Long before he rose to the top of AEW, Maxwell Jacob Friedman had already developed a reputation for cruelty and malice, both towards his opponents and wrestling fans. Sitting down with former NFL player Julien Edelman on “Games with Names,” MJF was asked to explain his process for coming up with the many insults he spews out on a regular basis.

“I’m mentally unwell, so what I’ll do is: I will sit down in my house for hours on end thinking of horrible things to say to my opponents,” MJF said. “My notes app is a cornucopia of ruthlessly unhinged, mean things to say.”

Asked to offer some specific examples, MJF relayed one crude insult that likely wouldn’t be approved for television, as well as a reference to his opponent having a sexually-transmitted infection. As for any others, they all pertained to certain AEW wrestlers, and MJF felt they wouldn’t translate to a wider audience.

“It’s ‘wrestler,’ and then under the wrestler [there are] seventy just brutal barbs that are ultra-specific about them,” he continued. “Then they go to the back and they pretend everything’s fine, but then later on, my boss will walk up to me and be like, ‘Hey, you kind of hurt that guy’s feelings.’ And I’ll be like, ‘Hey, I kind of don’t give a s**t.’ Then it gets worse, so… that’s wrestling.”

Going on to elaborate on the importance of promo work in the industry, MJF began talking about WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, whom he said was like a “father figure” to him. According to MJF, Austin understood that the most important part of pro wrestling was having a well-defined character that the audience can grasp onto.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Games with Names” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.