MJF reveals why he never confronted CM Punk when CM Punk was claiming to be the "Real" World Champion on AEW Saturday Collision.
During the final months of his tenure in All Elite Wrestling, CM Punk was appearing as the top star on the brand new AEW Collision series and proclaimed himself to be the "Real" World Champion by virtue of the fact that he was never defeated for the title after defeating Jon Moxley to become champion at AEW All Out 2022.
During his time as "Real" World Champion, Punk routinely threw shots at Maxwell Jacob Friedman, proclaiming him to be a disputed champion because he had never defeated Punk for the title.
In a new interview with WrestlePurists, MJF explains why he never actually confronted his former rival, saying that it was important to the Collision brand at the time to have a top prize that those competitors could fight for. Max wasn't trying to ruin that for them.
"I never commented on it. I'll tell you why. I am not exactly a company man. I almost got our company thrown off of Turner after I called Tony a fucking mark. So I won't sit here and tell you I'm a company man," said MJF. "I'm definitely pro-professional wrestlers. "The fact of the matter is that Collision is really important. Collision's success is super important. So, at the time, having a guy of that stature having something that everybody in that show could be fighting for because, realistically, as much as Tony Khan wishes he can clone MJF, I can't be everywhere at once. I didn't have an issue with it. I thought it made all the sense in the world. Yeah, so to me, I wasn't sweating it, frankly."
Max also spoke about his rivalry with CM Punk being one of the best in the industry's history because both men saw it as more than business and a reflection of their lives.
"To me, it wasn't business. It was life. I know it was life to Phil, too, and I think that's why that rivalry is going to go down as one of the best of all time, and I'm proud of it," he said. "Am I proud of some of the shit that I did during that time period? I don't know. I kind of got pushed to the edge, so I'm not going to just fucking sit here and tell you that I didn't mean anything I did because I did. I've grown a lot since then, both as a professional wrestler and a person.
"I think when I'm an old man and, God fucking willing, I find a woman to put up with my bullshit that will let me impregnate them, and I'm sitting there with my kids, I can be like, 'Hey, check out this Dog Collar Match. Check out this moment here,' because I feel like it's a rivalry that will stand the test of time."
AEW terminated CM Punk following a backstage altercation that occurred at AEW All In in London, England. When discussing his decision to terminate CM Punk's contract, Tony Khan noted that he feared for his life at the moment, which led to the decision to let Punk go. Learn more here.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman will next be competing at AEW WrestleDream, defending the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships by himself against Vincent and Dutch, The Righteous. Check out the full card for AEW WrestleDream here.
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