Wardlow considers Maxwell Jacob Friedman a ‘genius’ when it comes to the business side of the pro wrestling – with one exception.
The All Elite Wrestling star, who has worked as MJF’s on-screen bodyguard, is far from a fan of Friedman talking on screen, on social media and in media interviews about potentially signing with WWE when his contract is up in January 2024.
Wardlow, who is in a storyline with MJF that will end with their match at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view in Las Vegas on Sunday (8 p.m., Bleacher Report PPV), doesn’t think Friedman is handling the situation the right way – and said others in the company feel similarly.
“I don’t know if that is good business what he’s doing,” Wardlow told The Post. “Honestly, that might be the one thing I can say is bad business for Max. That goes back to who he is as a person. AEW has given Max a platform to become what he’s become, so to go on Twitter and do these interviews and just blatantly slap AEW in the face by saying I’m going to WWE in 2024 was absolute bulls—t.”
The 26-year-old MJF, who is know for walking close to the line of what’s storyline and what’s real life, signed a five-year contract extension with AEW in 2019. More recently after AEW added big contracts for CM Punk and Bryan Danielson in 2021, he’s talked on the company’s television shows about his contract status multiple times and his relationship with WWE executive director Bruce Prichard from their days together in Major League Wrestling. He has tweeted about a potential bidding war between the two companies over him. During an interview in March with Ariel Helwaini, MJF said he will go “wherever the money is” and that there is a “frontrunner and he’s “I’m not quite sure it’s the one people would expect.”
Fightful Select reported earlier this month that MJF – who is one of AEW’s top ratings draws and a rising star in the industry — was unhappy with this current deal with and leaning toward signing with WWE in 2024. Later in the month, Friedman reiterated he’s openness to leaving for WWE during an appearance at the Monopoly Convention in Liverpool, England.
“And if Vincent Kennedy McMahon is willing to shell out more money than my good friend Tony Khan, then yes, I would go to WWE.” said Friedman, who benefits either way from the attention and intrigue he is bring upon himself.
Wardlow, who has spent the majority of his three years in AEW working alongside MJF, said he’s insulting the company that’s helped him further raise his profile and others there aren’t happy about it ether.
“I know a lot of people that feel the same way backstage in the company,” he said. “It’s blatant disrespect and I plan on knocking some respect into him this Sunday.”