MJF has put a stake in the ground on AEW’s competitive positioning, telling TV Insider that AEW is the best alternative to WWE in the history of professional wrestling and probably in the history of any sport, with the company now positioned to capitalize on a wave of WWE-side fan disenchantment.
MJF, who challenges Darby Allin for the AEW World Championship in a Title vs Hair match at AEW Double or Nothing on Sunday in Flushing, NY, spotlighted the WWE pushback specifically.
“I think it’s a combination of things. With love and respect, I’ve got no issue with WWE or TKO. I’m sure people are going to say, ‘Oh, an AEW wrestler talking about WWE.’ It’s an interview, you schmucks. I’m asked about it, so I’m going to answer the question. Yeah, a lot of people who work there aren’t particularly happy. People are taking pay cuts. The show right now, to each their own, but to a lot of people right now, pretty disenchanted with the product.”
The “pay cuts” reference is to the post-WrestleMania 42 wave where WWE asked multiple wrestlers to take 50% reductions on guaranteed deals, with Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and others choosing release instead. Kevin Nash has publicly said he knows of at least one wrestler who accepted the 50% cut and is still making “huge money” at the reduced rate. MJF then made the AEW-as-alternative argument explicit.
“I think they have an insane amount of talent there. They have a proven track record of doing incredible business, but I think people are so ready for an alternative. I can’t think of a better alternative than All Elite Wrestling, probably in the history of any sport. Dude, the thing is this, we had a black eye on us because there was so much bulls**t that went down. I don’t need to get into it, but the year 2026, every Dynamite has been incredible, Collision has been incredible, pay-per-view.”
He then directly credited Darby Allin’s work.
“You have the hottest professional wrestler on top, me. I’ll give Darby Allin his credit, even though I hate his stupid face. He is putting on easily the best matches, but also doing it twice a week on all our major flagship shows. He is putting on better matches than any other place you watch professional wrestling. So do other guys on the roster. Now, am I a match guy personally? Not necessarily. I’m a win guy. I’m a money guy. I’m a sell-tickets guy. I’m going to get people to buy a pay-per-view guy, but I’m not going to sit here and pretend that we don’t have superior wrestling. Whether that’s weekly shows or pay-per-views, which nobody can touch. Nobody has touched or will ever touch on these.”
Asked what could take AEW to the next level, MJF gave a one-word answer.
“I think it’s literally happening right now. Year over year in most markets we’ve sold more tickets. This year we’ve done more pay-per-view buys. We’re hot right now, when I hear people ask how we can get bigger, the answer is time baby.”
