MJF Names His Favorite Wrestlers From When He Was Growing Up
MJF has some interesting choices when it comes to who some of his favorite wrestlers were.
The longest reigning AEW World Champion in history is MJF, who picked up a win over Jay White at AEW Full Gear despite a knee injury. Maxwell Jacob Friedman is an admitted student of the game who is a lifelong pro wrestling fan who has studied the greats and learned from many of them along the way.
During a discussion on Dr. Beau Hightower’s YouTube channel, MJF named the likes of CM Punk and Kurt Angle as some of his favorite wrestlers ever.
“I remember loving CM Punk, loving Kurt Angle, loving Eddie Guerrero — there were like specific guys that I really gravitated towards, but for the most part, I always found myself watching old ’80s wrestling on YouTube.”
“There’s something about it that just felt much more visceral and I related to it more. Like I remember being little, just watching Piper, watching Mid-South wrestling, Crockett, World Class.”
As he continued, MJF also praised fellow Jewish wrestler Bill Goldberg and also The Rock as well.
“Bill Goldberg and The Rock were my two favorite wrestlers growing up mainly because Bill was just this massive Jew and there’s not a lot of those right now. ”
“The Rock just because The Rock is The Rock and he’s the man and if he’s not in your top five something’s wrong with you.”
What Other Big Name Wrestler Did MJF Like?
The 27-year-old AEW World Champion MJF went on to praise future WWE Hall of Famer Brock Lesnar as well.
“People always feel old when I say this, but the guy that was world champion when I first started watching was Brock (Lesnar). And I remember watching Brock versus Rock and being like, ‘That guy just beat The Rock.’ I was just so confused I was like, ‘Who’s this gigantic animal of a man?'”
“And then you know I was already just hooked at the prospect of it and I’d be on YouTube and I would be watching you know older wrestling. I don’t think I was the biggest fan of what was going on present day as I was growing up outside of a couple talents.”
Next up for MJF is an AEW World Championship defense against Samoa Joe at the Worlds End PPV in Long Island, New York, which is MJF’s hometown.