MJF says people are scared of him because they aren't used to seeing history happen.
In a Town Hall interview with Dave LaGreca for Busted Open, AEW World Champion MJF reflected on competing on the first All In event in 2018. He was asked to describe how he felt after the show. MJF recalled how started the trend of the goal posts getting moved every time he got a big opportunity.
“I knew I did a great job, but I also knew that there would be a big conglomerate of people saying, ‘Yeah, the kid did good, but what was he there for?’ I strive off that shit. We’ll continue to talk about those things as the milestones add up in my career because every single time I’ve had a big opportunity in any capacity, the goalpost was always moved. Every single time. I remember I did a great job, and the goal posts moved. ‘Yeah, the match was really good, but why was he on the card.’ Okay, okay. Well, WWE scouts and AEW scouts didn’t feel that way, but okay. Then, when I signed on with AEW, it was really just off to the races," MJF said.
MJF then detailed this pattern by listing multiple examples, including his feuds with Cody Rhodes, Jon Moxley, and Chris Jericho. He noted that critics always found some way to doubt him, and he proved them wrong.
"I remember, again, goalposts moved. ‘I mean, yeah, MJF has really become the most hated man in all of professional wrestling, but can he have a good match against Cody Rhodes?’ First of all, if you can’t have a good match against Cody Rhodes, kill yourself. Second of all, I could have a good match with anybody. I could have a great match with anybody. Then I do that, obviously. Match was awesome. You can watch it back now. There’s highlight clips all over on YouTube, and people made music videos and shit to it. People love that shit. Then after that, it was, ‘MJF had an incredible rivalry and an incredible match with Cody Rhodes. But he could never be in the main event.’ MJF vs. Jon Moxley. That match was incredible in the peak of the pandemic era, and people still bring that match to me to this day. ‘Yeah, sure, MJF can be in the main event of a pay-per-view for the world title, but can we go toe-to-toe on the microphone with a legend like Chris Jericho?’ Okay. I did that for a year,'" he said.
The AEW World Champion went on to describe how his Iron Man match with Bryan Danielson at AEW Revolution 2023 was his favorite goal post moment. He noted that some people doubted his ability to hold his own with Danielson in the ring. MJF made it clear that he does not rest on his laurels. He stated that he set out to prove doubters wrong again.
"'Sure, MJF might have beaten Jon Moxley for the world title. But he can’t wrestle for an hour against Bryan Danielson.’ I’ll never forget… of all the takes, that was the one that made me the most mad. There’s a weird thing that has occurred in professional wrestling where 99% of the time, if somebody’s really good at this, they’re just okay in the ring. Because people rest on their laurels. They realize they can make just enough money and be just enough over by just being good on the microphone, so why put just as much time and effort into this as they do inside the squared circle? I don’t rest on my laurels. I’m a sicko. It’s not how I operate. I wasn’t raised that way. I was raised to be able to look people in the eye and say, ‘I’m better than you, and you know it,’ and mean it. So when I read that, I thought, ‘This is my favorite goalpost moment. Because not only am I going to prove I can go an hour with Bryan Danielson. Not only am I going to have the best Iron Man match in the history of the sport. I am going to make everyone go, ‘Can Bryan Danielson hang with MJF?’ Guess what the answer was? Nope. I won," MJF said.
MJF was then asked to describe why he thinks people move the goalposts. He explained that people aren't used to watching history unfold in front of their eyes, and it's scary. MJF stated that he scares people, but critics have started to step back and looked at him with a different perspective.
“Because people aren’t used to watching history unfold in front of their very own eyes. It’s scary. I’m scary. I scare people. I’m not supposed to be able to be this good at 27. It’s weird. It’s never happened before in the history of the sport. Now there have been guys that have gotten huge opportunities at my age. But everybody knew that they had holes in their game. I’m not going to name names. You can think of these people, where they got a lot of TV time and you went, ‘Oh, this guy is next up, but he needs to work on this, or he needs to work on that.’ I don’t need to work on jack shit, bro. I’m MJF. I’m the best in the world right now by, in my opinion, a wide margin. I think that’s why. I think it’s so slowed down a tremendous amount. I think people finally have taken a step back and been like, ‘Alright, he talks a lot of shit, he cuts some corners, he’s kind of a scumbag, but he’s my scumbag.’ I think now, fans are excited to be along for the ride, as opposed to be contrarians, as opposed to going, ‘Everyone’s talking about how great this guy is, I’m sick of it. I don’t want to hear it anymore.’ Now, it’s ‘Alright, he’s pretty fucking good,'" MJF said.
MJF recently stated that it's becoming undeniable that he's the best AEW World Champion ever. Click here to see what he had to say.
Check out MJF's comments about the bidding war of 2024 here.
MJF will defend the AEW World Championship against Adam Cole at AEW All In. Check out the card here. Fightful will have coverage of the show as it airs.
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