Tony Khan Claims He Can’t Comment On Future Of Top AEW Star
Tony Khan doesn’t want to comment on the contract status of one of his biggest stars.
At AEW Worlds End on December 30th, All Elite Wrestling ended 2023 with a major show called Worlds End. Maxwell Jacob Friedman went into Worlds End as the AEW World Champion and was hoping to keep his title coming out of the event. That unfortunately didn’t happen because he lost the championship to Samoa Joe.
After the match, “The Devil” revealed himself to MJF. It was his “best friend” Adam Cole, who befriended MJF in the second half of 2023. MJF was stunned by it as Cole and his allies Wardlow, Roderick Strong, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett destroyed MJF in the ring while poor MJF was shocked by the whole thing.
Since then, AEW has gone on to remove MJF from its roster page due to the story that MJF’s AEW contract expired on January 1, 2024. As for what WWE believes, previous reports have noted that they think MJF has already agreed to remain with All Elite Wrestling. Meanwhile, MJF said in mid-December that he had yet to re-sign with AEW
Tony Khan Refuses To Answer Questions About MJF’s Contract Status In AEW
When asked about MJF’s contract status at the post-Worlds End press conference, AEW’s Owner/CEO/General Manager Tony Khan refused to speak about Friedman’s future in pro wrestling.
“I believe Max is somebody who has a great heart and somebody who has a great heart and somebody who loves AEW. I think everybody read that in the [Players’ Tribune] article. [But] I can’t speak to his future in 2024 here at this time.”
“But I do think MJF has been a huge part of AEW for five years, and MJF is somebody also that is welcome in AEW and wanted in AEW for life, and he’s also a huge part of the growth of AEW and the success of the company.”
As he continued, Khan refused to talk about MJF’s future again.
“I right now can’t comment on the future of MJF at AEW, other than to say we’re very grateful for everything he’s done to this point to get us here. MJF’s been a big part of AEW now for five years. He is one of the people that helped build this place.”
“He’s been a part of some of the biggest moments in AEW over the past five years. MJF’s also somebody that’s always welcome here for the rest of his career. But I can’t speak directly to his future.”
In other MJF news, he is dealing with a shoulder injury and a new report suggests he could need major surgery, which could cost the longest-reigning AEW World Champion around half a year of action, if not more depending on how serious of an injury it is.