MJF knows people will continually move the goalposts on him, but he also enjoys proving people wrong.
AEW World Champion MJF recently took part in the first-ever Busted Open Town Hall. When asked how he felt after the first All In almost five years ago, MJF felt like he did a great job but knew of the criticisms that would come along with it.
“I knew I did a great job,” MJF said. “But I also knew that there would be a big conglomerate of people saying yeah, the kid did good, but what was he there for? I strive on that shit. And we’ll continue to talk about those things as the milestones add up in my career. Because every single time I’ve had a big opportunity in any capacity. The goalpost was always moved every single time.
“But I remember I did a great job, but the goalposts moved. Yeah, the match was really good, but why was he on the card? Okay. Well, WWE scouts and AEW scouts didn’t feel that way. But okay. And then when I signed on with AEW, it was really just off to the races. And I remember again, a goalpost moment. I mean, yeah, MJF has really become the most hated man in all professional wrestling.
“But can you have a good match against Cody Rhodes? First of all, if you can’t have a good match against Cody Rhodes, kill yourself. Second of all, yeah, I can have a good match with anybody. I can have a — let me let me rephrase that. I can have a great match with anybody. The match was awesome.
“You can watch it back now. There’s highlight clips all over on YouTube. People made music videos and shit to it. People love that shit. And then after that, it was Yeah, MJF had an incredible rivalry and incredible match with Cody Rhodes, but he can never be in a main event. MJF versus Jon Moxley. That match was incredible in the peak of the pandemic era, and people still bring that match up to me to this day.
“Yeah sure, MJF could be in the main event of a pay-per-view for the world title but can you go toe to toe on the microphone with a legend like Chris Jericho? Okay, I did that for a year. Sure, MJF might have beaten Jon Moxley for the world title, but he can’t wrestle for an hour against Bryan Danielson. I’ll never forget of all the takes; that was the one that made me the most mad.
“There’s a weird thing that has occurred in professional wrestling where and I think we can all agree on this. 99% of the time If somebody’s really good at this they’re just okay in the ring. I don’t know why that — I do know why that is. Because people rest on their laurels, they realize they can make just enough money and be just enough over by just being good on a microphone. So why put just as much time and effort into this as they do inside the squared circle?
“I don’t rest on my laurels. I’m a sicko. That’s not how I operate, I wasn’t raised that way. I was raised to be able to look people in the eye and say I’m better than you and you know it and mean it. So when I read that, I thought to myself, this is my favorite goalpost moment.
“Because not only am I going to prove I can go an hour with Bryan Danielson. Not only am I going to have the best Iron Man match in the history of the sport. I am going to make everyone go, can Bryan Danielson hang with MJF? And guess what the answer was? Nope. I won.”
Why he thinks people constantly move the goalposts:
“Because people aren’t used to watching history unfold in front of their very own eyes, it’s scary. I’m scary. I scare people,” MJF said. “I’m not supposed to be able to be this good at 27. It’s weird. It’s never happened before in the history of the sport. Now there have been guys that have gotten huge opportunities at my age, but everybody knew that they had holes in their game.
“I’m not going to name names. You can think of these people where they got a lot of TV time, and you went oh this guy’s next up. But he needs to work on this or needs to work on that. I don’t gotta work on jack shit, bro. I’m MJF. I’m the best in the world right now by my opinion, a wide margin. Being world champion means you’re the best, point blank. And I think that’s why.
“I think it’s slowed down a tremendous amount. I think people finally have taken a step back and been like alright, he talks a lot of shit. He cuts some corners. He’s kind of a scumbag. But he’s my scumbag. And I think now, fans are kind of excited to be along for the ride as opposed to being contrarians. As opposed to going everyone’s talking about how great this guy is. I’m sick of it. I don’t want to hear it anymore. Now it’s alright, he’s pretty fucking good.
READ MORE: MJF Believes He Was Scrappy Doo When He Started At AEW
What do you make of MJF’s comments? Do you think the world continues to move the goalposts when it comes to the AEW World Champion? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit Busted Open Town Hall with a link to this article for the transcription.
