News

MJF Admits He “Dropped The Ball” On AEW Dynamite

By John Canton • Published 6th October 2023
mjf aew world champion scarf

MJF knows he has been universally praised as a great performer, but he has also admitted that he “dropped the ball” on AEW Dynamite this week.

The AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) has held the championship for nearly 11 months. Not only is MJF the youngest AEW World Champion in company history, but he could become the longest-reigning champion as well.

This past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, MJF was called out by Bullet Club Gold’s Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn because they think MJF ordered a beatdown on Jay White while wearing The Devil mask that MJF has used in the past.

Those accusations led to MJF interrupting the promo to deny those claims made by Bullet Club Gold. Since MJF is now a babyface AEW World Champion and ROH Tag Team Champion (with an injured Adam Cole), he sucks up to the crowd often. This promo saw MJF try to lead them in “Talentless Taint” chants for Juice Robinson and “Ass Boys” for The Gunns. MJF re-iterated saying he was “their scumbag” referring to the fans.

When MJF got to the ring for a fight, Jay White of Bullet Club Gold attacked him from behind. After White dropped MJF, he took the AEW World Title with him. White challenged MJF to an AEW World Title match at Full Gear and MJF accepted.

MJF believes he “dropped the ball” on AEW Dynamite during promo

On Twitter/X, MJF posted a lengthy early morning message with some advice for others (aka the “Poors”) that was perhaps for himself as well.

Advice from a guy whose been fortunate enough to have accomplished a lot in his profession at a young age.

I’ve noticed something with people in my generation and hopefully this helps you young Poors out there.

When you are criticized, of course allow it to upset you. You’re only human. But it doesn’t matter how good you are at your job, never blow off criticism. Use it.

Never rest on your laurels. There’s always room for growth.

A fan on Twitter/X a fan quote tweeted some criticism toward MJF and the AEW World Champion admitted he wasn’t at his best on Dynamite.

Already have. I could sit here and tell you I’ve consistently been the biggest ratings draw in my company for some time. I can say that I’ve also been universally praised. But the fact is I dropped the ball this week. There’s a lot of eyes on me. I can’t afford to do that. Look forward to picking the ball back up on Wednesday. (He corrected Wednesday to say Tuesday.)

Maxwell Jacob Friedman defending the AEW World Championship at Full Gear will be his first time defending the World Title at an AEW PPV since All In back in August. MJF did not defend the AEW World Title at All Out or WrestleDream earlier this month.