On Thursday, August 3rd, 2023, ESPN attempted to dip their toes into the professional wrestling world like they tend to do from time to time and name the 30 best professional wrestlers under the age of 30. On paper, the concept is pretty standard stuff, with plenty of obvious names, like MJF and Rhea Ripley coming in at one and two and other stalwarts of mainstream American television rounding out the top-10 in Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Konosuke Takeshita, Liv Morgan, and Logan Paul rounding out the top ten.
Could some quibble with the exact order? Sure, El Hijo del Vikingo (4) and Dominik Mysterio (5) deserves to be higher than Austin Theory (3), and the bottom 20 could be re-ordered in a number of different ways, with Jack Perry feeling high at 13 and PWG Champion Daniel Garcia feeling shockingly low at 29.
Taking to Twitter in the pursuit of some positive press ahead of his forthcoming main event match at All In with his brochacho Adam Cole, MJF used his spot on ESPN's list to try to curry favor and a spot on ImPaulsive in the lead-up to the biggest match of his career.
On paper, MJF's offer has absolutely no downside for himself, AEW, or Logan Paul for that matter either; if he accepts, MJF will get to shoot his shot, shoot the you-know-what with the “Maverick” regarding professional wrestling, and hopefully sell a few more Pay-Per-View buys for the Wembley-based show that's set to feature over 80,000 fans in attendance.
And if he says no, either by his own volition or via WWE's strong condemnation of the idea, well, there's no skin off of MJF's back, as he's still better than you, and you know it. Either way, with former ImPaulsive guest Cody Rhodes presumably still on speed dial, there's no reason for MJF not to give it his best shot and see what happens.
What did ESPN have to say about MJF and Logan Paul anyway?
Speaking of ESPN's 30 under 30 list, what did its writers, Marc Raimondi and Brandon Caldwell, have to say about MJF and Logan Paul, respectively?
Well, regarding MJF, the answer was easy: he's number 1 for a reason.
“Generational talent” isn't just a nickname or catchphrase. Long Island's own Maxwell Jacob Friedman is one of the best mid-20s wrestlers the business has seen in some time. He's already the focal point of AEW, winning the promotion's world championship last November. ESPN rated him the 2022 promo artist of the year, and frankly, he's been just as good in between the ropes. MJF's Ironman match with Bryan Danielson at AEW Revolution in March was an instant classic, and his four-way match with Jack Perry, Darby Allin, and Sammy Guevara was excellent, too. It's scary to think he hasn't reached his prime yet.
And as for Logan Paul? Well, despite having only worked single-digit matches in his career thus far, his charisma and athleticism were enough to garner the final spot in the top-10.
This might be somewhat of a polarizing pick, but Paul — like his brother, Jake — is a polarizing guy. The YouTuber-turned-combat-sports-disruptor is only a part-time wrestler for WWE, though it's impossible to overlook the impact he has had and how good his performances have been. Paul has only been in big matches — including a bout for the Undisputed WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns — and has pulled off some incredible feats. For someone who has had only six matches in his career, Paul's ability has been preternatural.
On paper, Paul might just be the hardest performer in the world to quantify in professional wrestling; he barely works but shines when he does; he's only really over because of his social media stardom but has used that fact to masterfully play the part of the ultimately new media heel. If Paul commits his life to becoming a professional wrestler, he might just go down as one of the best of this generation, right up there with MJF; it's just a shame that probably won't happen.
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