MJF does not have a problem with WWE running a show in Chicago on the same night as All Out. What he objects to is being asked to pretend it means nothing.
Speaking to Richard Deitsch on the Sports Media Podcast, MJF was asked about WWE’s scheduling.
“Do I think it’s ridiculous that they’re afraid of us usurping them? Yeah, a little bit. Do I think it’s a little f***ing funny that you’re running a show in Chicago the exact same time we’re running a show in Chicago? Yeah, a little bit.”
He then made clear he understands why it is happening.
“But as I’ve stated before, it makes sense. I understand it. It’s a business tactic. I’m not mad at it.”
The part he does object to is the framing.
“But the last thing you’re gonna do to me, if other wrestling fans want it to happen to them that’s fine, if they want to play dumb and coy, but you’re not gonna spit in my f***ing face and tell me it’s raining.”
“You’re not gonna tell me you’re WWE Radio, but we’re still gonna call it right down the line. That’s not a thing.”
The Chicago situation is the most direct example of what he is describing. AEW runs All Out at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates on Saturday, September 26, starting at 6 p.m. Central. WWE and AAA run Worlds Collide at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont the same evening, starting at 7.30 pm central, about twenty minutes up the road. The two shows overlap for most of the night.
WWE has scheduled events against AEW pay-per-views repeatedly over the past year. NXT ran the Great American Bash against Forbidden Door in June, Wrestlepalooza went head-to-head with All Out last September, and Saturday Night’s Main Event ran against All In last July with Goldberg’s retirement match on it. This weekend, both NXT Heatwave and an AAA show are scheduled against All In. What has not happened before is WWE putting an event in the same market on the same night. Fans in Chicago now have to choose one or the other rather than deciding what order to watch them in.
Tony Khan was asked about it in July and gave a more diplomatic answer than MJF’s.
“It’s probably all of the above,” Khan said, when it was put to him that it might be healthy competition, a compliment or simply the reality of the business. “It’s the reality of current wrestling. It’s the, frankly, predatory nature of scheduling of events. But also the compliment that says that AEW is doing very well.”
The WWE Radio reference is to SiriusXM’s wrestling channel, which carries WWE branding and airs a substantial amount of wrestling programming, including shows that cover the industry more broadly.
MJF’s wider point in the same interview was about how fans discuss the two companies. He argued that preferring one does not require attacking the other.
“If you like AEW more than WWE, and there are a lot of people that feel that way, that doesn’t mean that you have to s*** on WWE. You don’t need to make think pieces online about why WWE sucks. Make think pieces online about why AEW is better.”
“Whatever those logical reasons are. Whether it’s because you get more bang for your buck with pay-per-views, or because our matches are better, or because our rivalries are better, or because MJF’s better looking than any top guy in the other promotion.”
MJF has been with AEW since its first show in 2019 and has held the AEW World Championship twice, most recently taking it from Darby Allin at Double or Nothing in May before losing it to Kenny Omega at Beach Break in July.
Eric Bischoff said this month that MJF is one of very few wrestlers currently generating what he considers real heat rather than a conditioned response from an audience that knows its role.
“MJF lives it, and ironically he’s probably got more real, honest heel heat, not Pavlov’s dog heat,” Bischoff said.
All In takes place at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 30. All Out follows on September 26.
