MJF thinks he is the best wrestler never to compete in WWE, and it’s not even close.
At Double or Nothing in 2024, after five months away from AEW and amid speculation he could be about to sign with WWE, Maxwell Jacob Friedman returned and declared he wasn’t going anywhere.
The Salt of the Earth has since regained his spot at the top of the company, capturing the AEW World Championship for the second time at Worlds End in December 2025. With his accolades in AEW and on the indie scene before joining the company, there is already a case to be made that MJF is one of the most successful wrestlers to have never signed with WWE.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Friedman was asked if he believed himself to be the greatest wrestler not to have signed with WWE, and the star was quick to claim he was, and it wasn’t even close.
“Yes. It’s not even close. Before me, the answer would have been Sting. And then he wrestled there.”
When it was put to him that Kenny Omega could also make the claim, MJF said that while Omega is one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time, he was better known outside the “wrestling bubble”.
“Omega? No, stop it. I love Kenny to death. If you put our names into a search engine, I can assure you, more people are looking my name up than his. Now, is he gonna go down as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time? Yes, but that’s not the question you just asked me. The question you just asked me is outside of the wrestling bubble.”
“I Can’t Say Enough Nice Things About Kenny Omega, But He’s No MJF” – MJF on Kenny Omega
MJF clarified that he has a lot of respect for Kenny Omega and has spoken of his admiration in the past, but he still thinks he’s better than the Best Bout Machine.
“I’m sure people are going to try to clip this and make it seem like I’m talking shit about Kenny Omega. Kenny Omega is great. I’ve talked about Kenny Omega’s greatness when we wrestled on Collision a couple of years ago. I can’t say enough nice things about Kenny Omega, but he’s no MJF.”
MJF is set to defend the AEW World Championship against Brody King at Grand Slam Australia on February 14th. The match came about after King defeated MJF in under two minutes in a World Title Eliminator match on Dynamite.
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the above transcription.
