MJF reveals what he wants his legacy to be in pro wrestling.
AEW World Champion MJF recently sat down with Denise Salcedo for a new interview. During the conversation, Salcedo brought up Ronda Rousey’s comments criticizing UFC for underpaying their fighters.
After mentioning that this was the only time he agreed with Rousey, Friedman praised All Elite Wrestling’s stacked roster, specifically highlighting Swerve Strickland, Adam Page, Samoa Joe, and Kenny Omega as some of the best wrestlers on the planet.
“Speedball Mike Bailey’s really got something. Kyle Fletcher, Okada, Takeshita, John Moxley. I can go on until I literally run out of oxygen. This is where the best wrestlers are. We are real premier athletes. We’re not models. We’re not ex-football players or ex-volleyball players or whatever,” MJF said.
Friedman emphasized that wrestlers deserve to be compensated according to their talent and effort, not underpaid compared to other entertainers or athletes. “We’ve honed our crafts to the best of our absolute abilities, which has made us so incredible. That’s precisely why we’re getting compensated the way we should be compensated,” he said.
MJF doesn’t want his legacy to be about fame or WrestleMania moments
The AEW star rejected the idea that his legacy should be defined by a moment at WWE WrestleMania. For Friedman, legacy is about taking care of his family — giving his kids opportunities, comfort, and a good life.
“I cannot — God bless people who do it — but people will jump to another place to get booked the same, or worse, to be compensated for less. Why? I don’t know. If the answer is legacy, you know what I want my legacy to be? I want my legacy to be that my children can afford to go to any school they want, eat at any restaurant they want, go on vacations, wear the nicest clothes. And that’s happening because I get compensated what my talent is worth.
“I’m not going to settle for less compensation. So, I get to have a WrestleMania moment. That doesn’t make sense to me. My legacy is my family, my legacy is my wife, my legacy is my children, my grandchildren, etc. My legacy is also what I do inside that squared circle and on this microphone.”
MJF says Tony Khan is a mark, but he’s a mark who cares
Acknowledging Tony Khan as both a fan of the business and genuinely caring about the wrestlers, MJF said he believes performers should see tangible compensation for the risk and effort they put in.
“So yeah, I think it’s really important to pay your pro wrestlers, to pay your fighters, to pay your football players, your soccer players, your baseball players, what they deserve to be compensated. Tony Khan — he’s a mark? Yes. But he’s also caring and genuine, and he understands what we’re doing. We’re putting our bodies on the line for him to make money. The least he can do is shill some of that back to us.”
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