MJF says he just wants to make AEW a better place and he’s the guy that best represents what All Elite Wrestling should be.
MJF recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard ahead of his championship match at AEW All Out this Saturday, where ‘The Salt Of The Earth’ will challenge Jon Moxley Dictator Jon for the AEW World Championship. MJF has used his grassroots following (and #1 ranking) to not only get his title shot at All Out, but he’s also used strategy and astute legal knowledge to ban Moxley’s Paradigm Shift from the match.
MJF explained that he’s not afraid of getting beat by the move and his motivation was simple—the Paradigm Shift is dangerous and he’s acting in the interest of safety.
“The Paradigm Shift isn’t a move, it’s an abomination. It’s a disgusting, terrible act of violence and it indiscriminately tries to break anyone’s neck. It doesn’t care about who you are, what gender you are, what race you are, that’s all that move is designed to do, is hurt people,” MJF said. “And that’s not right.
“Every time you use that move, you’re literally potentially paralyzing somebody, and that could have been me, Will. It could have easily been me. I want to have a family one day, I want to be able to play catch with my son. I wanna be able to go out to the ballpark, I wanna attend his games, hell one day maybe he’ll be a pro wrestler. I want be able to train the future seed of my loins, so the reason the move has been banished is not for some ‘psychological warfare’ for me over Jonathan. It’s not for me to be able to outwrestle him because I’m so fearful that he’ll be able to beat me with that move. It’s not that I’m fearful of losing because of that move,” MJF said. “I’m fearful of losing my life because of that move, Will. So what people should be doing is thanking me because I stopped a potential murder from happening in AEW.”
After noting that Moxley didn’t need the Paradigm Shift to win matches against the likes of Brodie Lee and Brian Cage, MJF said he’s not nervous about losing—which he won’t. MJF reinforced his belief that Moxley could win in a number of ways, but it won’t come at the expense of his safety and health.
“I’m not nervous about his armbar, I’m not nervous about his sleeper hold, I’m not nervous about his Gotch piledriver. I have no control over my body in the Paradigm Shift maneuver, there is no way for me to protect myself in any way, shape or form. He has both of my arms trapped and if I’m going to lose by a Cross Armbreaker, which I won’t, so be it. If I’m going to lose by a sleeper hold, which I won’t, so be it. If I’m going to lose by a Gotch piledriver, which I won’t, so be it,” MJF continued, “but at least I can put my hands down on the way down and try and protect myself with the amount of limited energy I have left prior to him being able to hit that move. But when it comes to banning the Paradigm Shift to get an edge, Will. I’m banning this move because I’m trying to make AEW a better place.”
MJF has led a campaign against Jon Moxley this summer, claiming he’s the right candidate because “we deserve better” in AEW. The question was then asked, why Moxley, and why not any other champion before him? MJF simply stated that Moxley is not fit to be champion, and he is the right man that can represent AEW the way it should be.
“He’s the figurehead, Will. He’s the guy that’s supposed to be our World Champion, supposed to be the face of our company. Can you put Jon Moxley on a box of Wheaties? No, he’ll scare children! Can you put Jon Moxley on a late-night talk show? Can you put him in commercials, on billboards and posters? In movies, unless he’s trying to break somebody’s neck—no, you can’t. I’m a businessman, I’m a professional. I’m somebody that can get in a suit, I can put on my scarf and I can go anywhere and represent our brand the way it’s supposed to be represented.”
“I am a professional wrestler, not a professional backlot brawler, not a professional gymnast, not a professional car crash stuntman, I’m a pro wrestler and that is precisely why I have an issue with Jon. He is the World Champion, so when younger talent sees him with the World title, what do they want to do? They want to imitate him, they want to copy his style because that’s what they think it takes to become a top guy. I’m here to prove otherwise.”
When, not if he wins the AEW World Championship this Saturday, MJF says he’ll dedicate the win to himself and his reply was straightforward.
“Who else am I supposed to dedicate it to? Was anybody else in the ring there with me?”
AEW All Out airs live this Saturday, September 5 on B/R Live and FITE.
Read More: MJF Recalls A Fan Dressing Up As His ‘Pilot’ & Trying To Kidnap Him
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