MJF Hints He Was Making Less Than IMPACT & ROH Stars Before AEW Return

MJF was making quite a bit less than many originally thought, according to the man himself.

As a guest on a recent episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the three-time Diamond Dynamite Ring winner and current number one contender for the AEW World Championship, MJF delved into his new deal with All Elite Wrestling, which according to MJF, isn’t a contract extension and was purely a raise, something that is the ‘only’ reason he came back to the company:

“Money. I’m a simple man. I go out there, all I do is win. I’m winning in the ring. I’m winning on the mic. I’m constantly winning. Obviously, I had no problem with how I was being showcased. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was money. I was looking to my left and my right, and I was hearing rumblings about what guys were making when I was two times, three times the draw they were minute-by-minute. I’ve seen the analytics. I went, ‘That doesn’t work for me.’ I’m MJ freakin F. Pay up. Not just in AEW. Guys in WWE, guys in IMPACT, guys in Ring of Honor at the time.”

When asked about if he was indeed making less than performers who work under the IMPACT Wrestling or Ring Of Honor banners, MJF says he doesn’t confirm or deny that notion:

“I’m not saying that I was or that I wasn’t. I’m just saying, I saw what a lot of top guys were making across the board, except I don’t pay attention to New Japan, that’s a garbage promotion. The fact that people still talk about it like it’s a thing is hilarious to me. Whatever.”

MJF will potentially face the winner of the Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley match for the vacant AEW World Championship, which takes place this Wednesday night at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam.

TJR will have complete coverage of AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam on Wednesday, September 21 at 8:00 p.m. EDT/5:00 p.m. PDT.

(h/t to Fightful for the transcriptions)