“Make My Own Luck”: 27-Year-Old Top AEW Wrestler Reveals Cody Rhodes and Tony Khan as Instrumental Figures in His Career

There have been stars in pro wrestling who became somebody from a nobody very quickly. One such name in the industry is of Maxwell Jacob Freidman, aka MJF. While he is known for his not-so-chivalrous attitude and snarky sense of humor, he did have a bit of a rocky start at AEW. However, he credits Cody Rhodes and Tony Khan for turning his story. How they did that was something interesting.

MJF currently holds the AEW World Championship and will defend it at the Worlds End PPV. He has become the face of the company since capturing the title earlier this year and has been a cornerstone for the company ever since its formation.

How Cody Rhodes helped MJF

In an interview with The Player’s Tribune, the AEW World Champion talked about how Cody Rhodes gave him his first opportunity. MJF has been with AEW since its inception. It was around the same time that the American Nightmare was the Executive Vice President of the company. MJF said, “Cody (Rhodes) took a chance on me and put me on the card at All In. Then Tony took a chance on me and signed me to AEW full-time.” He then added that back then he believed that he was just a guy brought in to get punched in the face by the beloved stars of the company.

However, while talking about his infamous promo with Bret Hart, he said he realized something. While he thought he was going to be just some random heel at the company, he realized “they also gave me a chance to make my own luck.” And so he did. Fans could agree to the fact that he is one of the charismatic stars at the company.

While he is often criticized for his basic wrestling style, fans unanimously agree that he is an all-time great on the mic. However, it is not just fans who think that way, While the NY Post declared him as the Male Wrestler of the Year for 2023, ESPN crowned him as the Promo Artist of the Year.

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While it is evident that he can pull those promos effortlessly, MJF also highlighted how he felt while doing his first promo in AEW.

How did MJF pull off his first promo?

In the same interview, the 27-year-old star talked about how he felt during his first ever promo at AEW Double or Nothing in 2019. His first promo was with Bret Hart at the PPV when Hart revealed the AEW World Champion title. While he knew he was going to get booed by the fans when Hart and Adam Page were in the ring, he thought of making the most of this moment.

He said that before entering the ring for promo; he asked Tony Khan what his lines were. To this, Khan replied, “……..what do you mean? You know how to talk.” He said that this was the moment he realized that while they had brought him as just another heel to get punched, they also gave him a chance to prove himself by improvising. MJF then said that while it felt that he was swimming with “floaties” in that situation, he was still in control of his narrative.

Do you think if Cody Rhodes and Tony Khan had not given him the chance, MJF would not have become such a big face of AEW?

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