Is MJF Actually About to Become a Free Agent? Update on AEW and WWE Talks
The AEW World Champion is believed to have quietly re-signed.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman has made his contract status a major trait of his persona. First teasing it back in Fall 2021, MJF began making "the bidding war of 2024" one of his various catchphrases, alluding to the fact that both AEW and WWE would be throwing millions his way in an effort to retain, or gain, his services. This looming free agency reached a fever pitch on the June 1st, 2022 edition of AEW Dynamite when MJF cut a scathing "pipebomb" promo, blasting AEW President Tony Khan for paying "all the ex-WWE guys" the money that he believes he is worth.
MJF's teases about his future continued throughout 2022 as he would make nods to WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque and WWE CEO Nick Khan on AEW TV. With MJF's contract set to expire on January 1st, 2024, a day that is just over one month away, it's become surprising that his "bidding war" teases have actually gotten less frequent.
Report: MJF Quietly Re-Signs With AEW
That might be because there is nothing to tease.
As reported by Haus of Wrestling, several WWE sources are under the impression that MJF has "quietly re-signed" with AEW. One higher-up WWE source went as far to say that MJF and WWE have had "zero talks," adding that the looming free agency period is a "false narrative." The internal belief at WWE is that MJF is on AEW's books into 2027.
Regardless of what's fact and what's fiction, it appears that AEW is keen on executing the long-teased "bidding war" storyline with MJF. The company is running a new pay-per-view event next month entitled AEW Worlds End. The show takes place on December 30th, just over 24 hours before MJF's contract would expire, and will emanate from the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY, MJF's hometown.
The pieces at play strongly resemble WWE Money in the Bank 2011, a pay-per-view event that was built around CM Punk challenging for the WWE Championship in his hometown of Chicago on the eve of his contract's expiration. AEW has reversed the roles here, as MJF currently reigns as AEW World Champion.
Once upon a time, there might have been a plan to actually include Punk himself in this storyline. MJF and Punk had what many regard to be AEW's best feud in Spring 2022. A rematch with the AEW Title on the line was teased at the end of AEW All Out 2022, but an ill-timed injury and backstage controversy for Punk prevented that from happening. Earlier this summer, Punk began proclaiming himself to be the "real world champion" while exclusively competing on AEW Collision, a move that was expected to result in a culminating unification match with MJF. Punk was fired by AEW this past September following an incident at AEW ALL IN: London.