Paul Heyman doesn't negotiate in public, but he believes it's smart business for MJF to do so.
Heyman recently announced that he signed a long-term deal with WWE in 2021. Not many knew Heyman's contract was up, or that he re-signed, because he didn't want people to know. On the other side of the coin is MJF, who has made it clear that his AEW contract expires in January 2024 and he'll be listening to WWE's offer.
Appearing on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Heyman commented on MJF's public negotiation.
"I saw your show with MJF. I understand what he's doing. It's smart negotiating on his part at the moment, but I'm in a different position right now and was a year ago. A year ago, when my contract was coming due, it was a very easy decision. WWE made it very easy for me and they locked me in for long-term. I don't want to discuss how long the term is. Long enough for both parties to be real happy with each other and real comfortable with each other and happy with the contributions to each other," he said.
When asked if he's impressed with MJF, Heyman joked that he is because they are Jewish before saying, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be? He's very credible on the mic. Incredible is not a compliment. Incredible means he's not credible. He's credible. He's very good at what he does. He's very young and he has a big future ahead of him."
Heyman was then asked if MJF negotiating in public was a bad idea.
"For his perspective, no. In his position, no. Where he's working right now, no. Where he wants to work in the future, no. It's not bad business at all. For what he obviously views his trajectory to be, for what he obviously views his future to be, not bad business at all. Pretty smart, I would say. Pretty smart," he replied.
Heyman said he had never met MJF, at least not that he could recall, but when asked if he could see himself aligning with the AEW star, he replied, "Aligning myself with him? We're a long way...right now, he's in a very enviable spot in an upstart promotion that has tremendous financing and excellent distribution. Let's see what the future holds for him. I'm sure, at some point in his life, we're going to bump into each other."
Heyman currently serves as the Special Counsel to the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns and will be in his corner at WestleMania 38 against Brock Lesnar.
Fightful Select has a report on MJF's appearance on Ariel Helwani's show and the fallout from it.
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