MJF believes the recent talk about AEW struggling to secure a future television deal is nothing more than a strategic play coming from WWE’s side.
The AEW star reacted to a Wrestling Observer Newsletter report claiming WWE-internal sources have been spreading the belief that AEW will not land a viable next media rights deal and may not end up with Paramount/Skydance.
The report also noted that similar rumors circulated internally within WWE during AEW’s previous television negotiations, despite AEW eventually securing a deal increase reportedly worth 2.3 times more than the company’s prior agreement. While speaking with Shakiel Mahjouri, MJF made it clear that nobody inside AEW is buying the narrative being pushed.
“That’s fcking news to me, bro. That’s news to me, that’s news to everybody on the roster. That’s damn sure news to Tony Khan.”*
MJF then pointed toward AEW’s cable numbers as evidence that the company is still in a strong position with television partners.
“Last time I checked, they’re fcking over the moon with us right now.”*
He also argued that live sports and news currently dominate cable television and claimed AEW consistently performs well compared to most weekly cable programming. MJF didn’t stop there either. The former AEW World Champion directly connected the leak to WWE President Nick Khan while comparing the situation to a soft drink company trying to damage a competitor’s reputation.
“I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a million times, I love Jolly Old Saint Nick, and I love the tricks he’s pulling out.”
MJF called the move smart from a business perspective but said people should recognize what he believes is happening behind the scenes.
“This is being leaked intentionally to hurt the company that is the alternative.”
He then used a Coke-versus-Pepsi analogy to mock the idea of taking WWE’s claims at face value.
“It’d be like if Coke out of the blue was like, hey, I don’t know if you guys knew about this, but Pepsi has ass water in it.”
The “Jolly Old Saint Nick” line wasn’t the first time MJF used soft drink comparisons to frame the WWE versus AEW battle either. Earlier this week on The Ariel Helwani Show, MJF compared WWE to Diet Coke while positioning AEW as Pepsi and the alternative product people are beginning to enjoy more.
Tony Khan also addressed the Wrestling Observer report during the ROH Supercard of Honor media scrum, where he dismissed the WWE-side speculation entirely and claimed the narrative could not be further from the truth.
At this point, the public back-and-forth over AEW’s television future is becoming part of the larger ongoing rivalry between the two companies.
Do you think WWE is intentionally trying to damage AEW’s image publicly, or is this just normal competition between rival wrestling companies? Let us know your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
