AEW World Champion MJF is one of the most popular wrestlers to never sign a WWE contract. Despite being under 30 years old, MJF has established himself as arguably the biggest star in AEW today. The polarizing heel gets attention from both fans who love him and those who despise him at live AEW shows.
MJF revealed why he opted to sign with AEW over WWE when entering free agency a couple of years ago:
“We [the AEW roster] have honed our crafts to the best of our absolute abilities, which has made us so incredible, which is precisely why we are getting compensated the way we should be compensated.
I cannot — God bless people that do it — people will jump to the other place [WWE] to get booked the same and/or worse, to be compensated for less. Why? I don’t know. I’m not going to settle for less compensation, so I get to have a WrestleMania moment. That doesn’t make sense to me.”
The current AEW Men’s World Champion cited both personal pride in AEW and the better money from his current contract as reasons why he stayed loyal. MJF is thriving in AEW and will likely have to make this decision multiple times when his contracts end since WWE would be crazy to not show interest.
Why This Comment Makes AEW Look Bad
Most fans believe that WWE offers bigger contracts than AEW to every free agent they desire, but MJF proved that’s not true. Rumors indicate that Damien Priest almost signed with AEW a few years ago until WWE offered a bigger deal to show they will outbid AEW.
However, that isn’t always the case for talents on the free agent market WWE is signing from other promotions. Former AEW World Champion Shane Strickland re-signed with AEW a few years ago, and reports claimed that WWE was shocked at AEW’s contract offer being much larger than they wanted to pay.
MJF likely falls under the same umbrella as Strickland where WWE would offer a good contract, but not one that matches AEW’s main event money. Tony Khan is willing to pay his top stars big money since he knows he must deal with WWE’s role as the top promotion going after his homegrown talents.
Will MJF Ever Leave AEW For WWE?
MJF confirmed his pride in AEW and recently also shared that he hopes to spend his entire career in the promotion. However, the younger age for MJF will see another at least another 10+ years to have multiple contract cycles on the free agent market.
MJF has also talked about being aware of his status as the biggest star to never join WWE. This could easily tempt him in the future if he accomplishes everything he desires in AEW and feels the need to take a bold change to add to his legacy.
However, the quote here shows that he considers legacy differently than other wrestlers who badly want a “WrestleMania moment” on the WWE stage. WWE will have to offer MJF a lot of money to match AEW if they want him to jump ship in the future.
AEW Champion Reveals Why He Didn’t Join WWE As Free Agent