"Don’t try to cut the old Wild Samoan promo" - Usos' cousin reveals the advice received from AEW Star MJF
AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman is among the hottest rising stars in professional wrestling today. Along with being a great in-ring performer, the 27-year-old star is also known for his exceptional mic skills and always appears to have the audience in the palm of his hands.
Before joining the All Elite Wrestling in 2019, MJF worked in Major League Wrestling, where he held the MLW World Middleweight Championship once.
Speaking on the MuscleManMalcolm podcast, MLW star Jacob Fatu talked about a piece of advice he received from MJF before his promo. Fatu revealed that The Salt of the Earth asked him just to be himself and not try to cut the old Wild Samoan promo.
"When I first started talking, MLW, they got me to speak. If you know me, Jacob Fatu, I didn’t speak at all. MJF was in the back, and this was when I was cutting a promo for La Parka before we wrestled at SuperFight. I will never forget, he walks, because we used to be downstairs in these rooms at MLW, three different rooms to cut promos. MJF walks in, and, 'Hey Uce, just keep your energy. Be you. Don’t try to cut the old Wild Samoan [promo]. Just be you, bro.' It was just like, talk how you talk. Keep the energy in," Jacob Fatu said. [H/T: PW Mania]
The 31-year-old added that he still remembers the advice from MJF, which meant a lot to him. Fatu said Maxwell could have misguided or demotivated him, but he didn't and was always on his side:
"I will never forget that. He don’t know this, but shout out to MJF. He walked in, and he’s like, ‘Man, you’re doing fine, bro.’ It was cool because this is coming from a man who knows his shit. He could have easily shit on me. F*ck who I am. Oh, man, that’s f*cking horrible. You shouldn’t talk. But MJF, I know when I tapped in with him, he was always on my side. It wasn’t ever the character with him. It was pure love." [H/T: PW Mania]
Former MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu is a member of the Anoa'i family and cousins with The Usos, who he considers his inspiration for entering professional wrestling.
MJF faced Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam
On the recent episode of AEW Dynamite Grand Slam, MJF defended his AEW World Championship against the ROH World TV Champion Samoa Joe.
The match was hard-hitting, well-executed, and dominated by the Samoan Submission Machine. However, in the match's closing moments, Adam Cole showed up at ringside to provide motivation and assist The Devil to get a victory over Joe and retain the AEW World Title.
Samoa Joe shook hands with Friedman after the match as a display of respect adhering to the ROH Code of Honor.