At the AEW Full Gear pay-per-view event in 2023, MJF faced several injuries during his encounter in the ring with Jay White.
In a recent installment of the “Casual Conversations with The Classic” podcast, MJF, who holds the AEW International Championship, discussed his response and feelings immediately after his match.
Below are noteworthy takeaways from the podcast:
About his injuries during Full Gear: “In my match against Jay White, I managed to emerge victorious despite wrestling on one leg. It’s not a big deal, honestly. I launched an elbow drop from the top rope to the floor in a misguided attempt to pander to those I presumed cared for me. To my disappointment, they didn’t. Moreover, my hip dislocated, and he retaliated with a Uranage off the top rope, causing me to land on my left shoulder, subsequently snapping my labrum.”
On his emotional outburst post-match: “I was uncontrollably sobbing backstage. I had never experienced and expressed such emotional pain in my whole life. The rush of adrenaline wore off and was replaced by the most excruciating physical pain I ever endured.”
Recently, Chris Jericho made an appearance on the podcast “Creative Imbalance”, discussing the evolution of his Learning Tree persona and the audience’s mixed response to it.
Highlighted excerpts from the podcast:
On fine-tuning the character based on audiences’ reactions: “Every story I tell is adaptive. I feel the room and let the narrative guide me. I knew from the start that portraying it in a certain manner and making people believe it was some sort of jester until the curtain falls to reveal—’Wait, these guys aren’t joking. This is a serious amalgamation of American Psycho and The Devil’s Rejects.’ Now we’re looking at a whole new character with a vastly different mindset.”
On the audiences’ reactions to the persona and faction: “One could describe it as polarizing. But the ultimate fact remains: it consistently ranks as one of the show’s most-watched segments. Audiences are intrigued. A minority may be vocal about their displeasure, wanting to ‘cancel’ Chris Jericho, but I focus more on the in-venue reactions and viewership numbers. We’ve found a hit character that’s helping many others climb the ladder of success, which is the ultimate goal.”