"It might have rubbed ‘certain people’ the wrong way" - MJF comments on WWE rejecting his application when he was 19
MJF is AEW's premier heel, a fact he doesn't shy away from at all. The Salt of the Earth has always done his utmost best to humiliate his opponents. While he's comfortably settled in to AEW right now, the star once tried to sign up with WWE.
In 2015, Friedman sent in an application to try and sign up for WWE's then developmental show, Tough Enough. The future star's promo included a lot of the character he is today, but regardless of that, he was still not picked.
Check out the original promo below:
During his appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, MJF was asked about his application and and the process behind creating it.
"I was 19 years old at the time. I remember cutting this promo, sending it in, and I thought to myself: ‘Nobody’s cutting a better promo than me.’ And I was a hundred percent right! I ended up having the most views at the time of any of the athletes, and I still didn’t get in," Friedman said.
The star was then asked what - in his opinion - was the reason for his rejection.
"I just have a feeling that it might have rubbed ‘certain people’ the wrong way with some of the verbiage I used in the promo… But I had the most views, I got through one casting call and then that was it. I didn’t hear from them again, but if I’m being honest – like I said, everything happens for a reason," Friedman claimed. (25:25 onwards)
While it's unclear who exactly rejected the application, Friedman seems to hint at the content being a problem. Since the only person he mentioned was Triple H, it seems that MJF believes that The Game, himself, rejected him.
MJF claims that he wasn't let down or hurt when WWE rejected his application
During the same interview, MJF was asked if his ego was affected by his rejection.
"No, no, no. To me I just thought ‘Oh okay? So you guys are dumb? Got it, no problem!’ I meet dumb people every day, I meet dumb people everywhere," MJF said. "But then, as I got older as I look back on it I’m glad I didn’t go on that show. And the interest for me in that company now is probably more so than anybody who’s about to be a free agent. So that’s just the way the world works, man. That’s business.” (26: 36)
If MJF ever jumped promotions and ended up in WWE, it could be even more of a spectacle than Cody Rhodes' departure. Friedman is considered a pillar of AEW, and the future of the company. That would indeed be a great loss for Tony Khan, something that fuels his "bidding war" theory.
Would you like to see The Salt of the Earth jump ship to WWE? Give your thoughts in the comments below!
Please credit The Ariel Helwani Show and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use any transcriptions.