MJF isn’t trying to be something he’s not.
All Elite Wrestling‘s Maxwell Jacob Friedman was a recent guest on The Ariel Helwani Show to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about his love for old-school professional wrestling, MJF spoke about how he came upon footage of one of his heroes, Rowdy Roddy Piper, for the very first time.
“Watching everything and luckily I was born in the age of YouTube, so I was able to get my hands on anything, and everything and a lot of my friends were just watching WWE, but what I fell into was watching throwback stuff,” MJF revealed. “I’ll never forget going on YouTube. And there’s this guy. He’s chewing gum, and he’s got his feet on a desk, and he’s looking at this guy who’s supposed to be a host.
“More research I do turns out that Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper and Piper’s just chewing gum talking all this shit. And I’m like; I can relate to this guy because I have the biggest mouth in the world. And here’s this guy. He’s making money off of just being himself. I’m in, and I was just so so beyond hooked. And then I followed his entire career, just watching all this stuff in Portland, and then I found out about territory wrestling, and I’m like eight or nine, and I’m watching Mid South Wrestling and AWA and Crockett. And I was just absolutely obsessed with that version of professional wrestling because to me, that’s the best professional wrestling.”
When asked why he believes the golden era was the best, MJF thinks that nowadays, there are too many wrestlers trying to pretend to be something that they aren’t.
“It’s the best because you don’t have a bunch of schmucks trying — here’s my issue with professional wrestling today, and here’s why I stand out like no other. I feel like people are putting on a superhero costume before they go through the curtain,” MJF said. “They are trying to be something they’re not. They’re trying to fool people into believing they’re a star. The reason why the territory days was such a beautiful thing is because these men were themselves they were men.
“Nobody had to tell Tully Blanchard what or how he was supposed to act when he walked through the curtain because he was Tully B. Nobody had to tell Flair how to act. Nobody had to tell Piper to act. Nobody had to tell Buddy Landale how to act. Rick Rude. These guys got it because they were just being themselves. It was authentic. It was as real as it got, just like I’m as real as it gets. And that’s why to me, that’s the golden age of professional wrestling. And right now, we’re having a resurfacing of the golden age of professional wrestling. And I am leading that charge. You’re welcome.”
READ MORE: MJF Costs Wardlow, Scorpio Sky Retains AEW TNT Championship
What do you make of MJF’s comments? Do you think the golden age of professional wrestling is making a comeback? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit The Ariel Helwani Show with a link back to this article for the transcription.
