MJF Recommended Current Champion To AEW
One champion in AEW has a lot to thank MJF for…no, really.
Since first appearing in AEW, MJF has been a scumbag, a real lowlife scumbag. But it seemed the lower he plumbed the depths with his fellow AEW stars, the more in-ring success he seemed to find. The Salt of the Earth can boast – and certainly does – of wins over Adam Page, Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Hiroshi Tanahashi, CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole.
The AEW World Champion, however, has shown a new side to him through his friendship with Cole and although still a scumbag, he’s now the people’s scumbag. But according to another champion in AEW, he always had a softer side.
Kris Statlander “owes a lot” to MJF
Speaking on Under The Ring, current TBS Champion Kris Statlander reflected on getting her start in AEW and said she has MJF to thank for going to bat for her:
“It all kind of happened so suddenly. I was at this point in my independent career where I was having six matches a week and wrestling four or five days a week and I was very tired but busy and excited. I got the email to come do a dark match and be an extra. It was in Nashville. ‘That’s kind of a far distance, but if they’re bringing me in, sure, absolutely. I’m not going to say no.’
“I showed up, I did some of the training with the girls, and I feel pretty early in the day they started discussing possibly bringing me in and I was like, ‘I haven’t even had my match yet. Don’t you want to see me wrestle first?’ In my opinion, I would want to see how a person works before bringing them into a company. I know that I had some people recommend me and looking out for me.
“I hate to give him credit, but I know MJF was probably the biggest one. I do have a lot to owe him, unfortunately, but he’s been there for me a lot as a friend. If he hadn’t recommended me as someone to bring in, I probably wouldn’t have gotten that opportunity so early on. It probably would have happened eventually, I would hope it would have. It kind of happened out of nowhere. The first day I was there, ‘We’re going to bring you in.’ ‘Alright, let’s do it.'”
Kris Statlander and MJF both came through the Create A Pro wrestling school run by Brian Myers and AEW producer Pat Buck. Statlander was the school’s first female graduate in 2018 and other AEW stars to come through the school include Platinum Max Caster, Bronson of the Iron Savages, and Smart Mark Sterling.