MJF: The things CM Punk said in AEW ‘do go against’ what he’s saying now
It’s not MJF’s place to call CM Punk a hypocrite, but he does believe there are some contradictions between what Punk used to say and what he’s saying now.
On a new episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, MJF looked back on his rivalry with Punk from AEW and how it helped MJF in his career. MJF said he hopes Punk is happy in WWE and is able to enjoy his accomplishments. However, it’s hard to tell if what Punk is saying right now is the truth given that it goes against what he used to say.
“I hope he’s able to enjoy what he’s accomplishing over there. I have no idea, because the things that he said in my company do go against the things that he’s saying now. Some people might say that’s hypocritical. That’s not my place,” MJF said.
“All I know is, since I’ve jumped into pro wrestling, I’ve been saying the same thing since the jump. My tune has not changed. I’m Maxwell Jacob Friedman and I’m better than you and you know it. I also won’t sit here and lie to you and tell you that I didn’t learn so much through my hatred of that man. I learned the difference between good and great. That’s what I learned. Now, do I like him? Again, I’ll reiterate: no. I wouldn’t p*ss on him if he was on fire to put that fire out. But I’m not going to sit here and pretend I didn’t learn from him.”
MJF said he’s learned that, when fans view you as “good,” you can get away with slipping up from time to time. But when you’re considered great, you are not afforded that same forgiveness.
During his AEW feud against MJF, Punk took a shot at WWE by referring to multi-night WrestleManias as a “buy-one-get-one-free extravaganza.” Punk now says he does not differentiate between whether night one or night two of WrestleMania is more important. Some fans have called Punk a hypocrite for that, but Punk says he was just cutting a promo. Punk believes fans who get caught up in things like that are the easiest to work.
MJF stressed that he does not want anyone to make it seem like he’s speaking badly about Punk or WWE. The two are both World Champions at the moment with MJF holding the AEW World title and Punk being the World Heavyweight Champion in WWE.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.