Backstage Update On MJF's AEW Status (AEW News)

The latest on MJF's AEW status.

by Andrew Pollard
MJF AEW
AEW

With MJF having been entirely absent from AEW programming in recent weeks, there's now somewhat of an update on the Salt of the Earth's status.

It's long been known that Max is currently working on festive action-comedy offering Violent Night 2, which is filming up in Winnipeg, Canada. Whilst he was able to split his time between Winnipeg and AEW tapings previously, Fightful Select notes how the former AEW World Champion's filming schedule has picked up "heavily" since AEW All Out, which is why he's been off TV.

This report adds that Violent Night 2 is set to wrap "relatively soon", though there are no details right now on when exactly MJF is due to return to the AEW fold. However, AEW sources told Fightful that Friedman has the acting bug and, by all accounts, seems to have had a great time working on Violent Night 2.

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For MJF, Violent Night 2 comes on the heels of an impressive turn as Gordy Gilmore - Happy's eldest son - in this year's Happy Gilmore 2, not to mention voicing Killer Croc in the animated Justice League × RWBY: Super Heroes & Huntsmen movie. The 29-year-old also served as an executive producer on The Iron Clow, where he played Lance Von Erich, although those scenes were ultimately cut from the final film.

As for Violent Night 2, that's a sequel to Tommy Wirkola's David Harbour-starring 2022 picture, where Harbour played a Santa Claus on a mission to rescue a family from a Scrooge-led gang of mercenaries. Violent Night 2 is currently pencilled in for a December 2026 release.

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Senior Writer
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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.