MJF has addressed the criticism he receives online and explained why negative comments can actually serve as motivation for him.
During an interview with Pro Wrestling Illustrated, the former AEW World Champion discussed the difference between what he considers genuine criticism from AEW fans and comments coming from people who simply want to attack the promotion. “I think it’s really easy to tell what’s good-faith and what’s bad-faith criticism. If somebody’s talking about my company and they have, like, an avatar of—God bless her—Alexa Bliss. It’s just them sh*tting on AEW, then it’s like, okay, maybe that’s not the best person to listen to. But if it’s somebody who’s genuinely a grassroots fan of our company and somebody who wants to see our company succeed, I do believe that it’s important to hear people out.”
In typical MJF fashion, he then joked that even those offering criticism are usually wrong. However, he explained that he regularly uses negative comments as motivation while training. “Now, are these people right? No. I’m always right, and most people are always wrong. But what I do like to do with people like you, is I’ll read a negative tweet about me while I’m in the gym, and I’ll just keep reading it over and over again, and I’ll hit PRs. I’ll break records for how long I’m on the treadmill or the StairMaster, how long I can stay in the sauna. I use negativity and hate as fuel.”
MJF warned that fans criticizing what he does on television shouldn’t expect those comments to convince him to change course. Instead, he said they are more likely to make him push even further in the same direction. “So, if you find yourself being upset with the way I am on television and you post about it, just know all you’re doing is feeding the monster, because I’m going to read what you’re writing about me and then I’m not just going to double down. I’m going to triple down, and you’re going to find yourself in a world of pain because you’re only making me stronger. The more negativity you speak about me online, it’s essentially what you’re doing is you are feeding me your negativity and it’s just making me grow and grow and grow. So, thank you.”
