MJF has officially been removed from All Elite Wrestling's roster page. The move comes after AEW's Worlds End pay-per-view, where MJF lost the world championship to Samoa Joe.
MJF will be gone from AEW's roster starting in early 2024.
Before the event, there were questions about MJF's future with the company. In November, there were rumors that the 27-year-old star had “quietly re-signed” with the company, leading to “no discussions” between MJF and WWE. Weeks later, Cody Rhodes, a friend and mentor of MJF, raised some eyebrows when he said, “I think one day you'll see MJF in the WWE.”
However, when MJF appeared as Jimmy Traina's guest on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast, he said:
“I said the same thing. I never lied. January 1, 2024.
“When something like that leaks, it makes me laugh because I remember something leaking about Cody [Rhodes] after secretly re-signing and then showing up (in WWE). Something leaked about, you know, CM Punk and Tony Khan, or you know… I think fans leak things that they want to believe to be true. I love AEW, I want to stay with AEW. After this pay-per-view (Worlds End) it is time to assess the situation for a professional setting.”
For most of his time in All Elite Wrestling, MJF was an aggressive heel character, once verbally criticizing his boss, Tony Khan, on Dynamite and demanding his dismissal. As world champion in 2023, MJF became a popular babyface who embraced his role as the face of the promotion. He recently wrote an article for The Player's Tribune defending AEW from critics who want to see the company fail. While he welcomed criticism of the brand and admitted to being critical himself, MJF expressed his appreciation for the existence of a second major wrestling promotion, writing:
“Competition = bad for management, good for work.” There used to be one major American wrestling company, now there are two. This is damn important. It's important to the wrestlers who work here because we all have jobs that literally didn't exist five years ago. But it's also important for the wrestlers who don't work here. For everyone in WWE, AEW means not having to work under monopoly conditions. It means more options, which means more leverage, which means more money. (And I assume there is better treatment.) And for wrestlers outside of those two companies, AEW matters not just because it exists, but because of the way it exists. Listen…if you google me, I think it says I'm 5'10″ tall – but we all know that's nonsense. I'm about 5'7, guys. And this is a place where, simply put, a 5-foot-10 Jew can become a world champion. If you know the history of wrestling, you know this is a big deal and why.”
After his defeat at Worlds End, MJF was betrayed by his friend Adam Cole, who revealed himself to be AEW's mysterious devil. Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett and Wardlow joined Cole and attacked the former champion to end the show. While the post-match loss seemed to lay the groundwork for a future showdown between Cole and MJF, it's possible that AEW has written off one of its most iconic characters while exploring the other options he's written about.
For most of 2022 and into early 2023, MJF openly waged what he called the “bidding war of 2024,” implying that there would then be a bitter battle for his services between AEW and WWE.
It's now 2024 and with MJF out of contract with AEW, the mad battle to sign wrestling's biggest free agent could just be beginning.
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