Breaking Down MJF's Pipe Bomb Promo On AEW That Featured WWE Call-Out

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF) took the internet wrestling community by storm after he delivered a scathing promo on the entirety of the company while taking shots at CEO Tony Khan, the fans, and WWE.

The nearly eight-minute rant from the top-tier heel was fully loaded from top to bottom and deserves to be given a full breakdown.

MJF opened up his promo about the upcoming merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery, mentioning that “[It] would be a real shame if something bad happened.”

Things immediately went left during the promo as MJF referenced his real-life contract situation with AEW, which has sparked controversy between him and Khan in the past few months.

“Speaking of embarrassing, you’ve been trying to sit down with me for quite some time now, haven’t you? Well, guess what? Too little, too late. When this company first started, it was ‘All Friends Wrestling’. Everybody was handed a ticket except for me. See, I had to write my own and, boy, do I have good penmanship because I created moment after moment after moment for this company and I still get no respect,” he stated.

MJF would later discuss his weekly exploits within the company for the better part of his tenure that started in 2019 and then turned his sights towards AEW fans as they cheered for him, which he took as a slight.

“It’s funny I hear boos and I also hear clapping. That’s interesting. Where were you guys this whole weekend when you were calling me an unprofessional piece of [expletive]? I’m just curious,” he said.

“You’re not the only problem, no, it’s the boys in the back too because all of the boys in the back want my spot. Well, guess what, you want my spot? You can have it because I don’t want to be here anymore.”

As he turned his ire towards the fans once again, he proceeded to call them out as marks–a term referring to fans who believe way too much into what the performers are selling inside the ring.

“You sit there on your phones, tweeting out your opinions like they’re worth a damn. … You don’t know [expletive]. Your opinions suck. Your opinions change at a drop of a dime and then you pretend your new opinions are the same as your old,” MJF stressed.

MJF, 26, clearly has a point here as the internet wrestling community has had high levels of toxicity emanating from it ever since social media became a platform that was available to everyone.

He also took the time to take shots at fans who have become so obsessed with the star ratings that matches receive from outlets, a possible diss towards that of the renowned Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The tirade continued with a CM Punk reference–him saying that he was the “best in the world” at what he does.

However, the climax of all of this came when he hit two birds with one stone by calling out both his employer and WWE.

“Do you guys know who the second biggest minute-for-minute draw is in this entire company? It’s me! If you don’t believe me, do me a favor, ask ‘Stat Boy’ Tony [Khan] in the back and see what he’s got to say… Make sure he hoards all of that money so he can give it to the new ex-WWE guys he keeps bringing in,” he mentioned.

The crowd audibly gasped at the mention of both WWE and his criticism of AEW signing the opposing promotion’s latest releases.

With the crowd eating right out of the palm of his hand, MJF delivered the final blow in his promo before the microphone got cut off.

“Hey boss, would you treat me better if I was an ex-WWE guy? … I don’t want to wait until 2024, but you don’t listen to me… Tony, I want you to fire me. Look at me, Tony. I want you to fire me, you [expletive] mark! Fire me, fire me,” he exclaimed.

With January 1, 2024 being the date when his contract is set to expire, MJF further poured gasoline on what has already been a hot topic within the industry.

The promo was so well done that many could not help but relate his work to that of Ric Flair’s iconic 1998 WCW promo mixed with that of Punk’s own pipebomb back in 2011.

All in all, it was another masterclass of in-ring mic work from one of the best heel characters in the current age of pro-wrestling, and its fallout is certainly going to have every fan tuning in to the product and to the dirt sheets for more information.