MJF is reportedly a no show in the Saturday AEW Double or Nothing Fan Fest Meet & Greet. Here is the real reason why.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman is known for his great character work. As a heel, it's his work to be despicable and hated by fans. He goes so far as to keep his act together when interacting with fans, even flipping a finger at a 7-year-old in a previous fan signing event. Fans of the character know about his antics and actually flock to him more, wanting a chance to experience his rude character first-hand. However, MJF's character work has nothing to do with Saturday's Double or Nothing Fan Fest Meet & Greet, which the AEW superstar snubbed. Both security and management were surprised and caught off guard by his absence, and Fightful Select via Sean Ross Sap would confirm that MJF was a no-show in the event.

This, of course, disappointed many fans. AEW's management has since offered refunds or exchanges with other wrestlers, but clearly, MJF fans would not see this compensation to equal a chance of meeting their favorite wrestler.

For AEW, this is a business nightmare. One of their top stars did not show up for a Fan Fest signing, which is part of his contractual obligations. The fact that AEW management quickly offered refunds and exchanges shows that this is not part of an angle or an extension of MJF's character work. He simply didn't show up to work that day, contracts be damned.

Speaking of contracts, MJF has been vocal about the state of his contract with AEW. His attitude towards his contract situation has put him at odds with AEW CEO Tony Khan. The situation has gone so sour that MJF has said that once his contract expires, he'll go wherever the money is.

It appears that MJF is truly upset with the way he's being handled in AEW, and that it has contributed to his decision not to appear in the AEW Fan Fest signing. Perhaps hoping that his fans would understand and would support his actions, MJF is taking this gamble to show upper management that they should treat him better. MJF will be facing Wardlow in Sunday's Double or Nothing pay-per-view, where it's rumored that he's scheduled to lose to Wardlow to put over his former employee. Rumors are circulating that “The Salt of the Earth” isn't so happy with the booking, and might be using this opportunity to show his displeasure.

It's not yet known how AEW will react to this unprofessional behavior with MJF – if it will further endear it to his fans then sure, but this may jeopardize his contract more than actually improving his standing with AEW management. Either way, it seems like MJF is confident that he'll be taken up by other promotions with high offers if ever he leaves AEW, and is already at peace with the possibility of working elsewhere for the next chapter in his career. In fact, some fans even speculate that he's doing all of this to get an offer from WWE, following in the footsteps of The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes.

In other news, Samoa Joe was also reportedly absent from the Fan Fest meet & greet event. However, unlike MJF, AEW management clarified that Samoa Joe's case was completely unintentional, and was only due to miscommunication.