MJF impressed the folks at New York Times with his performance in 'Le Dinner Debonaire.'
The New York Times published its list of Best Performance in 2020 on Friday and making the cut was AEW star MJF for his role in 'Le Dinner Debonaire' where he performed the Rat Pack's "Me And My Shadow" alongside Chris Jericho.
From the New York Times:
Maxwell Jacob Friedman doing “Me and My Shadow” on All Elite Wrestling
Some weeks the athleticism at this professional wrestling start-up is more exciting than anything happening in Vince McMahon’s empire. And no one in the WWE has this kid’s combination of diction (Juilliard by way of Long Island), intensity or cheesiness, either. Even when Friedman’s lost his cool (his nom de ring is MJF), he still has astounding control. The character is part heel, part tool (hair gel, loafers, Burberry bling — tacky, tacky, tacky) and part goodfella wannabe; his mouth does more running than he does. For reasons only the producers of this show can explain, a long segment in October between MJF and the veteran Chris Jericho culminated in a version of “Me and My Shadow” complete with dancing women and live singing. It was less than spectacular, though not for anything Friedman did. He wasn’t embarrassed at all. He was smooth in a way that should worry Ric Flair. This kid makes you wanna say, “Woo!”
MJF and Jericho both took to social media to comment on the honor.
https://t.co/Y7FF1vqLbd pic.twitter.com/5QQ8Hg19Cy
— Maxwell Jacob Friedman (@The_MJF) December 4, 2020
HUGE props from @nytimes for @The_MJF & #DinnerDebonair! Once again proof that Pro Wrestling comes in many shapes & forms...but the most important thing is that it ENTERTAINS! In other news, the Louisville Dipshit Times is still whining about it... ----
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) December 4, 2020
https://t.co/NmO5YBu6QQ
What a great year. https://t.co/p0uVXjeLTv
— Maxwell Jacob Friedman (@The_MJF) December 4, 2020
On a recent podcast with David Penzer, Jericho shared some behind the scenes details from Le Dinner Debonaire and what inspired the concept. You can view his full comments on the segment by clicking here.