Real Reason Why MJF Has Been Absent From AEW Programming
The Salt of the Earth is expected to be off AEW TV until Full Gear later this month.
Having been assaulted by the Firm at the close of the 26 October episode of AEW Dynamite, there's now an update on MJF's absence from AEW programming.
The reason for temporarily writing the Salt of the Earth off TV, is that he's landed a role in The Iron Claw. Written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich, The Iron Claw is a 2023 movie that will tell the story of the famed Von Erich family, aka the Adkisson family.
Deadline first reported that MJF has been cast in this upcoming feature film, with Mike Johnson at PWInsider revealing that the AEW star will actually be playing Lance Von Erich in the picture. Johnson also noted that Maxwell Jacob Friedman is expected to be off TV until the Full Gear PPV on Saturday 19 November.
Of course, Full Gear will see MJF step up to challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship, with Friedman having cashed-in the 'chip' he won in the Casino Ladder bout at All Out back in September. This will be only MJF's second ever shot at AEW's biggest prize, with his previous crack at the AEW World Title coming back at All Out 2020 - where he unsuccessfully challenged a Moxley who was then in the midst of his first run at the top of the All Elite mountain.
The Iron Claw
To be distributed by A24, The Iron Claw will largely centre around Zac Efron's Kevin Von Erich, the sole surviving sibling of the troubled Von Erich family.
With Mindhunter's Holt McCallany and ER's Maura Tierney playing family heads Fritz and Doris Von Erich, Shameless' Jeremy Allen White will be playing the role of one-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Kerry Von Erich, Beach Rates' Harris Dickinson is David Von Erich, and relative newcomer Stanley Simons is Mike Von Erich.
As alluded to, the Von Erich story is a tragic one. Fritz and and Doris' first son Jack sadly passed away at the age of just six in 1959. Third son David would pass away in Tokyo, Japan in 1984 at 25 years of age due to acute enteritis. Mike Von Erich, the fifth eldest son, died from a tranquilizers overdose in 1987, aged 23. Those tragedies were followed by the suicides of youngest son Chris in 1991 (aged 21), and fourth eldest child Kerry in 1993 (aged 33).
Nowadays aged 65, Kevin is the only remaining Von Erich sibling.
In terms of the Lance Von Erich character who MJF is playing in The Iron Claw, Lance wasn't actually related to the Von Erich family. Originally known as Ricky Vaughan, the real-life William Vaughan was brought into World Class Championship Wrestling by Fritz Von Erich in 1985 and renamed as Lance Von Erich - the son of Fritz's kayfabe brother Waldo.