MJF was reportedly in receipt of a raise earlier this year that still doesn’t put him on par with mid-card performers or former WWE talent at AEW.
The disgruntled star has made little secret of his desire to quit AEW when his contract runs out in 2024 and has teased a move to WWE on multiple occasions.
The 26-year-old has been at loggerheads with AEW boss Tony Khan for a while now and has expressed frustration at seeing ex-WWE talent walk in and make more money than him when he is clearly a bigger draw than several of them.
There were fears MJF wouldn’t show up at Double or Nothing on Sunday after a no-show at a meet and greet the previous day, but he fulfilled the PPV obligations, losing to Wardlow and getting stretchered out of the ring. It certainly appears we won’t be seeing him for a while but there is talk of a meeting between him and Khan that could take place as early as June 1.
Meanwhile, Wade Keller has reported that MJF got a raise after joining AEW in 2019 and was still granted another this January, yet is still not getting paid nearly as much as some of the people who have since switched from WWE (H/T WrestlingNews.co).
“So yes, he got a substantial raise percentage-wise,” Keller said during a PWTorch.com audio show,” but it’s modest compared to the contracts of more than half a dozen free agents just in the last year that AEW paid, including wrestlers nowhere near his stature as a top tier main event star and ratings draw. I think everybody would agree Bryan Danielson and CM Punk deserve more than MJF.
“You would argue Adam Cole should probably be in the ballpark. And if he’s paid more, it’s not like a huge deal but MJF has been way more valuable to AEW than Adam Cole…if you look at Christian, Malakai Black, Mark Henry… I mean, he’s obviously worth more and has been worth more to the company, and he’s just not getting paid near what they’re getting paid in, in most cases, actually many cases.”
A Sense Of Betrayal?
Keller noted that MJF was angered by Khan’s failure to renegotiate based on his body of work and good relationship with the AEW president.
“In many cases, those wrestlers are getting paid four or five times more than him…So, you know, MJF is by all accounts is kind of fuming over this. He felt that his work, his professionalism, his rapport and friendship with Tony Kahn would have led to Tony renegotiating his deal, when there was about two years left.
“And by the time January 1, 2022 came around, yes, he got a new contract and a raise…But MJF was thinking, ‘Hey, come on, Tony, approach me, get me on the level of some of these people that you keep bringing in. I’m doing great work, and I’m drawing great ratings.’ And when Tony didn’t do that MJF the way he handled it was to get very angry privately and then it kind of exploded. And I think Tony was caught off guard by how angry MJF was getting…”
It’s hoped that the parties could find some common ground over this. MJF has been a big part of AEW’s early success and the company would do well to keep him around for the long term.
There’s very little doubt WWE’s monitoring the situation closely and would jump at the opportunity to sign the New York native.
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