MJF: There’s something ‘very enchanting’ to me about never going to WWE
If he could write the story for the rest of his career, it sounds like MJF would never leave AEW for WWE.
MJF opened up about his future while appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show on Tuesday, addressing the interest WWE has had in him. While claiming that WWE “hypothetically” was willing to offer him huge money in the past, MJF says it was not difficult to turn that down. His goal is to become the greatest wrestler of all time and join Batista, John Cena, and The Rock as the greatest wrestler-turned-actors ever. The idea of doing that without the WWE machine behind him is very intriguing to MJF.
“Was it tough? No,” MJF said about turning down WWE to stay in AEW. “You have to know your worth, and I know my worth. And my worth was built because of the legacy that I’m building in AEW. There is something very enchanting to me, no matter how much money did, or does, or will get thrown at me. And trust me it was a lot, hypothetically. It was a f***ing lot, hypothetically. It doesn’t matter because I care about my legacy more than anything…
“The idea of going down as the greatest of all time is really important to me. And I also think that there’s something very special about being able to say that with having never worked ‘there.’ I think that that’s really cool. I think the idea of that happening in the wrestling world, and to me the Mount Rushmore of professional wrestlers-turned-actors are Dave Bautista, John Cena, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. As you know, Mount Rushmore has how many heads? Four. My goal is to be that fourth head. And if I could pull that off on my name alone and the legacy that I’ve built on my own back, not from a machine, just the Maxwell machine — I think it would feel all the more sweeter.”
MJF did give the caveat of “never say never” and said this is just how he’s feeling in this moment at 30 years old. He and Sting have had conversations about how much pride Sting took in making his name outside of WWE and never going there until 2014.
MJF as an actor —
Balancing both wrestling and acting full-time is MJF’s plan going forward. His biggest role so far has been playing one of Happy Gilmore’s sons in “Happy Gilmore 2,” which led to MJF forming a friendship with Adam Sandler.
MJF is set to feature in the Christmas-themed action comedy “Violent Night 2” later this year. When he dropped the AEW World Championship to Darby Allin in April, there was speculation that MJF could be taking time off for another movie role, but those rumors were untrue. He’s remained on AEW television and will get his rematch against Allin at Double or Nothing 2026 this Sunday. It’s a hair vs. title match where MJF’s hair and Allin’s championship are both on the line.
.@The_MJF reveals why staying with AEW over signing with WWE hasn't been a difficult decision for him:
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 19, 2026
“The idea of going down as the greatest of all time is really important to me. I also think there’s something very special about being able to say that while never having… pic.twitter.com/w3juOgnyaL
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.