They say absence makes the heart grow founder, but does that old adage really apply to MJF, the uber-mega heel performer who hasn't been on AEW television since June 1st, when Dynamite was broadcast live from the “Fabulous” Kia Forum?
Since going on an expletive-ladened tirade about his booking in the company, his contract, and his admiration for WWE, asking his “mark” boss Tony Khan to fire him in the process, MJF has been removed from all promotional material by edict of the Warner Bros. Discovery higher-ups and the promotion has largely moved forward without a massive hole in their weekly booking. If anything, the absence of MJF has been largely mitigated by a string of incredibly exciting developments both planned and not-so-much, as, between CM Punk's injury, the interim title belt, the lead-up to Forbidden Door, and the arrival of NJPW stars like Will Ospreay, El Desperado, and Tanahashi, the amount of new, exciting content is enough to make one's head spin.
Where would MJF even fit into the Forbidden Door picture? Would he be booked on the show against an NJPW star like, say, Tetsuya Naito, or would this have been a down period for the fast-talking Long Island native either way? Well, when asked about his former frenemy on TalkSPORT with Alex McCarthy, Chris Jericho had a lot to say about the future of MJF that is both predictable and nuanced.
Chris Jericho thinks MJF should stay in AEW but understands if he leaves.
Chris Jericho is a very smart talker. He's been a master of the mic for years now and has put himself over time after time with his words just as often as his in-ring work, so let's see what Jericho himself has to say on MJF's situation, from how he would be booked in The Fed to his freedom in AEW, and even the understandable nature of wanting to try something new, as transcribed by the fine folks over at Fightful.
Oh absolutely [his character would be watered down in WWE]. He’s better off staying in AEW. But, again, don’t stick your finger in the light socket. You tell a little kid not to do that and they’re going to do it to see what happens. I’m not going to tell anybody not to go elsewhere because I did it. I did it for years. I did it to come to AEW. I walked away from WWE. When I signed my AEW contract Vince McMahon said ‘Can you get out of it?’ – No, you told me to go here! Same thing happened when I left WCW to come to WWE. Sometimes you got to take a chance and if you believe in yourself and you feel you aren’t getting your dues, then you gotta go elsewhere,”
Alright, alright, alright, a lot to unpack there. In an interview that also featured Jericho detailing his contract being up in 2024, “The Painmaker” asserted that MJF's character would probably be watered down in WWE, which makes sense, considering Vince McMahon's heavy hand on the booking sheet. Jericho ultimately left WWE and WCW before it because he wanted to be booked in a different way than his then-organization believed was the right move, and time after time, the performer born Christopher Keith Irvine has been vindicated in his desire to pursue something different, even if that included temporarily leaving wrestling to pursue outside ventures like Fozzy or acting roles in McGruber, Darkside of the Ring, and the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
And yet, on the opposite side of that coin, if anyone understands wanting to leave a good situation in pursuit of a better one, it's Jericho. He could have returned to WWE in 2018, but he opted to take his talents elsewhere and parlayed a fantastic feud with Kenny Omega in New Japan into the top heel spot in AEW, which was then a Pay-Per-View-only promotion without a television deal. While MJF doesn't necessarily find himself in the same opportunity as Jericho, as he's a featured performer in a fully-formed AEW who would likely end up a champion before his current contract is done, if he's miserable in his current role, that's not going to get better whether he's sitting at home waiting or thrown to the top of the card on the same contract.
When Forbidden Door comes to an end, maybe MJF will be back. Maybe AEW is icing out MJF for the summer and hopes to bring him back this fall to pop a few ratings versus playoff baseball? Either way, if Chris Jericho has his say, the two parties will reconvene and make money moving forward.
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