MJF has secured a $15 million/year deal with AEW, feels former WWE personality
MJF made his surprise AEW return at the sixth annual Double or Nothing pay-per-view. A veteran WWE star has just made a massive prediction on how much All Elite Wrestling is paying the former World Champion.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman had been away since dropping the AEW World Championship at Worlds End 2023. There had been significant rumors of a possible jump to WWE, or at least a bidding war between the two companies. In the end, Friedman chose to sign a multi-year deal with the Jacksonville-based promotion. Former WWE star Jonathan Coachman says the young star has earned big bucks by showing his loyalty.
Speaking on his Behind The Turnbuckle podcast, Coach said MJF played everyone for a fiddle by actually fueling the rumor mill on possibly joining WWE. The former WWE commentator said by keeping his mouth shut about re-signing, and getting himself in better shape, MJF has "dictated himself" a salary of $15 million per year.
"A normal contract is 3-4 years, and when you're a super, duper, duper star, the hardest thing to do is keep your mouth shut, and if he would've kept running his mouth and saying he's doing this and talking to this... and what he would do is show up to events, and glad-hand John Cena, take pictures with WWE guys, and all of a sudden John Cena is saying, 'Oh, this guy's really nice, he's not the arrogant je*k he comes off as on TV,'" Jonathan Coachman said. [From 06:37 to 07:04]
Coach continued and predicted MJF's current AEW contract is worth around $60 million over four years or $15 million per year.
"He's starting to spread his wings outside of pro wrestling, so now when he comes back... Tony Khan, no matter what price he had to pay, there was no way he could let MJF walk out the door. It couldn't happen. It couldn't happen, and MJF knew it, and that's why I believe he said, 'You know what, Tony? I'll come back at Double or Nothing, give me 5 months to get back in shape, and we'll get this new deal done.' It's probably for 4 years, around $60 million." [From 07:05 to 07:31]
MJF is set to make his return to Dynamite this Wednesday. He did not appear live on last week's show, but a video package aired with highlights of his return.
AEW World Championship match announced
All Elite Wrestling will present more build for the upcoming Forbidden Door pay-per-view this Wednesday as Dynamite airs live from Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado.
It was announced that Swerve Strickland will defend the AEW World Championship against Roderick Strong on Dynamite. Strong demanded the match after defeating Lio Rush on Collision.
In addition to the Dynamite return of MJF, Saraya vs. Mariah May was also announced. This will be the first singles bout for the former Paige since her loss to Riho on December 20, 2023.