What The AEW Roster REALLY Thinks About MJF

MJF may have been at the heart of one of All Elite Wrestling's biggest controversies this year, but it sounds like the 26-year-old isn't considered anything close to a problem backstage.

The World Championship contender, whose contractual issues with the promotion became very public prior to his summer hiatus, is considered ambitious but not particularly political. This is according to PWTorch's Wade Keller, who drew comparisons with Britt Baker, Thunder Rosa, Sammy Guevara, and The Elite, all of which registered as favourable to MJF.

Said Keller (h/t WrestlingNews.co):-

"He really isn't a problem in the locker room like Sammy Guevara has been for instance or Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa have been. That's not him. He's actually less of a problem than The Bucks and Kenny. Kenny is more political than his reputation in terms of protecting his turf and not just being a laid back kind of quirky guy. He's more political [and] MJF is ambitious, but not super political. And so that works to locker room stability too, especially if I'm right in my speculation and my hunch and my belief that he has signed a multi-year extension and just isn't saying so."

MJF's three-month AEW hiatus ended at All Out 2022, where it was effectively revealed that he had agreed to new terms with the promotion. Although MJF himself has played up the idea that he didn't sign an extension as part of this, having continued to hype "the great bidding war of 2024" on company television, Keller stated his belief that the star did, in fact, extend his contract:-

"The MJF thing isn't a big topic of conversation. He's back. My belief is he signed an extension even if he's telling everybody on and off camera he didn't. I think he did. Unless someone has seen the contract, I think it's presumptuous and potentially faulty reporting, to analyze for the MJF situation, as if Tony Khan made a mistake by not signing him to an extension. It's in their interest to say he didn't because they have a storyline planned for a year from now where MJF is likely going to announce he is staying at AEW. I think he got paid big money and got that extension he wanted. And Tony put whatever issues he had with how MJF handled the situation aside, gave him what he wanted, and went from there."

Continuing, it was stated that MJF's strengthening position in the promotion puts him in a good spot to become a locker room leader in AEW beyond 2023:-

"And obviously, MJF is getting big pops, but he's someone who obviously Tony Khan trusts putting out in the media to do approved interviews. MJF is very articulate, and a student of the game and is someone who, when he's happy with his contract is tight with Tony and that they get along. So he's somebody who, because of his prominence right now, with the TV time he gets and how young he is, and the crowd reactions, he's got some things working for him that that certainly can move him in the direction of representing the younger wrestlers in locker room leadership. But even with everything that went on this summer, I think MJF is going to grow into a locker room leader. I think he's going to be in AEW beyond 2023. My hunch is that that's a done deal at this point."

MJF was a day-one AEW wrestler, signing with the promotion upon its 2019 launch. Though speculation on his future was rife through the summer, he now stands on the verge of his greatest triumph yet, as a Full Gear 2022 match with AEW World Champion Jon Moxley looms.