SiriusXM aired an exclusive town hall with Busted Open host Dave LaGreca and professional wrestling star Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF).
During the hour-long event that was pre-taped at SiriusXM’s NY studios before an audience of subscribers, MJF weighed in on how a win this weekend at Webley will make him “genuinely become legendary,” how he went from being the “most hated” man in wrestling to the most “loved,” and why he appreciated Cody Rhodes taking a chance on him.
“All that’s left for me to do is to win in Wembley. And if I do, I genuinely become legendary. And that’s not, that’s not a line, that’s a real thing to be the biggest headliner in the history of the sport and to win. And the fact that I get to do it with somebody who means so much to me. And that’s not, I feel like people think, like me and Adam Colby like hang out on TV and they’re like, Okay, like, bye. And the he goes home. I talk to this dude every day. He’s my brother. I’ve never met somebody more caring, more supportive, more warm, and most of all, like more trust.”
“And I think that at first that really annoyed people. And I think that’s why at one point in time, I was the most hated man in all of professional wrestling – dare I say the world. Because people don’t like someone who is overconfident. What they call that, unfortunately, people use terminology like braggart, right? I’ve went from being the most hated man in all professional wrestling to being the most, let’s face it, loved man in all professional wrestling.”
“So I’m working on not being like an overt braggart when I know that people know like the truth. I don’t have to sit here and explain that I am the biggest ratings draw or the biggest merch seller in the company because it’s just out there online now. But to look around in that locker room and be in that locker room simply because Cody Rhodes decided to take a chance on me. That’s never, that’s always gonna stick with me.”
Dave LaGreca: Here this whole week as we’re leading up to this match, do you understand the significance of what you, sir, have been able to accomplish in this five-year period?
MJF: “You know, it’s, I’m tearing up. I always knew deep down, but it’s hard because in life people will look at you and they will make fun of you, and they will question you, and they will they’ll pick on you and they’ll bully you, and they’ll push you around and they’ll shove you down and they’ll make you question yourself. And there were times where I did, but I’d always snap out of it and I’d say, You can do this. You can be the guy in wrestling. And there’s so many reasons why I shouldn’t have been.
I did it. All that’s left for me to do is to win in Wembley. And if I do, I genuinely become legendary. And that’s not, that’s not a line, that’s a real thing to be the biggest headliner in the history of the sport and to win. And the fact that I get to do it with somebody who means so much to me. And that’s not, I feel like people think, like me and Adam Colby like hang out on TV and they’re like, Okay, like, bye. And the he goes home. I talk to this dude every day. He’s my brother. I’ve never met somebody more caring, more supportive, more warm, and most of all, like more trust. I’ve never really been able to trust anybody. Unfortunately, I have RSD. If anybody doesn’t know what it is, it’s Rejection Sensitive Disorder and it makes it – essentially what’s gonna happen today, which is sad, is I’m going to leave this room and just because this is the way my brain is wired, and it doesn’t matter how much therapy I have, I’m gonna leave this room and I’m gonna go, well, they all hate me. Which is why it made it so easy for me to be a piece of sh*t for my entire career. And it made it so hard for me to be let my guard down.
But Adam Cole taught me how to let my guard down. He’s made me a better person. And that’s the God’s honest truth. So the fact that I get to share this moment in history with somebody who is, people love to use the word shoot, but somebody who’s like, shoot my best friend. I love the dude. And it’s crazy. And sure we have our up and downs just like any other friends do. Like, sometimes I wanna hit him in the f*cking face with this ring. Sometimes he wants to super kick my jaw off, but at the end of the day, we always hug it out. I’m gonna beat you, Adam, but we’ll hug it out.”
Dave LaGreca: I told you before we started here that we couldn’t have timed this show better because what’s gonna happen on Sunday is history. And you’re a part of it. Not only are you a part of it, you are the guy.
MJF: Yeah. I’m the headliner.
Dave LaGreca: You’re the headliner. You’re the main event, you’re the world champion. Man, it’s quite a story. It’s quite a journey. And I kind of want to go step by step through that journey to where we are right now.
MJF: I don’t know, Dave. I hate talking about myself, but I guess. I guess.
Dave LaGreca: This is all about you. Because think about it, and at least from the outside looking in that day in 2017, I saw a star. Did you see that star?
MJF: Yeah. Always. And I think that at first that really annoyed people. And I think that’s why at one point in time, I was the most hated man in all of professional wrestling – dare I say the world. Because people don’t like someone who is overconfident. What they call that, unfortunately, people use terminology like braggart, right? I’ve went from being the most hated man in all professional wrestling to being the most, let’s face it, loved man in all professional wrestling. And dare I say, the most over. Although it’s not really a dare anymore, now is it? But, and I think the reason that happened was because people realized, Oh, he’s just unapologetically himself. How am I supposed to hate somebody who’s brave enough to be unapologetically themselves 24/7? A lot of people in my profession, it’s almost like they have to don a cape and a mask before they walk through that curtain. They need a quote unquote gimmick. No gimmicks needed with MJF. I’m me 24/7. And I think that’s why these people showed up today. I think that’s why people keep showing up every single Wednesday on dynamite. And I think that’s why everybody’s gonna show up come August 27th at All In, baby. You should clap after.
Dave LaGreca: Yeah, that pregnant pause was for – we’re gonna teach the audience as we go along.
MJF: You’ll figure it out. Okay, clap. I just finished talking. Okay, good. You’re doing great.
Dave LaGreca: Their hands are gonna be tired.
MJF: Now you’re getting it. Now you’re getting it.
Dave LaGreca: All In.
MJF: Yeah.
Dave LaGreca: That first All In.
MJF: Yes.
Dave LaGreca: Now, obviously everybody knows the story of this.
MJF: I had no right to be on that card. I had no, I had absolutely no right being on that card whatsoever. I didn’t. I didn’t. If you look at the names on that card at the time, which is hysterical because now I’m a bigger name, than all of them. But at the time, no, it’s, what am I f*cking lying? No, if you look at the card, so like literally the, okay, you guys know the facts. So I’m working on not being like an overt braggart when I know that people know like the truth. I don’t have to sit here and explain that I am the biggest ratings draw or the biggest merch seller in the company because it’s just out there online now. But to look around in that locker room and be in that locker room simply because Cody Rhodes decided to take a chance on me. That’s never, that’s always gonna stick with me. Now, did I beat Cody smack dab in the middle of the ring live on a pay-per-view? I did.
Dave LaGreca: You did.
MJF: I did, but I am thankful for that opportunity that he got me, because if I didn’t wrestle that match against Matt Cross in the opener of All In, I wouldn’t have been offered a contract and I wouldn’t have had interest from both the two major promotions at that time – WWE and AEW.
