MJF could be done working US indies ‘for an extraordinarily long time’
After this Friday, MJF says it could be an “extraordinarily long time” before he wrestles on another independent show.
MJF is set to face Bobby Orlando at Beyond Wrestling’s Break the Walls Down on Friday, June 5, in Cranston, Rhode Island. However, during a recent interview with Justin Barrasso of The Undisputed, the AEW World Champion said he needs to focus on his AEW career and pointed to losing the AEW World Championship to Darby Allin back in April as his storyline reason why.
“I’m going to announce that this is probably the last American independent match I’m going to have for an extraordinarily long time,” said Friedman. “I need to focus on AEW. I took my eyes off the ball for a millisecond, and a dude who is like 145-fucking-pounds soaking wet beat me. That can’t happen. I don’t care that he hit me in the nuts and spammed his finisher on me four times, and Aubrey Edwards, who is a complete liar, made a fast count. But glass half full, I’m now a three-time champion at the age of 30.”
This will be MJF’s first match for Beyond Wrestling since 2019. He debuted for the promotion in late 2016 on a show in Providence, Rhode Island.
“Beyond was one of the first independent circuits that really took a chance on me,” said Friedman. “That’s where I could talk on the microphone before my matches, and it’s where I wrestled big matches with top names at the time on the independent circuit.
“Now I want to come in and see what Bobby Orlando is all about. I’m excited to test this kid, I’m excited to get more eyeballs on him and on Beyond, and that’s naturally what is going to happen because I am the biggest fucking draw in this business. I’m looking forward to it, and hopefully he gets a contract out of it.”
MJF recently defeated Pat Buck at a WrestlePro show at the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway, New Jersey, on May 31. He also wrestled Max Caster at a Create-A-Pro show on May 1 in Melville, New York. In January, he defended the AEW World Championship against Alec Price for Limitless Wrestling in Lewiston, Maine.
Up next, MJF will defend his AEW World Championship against Rush on the June 3, 2026, episode of AEW Dynamite.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.