Backstage News On MJF's AEW Status

The Salt of the Earth has been absent from AEW since Worlds End.

Apr 16, 2024 April 16th, 2024

Having been absent from AEW programming since Worlds End at the close of 2023, there's now somewhat of an update on MJF's status with the Tony Khan-led promotion.

Per PWInsider, the Salt of the Earth is still recovering from various injuries. While he's not listed on the AEW roster, and while Tony Khan has publicly played up the idea that Maxwell Jacob Friedman is no longer with the company, the general belief is that, yes, MJF is very much under contract with AEW.

Max has been completely absent from any and all AEW shows since that Worlds End PPV, but he was in Boston last month to meet with AEW officials the day after the Big Business edition of Dynamite.

As of this writing, there is no word on when MJF will be returning to in-ring action or just generally to AEW programming, with the former AEW World Champion still healing up from the myriad of injuries he'd been dealing with throughout 2023.

Of course, prior to this absence, Friedman had talked about the Bidding War of 2024, with that based on how his AEW contract was up at the start of the year. As mentioned, it's understood that MJF is very much tied down to AEW despite some wrestling fans speculating over him appearing at this year's WWE Royal Rumble or WrestleMania XL.

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Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

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