MJF: In An Era Of GIFs, I Stand Out By Being Old-School
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Ahead of his big match against Cody Rhodes at AEW Revolution, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, MJF, opens up about what makes him special in today’s wrestling world.
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Speaking to Sports Illustrated, MJF says that in an era where internet GIFs obtain wrestlers a wide variety of bookings, an old school mentality is what has kept him fresh and at the top of the number one alternative to WWE in the world, All Elite Wrestling.
“The funny thing about the independents is you got bookings based off of GIFs, the GIFs you see on Twitter,” MJF admits. “Someone doing a 759-30-splat-yada-yada, Darby’s coffin drops with the f—ing skateboard attached to his back, Orange Cassidy kicking people in the shins real slow, Jungle Boy doing flippity do-dahs and flippity-ays, the list goes on and on. I had a chuckle after my match with Jungle Boy when I saw everybody saying, ‘I had no idea MJF was such a great wrestler!’ Well, I knew. But why on earth would I put myself in a situation where I have to take these stupid moves? I’ll watch other matches and see moves and ask myself, ‘Why?’
“I’m as old-school as it gets in this modern era. I’m the last of a dying breed. I didn’t care about GIFs. I didn’t care about making people go home happy. I didn’t care about people going, ‘Oh, my god, his work rate is absolutely fantastic. I can’t wait to see his next five-star match.’ What I care about is making sure that when the people watching me put their head to their pillow, I’m the last thing they think about. Not because I hit the coolest moves, not because I’m putting my body on the line for their entertainment, but because I’m captivating. I do things my way. I don’t do things to make people happy or appease them. That’s what makes me different.”
You can read the full interview by clicking here.