During a recent PWTorch.com audio show, Wade Keller discussed the locker room in AEW, specifically some of the issues that have been reported over the last couple of months.
Keller stated that things are pretty good backstage and not as bad as the headlines make it seem. Keller also talked about MJF. He speculated that MJF secretly signed an extension but the company is not admitting to that because of what they have planned for him in the next year or so.
Keller also stated that MJF is not someone to stir trouble backstage and he is someone who could become a locker room leader if he wants the role.
Keller said, “The MJF thing isn’t a big topic of conversation. He’s back. My belief is he signed an extension even if he’s telling everybody on and off camera he didn’t. I think he did. Unless someone has seen the contract, I think it’s presumptuous and potentially faulty reporting, to analyze for the MJF situation, as if Tony Khan made a mistake by not signing him to an extension. It’s in their interest to say he didn’t because they have a storyline planned for a year from now where MJF is likely going to announce he is staying at AEW. I think he got paid big money and got that extension he wanted. And Tony put whatever issues he had with how MJF handled the situation aside, gave him what he wanted, and went from there.”
On how MJF handles himself out of the ring, Keller said, “And obviously, MJF is getting big pops, but he’s someone who obviously Tony Khan trusts putting out in the media to do approved interviews. MJF is very articulate, and a student of the game and is someone who, when he’s happy with his contract is tight with Tony and that they get along. So he’s somebody who, because of his prominence right now, with the TV time he gets and how young he is, and the crowd reactions, he’s got some things working for him that that certainly can move him in the direction of representing the younger wrestlers in locker room leadership. But even with everything that went on this summer, I think MJF is going to grow into a locker room leader. I think he’s going to be in AEW beyond 2023. My hunch is that that’s a done deal at this point.”
Keller went on about MJF’s backstage reputation: “He really isn’t a problem in the locker room like Sammy Guevara has been for instance or Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa have been. That’s not him. He’s actually less of a problem than The Bucks and Kenny. Kenny is more political than his reputation in terms of protecting his turf and not just being a laid back kind of quirky guy. He’s more political [and] MJF is ambitious, but not super political. And so that works to locker room stability too, especially if I’m right in my speculation and my hunch and my belief that he has signed a multi-year extension and just isn’t saying so.”
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