MJF didn’t hold back while discussing the current state of the AEW locker room, and one former star found himself directly in the crosshairs.
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, the former AEW World Champion opened up about backstage culture changes in the company and singled out Aleister Black as the “biggest offender” of using AEW as a path back to WWE.
The comments arrived just days before AEW Double or Nothing, where MJF is scheduled to challenge Darby Allin for the AEW World Championship.
While MJF praised the current locker room atmosphere, he also suggested things weren’t always so harmonious behind the curtain.
MJF says former AEW talent didn’t truly want to be there
Speaking about AEW’s current morale, MJF said the company no longer has wrestlers who see the promotion as a temporary business before returning to WWE.
“I attribute that to the fact that there are no longer people in the locker room who look at my company as a stepping stone,” MJF said. “They look at it as a legitimate company.”
MJF added that some talent believed they could quickly rise to the top before heading “back to Vince,” but claimed those plans never worked out. He pointed to stars like Hangman Page, Swerve Strickland, Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, and Samoa Joe as examples of wrestlers fully committed to AEW.
When asked directly who the “biggest offender” was, MJF answered, “I think it’s pretty obvious that’s Malakai Black.”
He clarified that he didn’t view Black as a bad person but questioned his long-term commitment to AEW. “Do I think he was a mark for ‘Oh, I need my Mania moment’? Yeah,” MJF stated.
Black wrestled in AEW from 2021 through 2025 before returning to WWE last year. However, he was later released following WrestleMania 42 alongside several other talents.
Like a wrestler trying to kick out at two-and-nine-tenths, the AEW star’s comments are likely to keep this conversation alive for a while.
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