AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman is not only a self-proclaimed pro wrestling prodigy, but his ability has been routinely recognized by veterans. Not too long ago, reports alleged that WWE had interest in signing MJF, and during an interview on “The Adam Friedland Show,” he claimed that the  promotion had interest in him even before AEW started.

“WWE was very interested in me when I was – gosh, I think 21 or 22 at the time – and AEW was just starting out; it wasn’t even a thing yet,” he said. He made his decision after a conversation with Tony Khan, which led MJF to believe that AEW’s idea of professional wrestling aligns more with his own, as opposed to what he expected to find in WWE.

Earlier in the interview, MJF explained that he grew up in and around the “PG” and “Ruthless Aggression” eras of WWE, with the likes of Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, and Kurt Angle, but he instead gravitated towards the “Golden Era” and its stars like Ric Flair and Roddy Piper. “I fell into, just, a rabbit hole of old school 80s territory wrestling,” he said. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is cool, why can’t it be cool?’ And then AEW came along and I was like: ‘I can make the thing, like, what my vision is for pro wrestling! I’m given the leash to try and throw that out there.’ And that’s what I’m doing right now.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “The Alan Friedland Show,” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.