MJF is stepping away from American independent wrestling, and he says losing the AEW World Championship played a big role in the decision.
The reigning AEW World Champion told Justin Barrasso of Undisputed that his match against Bobby Orlando at Beyond Wrestling on Friday will likely be the last time fans see him wrestle on the American independent scene for a very long time.
MJF explained that while he’s enjoyed taking independent bookings over the past year, he believes he became too distracted from his primary job in AEW. In classic MJF fashion, he pointed directly at his recent title loss while venting about how it happened. Even while complaining about the outcome, MJF still managed to find a silver lining in the situation.
“I’m going to announce that this is probably the last American independent match I’m going to have for an extraordinarily long time. 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.”
Over the last year, MJF has remained one of the biggest attractions available to independent promotions, making appearances for WrestlePro, House of Glory, Limitless Wrestling, and CAP while continuing his run as one of AEW’s top stars.
Now, it appears those outside bookings are coming to an end for the time being as MJF shifts all of his attention back to AEW and the championship picture. If his comments are any indication, the former champion isn’t interested in letting another title slip away because his focus was somewhere else.
For independent wrestling fans, that means Friday’s Beyond Wrestling appearance could be one of the last chances to see MJF in that setting for the foreseeable future.
Do you think MJF is making the right move by stepping away from independent wrestling? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
