while he thinks AEW is a hotter product than WWE because of its new faces, he "loves" everything that the market leaders are currently putting out:-

"See, I think WWE is doing great. I love everything WWE's doing. I just think we are fresh and we have fresh faces that people haven't seen before. I think right now everything that Vince [McMahon] and Bruce Prichard are putting out there is absolutely incredible. I love it. I love NXT 2.0. I love Raw, I love SmackDown, I love what Roman's doing. I think Roman's putting out some great work. Paul Heyman, fellow member of the tribe, absolutely killing it. Sorry about what's going on with Brock [Lesnar], you deserve better than that. I think they're putting out a great product. I think the big difference, quite frankly is that AEW has MJF. That's the biggest difference-maker you could possibly have."

The AEW Pillar then expanded on his NXT 2.0 praise when prompted:-

"I genuinely love WWE programming. It's great. There's so many charisma machines on that program. I think it's a great show. They had a makeout competition this past Tuesday; gripping television. How could you not like a makeout competition? I practically had a makeout competition with that hot redhead a couple of weeks ago. Who doesn't like a good makeout sesh? So, I'm enjoying it. I think Bruce is doing a hell of a job and at the end of the day, quite frankly, there's a lot of guys there that are developing and trying to figure out who they are as human beings. Not who they are as acts, but who they are as human beings and it's fun to watch these young guys develop and figure it out."

Elsewhere in the interview, MJF stated that he wasn't going to sign a new AEW contract prior to his current deal expiring on 1 January 2024. Teases like this are nothing new for the Pinnacle member, who has floated the idea of jumping ship to WWE several times in the past, with the most recent example (other than the above) coming during an appearance on Wrestling With Freddie in early March.

In storyline (and perhaps reality), MJF is playing the two biggest companies in the business against each other to drive his price up. Expect this to continue until the question of his pro wrestling future is finally answered in early 2024.