When Cody Rhodes noted in an interview on The Michael Kay Show that he would love for his former second, current AEW World Champion MJF, to come over to WWE in order to “swing a bat with the big boys” of professional wrestling, it turned heads around the industry.

Sure, maybe Rhodes was just shooting the shoot with some ESPN folks in a wide-spanning interview about all things wrestling, with the “American Nightmare” keeping his typical company man front up while also trying to put over his friend but that didn't stop WWE fans from celebrating the statement and AEW fans from wondering if the promotion's final Pay-Per-View of the year, Worlds End, is ironically named because it really could mark the end of an era where Tony Khan oversaw a challenger brands instead of a minor league for Titan Towers.

Fortunately, in preparation for Worlds End, MJF stopped by the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast for his own wide-spanning interview about professional wrestling and touched on the “Codster's” comments, thanking his pal for the kind words before criticizing fans for taking things out of proportion.

“I don’t know why, I saw fans absolutely s**tting on him when all he was saying was his opinion. It’s an opinion,” MJF told Jimmy Traina via Fightful.”I pray to god I don’t get lambasted online for some of the opinions I’m doing in this interview. I just feel like everything’s so radicalized now and hyperbolic now. That’s why, there’s certain aspects about social media I love. I think it brings people of the same like-mindedness together. I think it allows people to find their own communities. But what I hate about some of the social media, I find that hate-mongering and fear-mongering is the stuff that gets pushed the most. It’s because of this sensationalist stuff that people start believing in the sensationalized stuff and the hyperbolic stuff. I can’t relate to it. I’m a straight shooter. I say it like it is 110% of the time. Cody Rhodes felt that way. In Cody Rhodes’ mind and opinion, that was his way of putting over a friend, a prodigy, a former coworker, former protege. I guess I shouldn’t say former. I still talk to Cody to this day. He’s a great guy. He’s doing great things over there, I’m doing great things over here.”

Could MJF jump ship to WWE at some point in the future? Maybe yes, maybe no, but as the “Salt of the Earth” pointed out, it's not uncommon for the best to want to play with the best, as it happens in other sports all the time.

Are Cody Rhodes and MJF wresting's answer to LeBron and Kobe?

Discussing the matter further, MJF explained how, in other sports, athletes want to not only play against the best of the best but play with the best of the best in the pursuit of glory, comparing Cody Rhodes' comments to the presumed desire of Kobe Bryant to play alongside LeBron James during their shared time in the NBA.

“I’ll put it his way. If you’re a fan of professional sports in general, an All-Star player like, for example, Kobe Bryant, R.I.P., was the bedrock foundation of the Lakers. You think he wasn’t doing interviews while LeBron was in the league, saying, ‘God, I wish LeBron James was playing here?’” MJF wondered. “I’m sure if we Google it, he was, and probably consistently throughout his career. Listen, it’s normal. Of course we want MJF in our company. Who the f**k wouldn’t want me in their company? I’m the best thing going today. I’m the AEW World Champion. Nobody dresses like me, nobody talks like me, nobody looks like me, nobody walks like me, nobody wrestles like me. I take it as a compliment, and I think the AEW fans should take it as a compliment, too, because that means that their world champion, the face of their company, is a hot commodity. So that’s the only way I feel it should be looked at.”

Did Bryant ever make those comments? Well, someone – me – did Google it, and guess what, he did, albeit to bring “King James” to Los Angeles after he retired to become the new face of Los Angeles' most famous franchise. While Rhodes isn't looking to hang up his boots any time soon, as he could theoretically headline WWE shows for the next decade-plus, who knows, maybe he's playing the long game in the pursuit of #FinishingHisStory decades into the future?