Despite his success in the industry, AEW star Maxwell Jacob Friedman still considers himself a student of the game, regularly watching wrestling (old and new) to learn and stay up on what’s happening. Appearing in an interview with LNG Productions, MJF gave credit to one of his favorites, whom he believes doesn’t receive enough praise from today’s fans.

“I f***ing love Nick Bockwinkel,” MJF said. “If Nick Bockwinkel and the AWA had the same amount of television coverage as Crockett Promotions, I think that there’d be arguments today about Nick Bockwinkel being the better overall package than Ric Flair.”

MJF clarified that he didn’t necessarily think that was the truth, but he believes it should be discussed as a possibility. The AEW star admires that Bockwinkel didn’t act like a traditional cowardly heel, but would instead “talk s**t” before repeatedly backing up his words in the ring (and cheating on occasion). All the while, Bockwinkel made a lot of money for himself and the people he worked with, and his style is one that MJF believes has fallen out of favor among today’s wrestlers.

“I really think that Nick Bockwinkel deserves way more flowers,” MJF continued.

MJF appreciates more than Bockwinkel’s in-ring work, sharing his opinion that the late wrestler surpassed WWE’s Mr. Fuji for the title of greatest “ribber” in wrestling history. The AEW performer, citing an unnamed wrestling legend, then told a story about Bockwinkel and Marty Jannetty in the AWA.

According to the tale, Jannetty made the unwise decision of playing a prank on Bockwinkel, who was the promotion’s top guy, by hiding his bag. Bockwinkel eventually deduced that it was Jannetty, and he approached Jannetty’s tag team partner Shawn Michaels, who confirmed it.

“The night before show day, at like 1 a.m. in the morning, Nick Bockwinkel takes a tire off of Marty’s car,” MJF said. “Marty figures out a way to get to the building. Marty walks up to Nick and he goes, ‘Dude, I’m sorry, I thought it was funny. I was just ribbing you.’ And Nick goes, ‘Hey, we’re even, don’t worry about it.’ Next taping, the night before the show, Nick Bockwinkel pays Marty Jannetty’s car a visit.”

The second time, Bockwinkel took two tires from Jannetty’s car. MJF stated that this continued until Jannetty and Michaels left the AWA.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit LNG Productions and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

UFC Bantamweight Champion Kayla Harrison wants her fight with Amanda Nunes even more now that Ronda Rousey has had her say on it. 

Harrison had previously called Rousey a liar when reacting to a story she had told about her judo days, and had also made the case that her injury-postponed fight with Nunes in January was set to be the biggest women’s MMA fight of all time. 

Rousey took issue with both of those things, launching into an expletive-laden tirade against Harrison during the MVP New York Press Conference promoting the May 16 event. She asked how Harrison-Nunes could be considered the biggest if she was getting paid less than Rousey was during her run and it was on the undercard to a men’s Interim title fight. She then went on to say her fight with Carano is not only due to be the biggest women’s fight, but the biggest MMA fight of all time. 

Harrison had a more direct response after the conference, calling on Rousey to put her words behind a pair of gloves. But the following morning she couldn’t help but get another dig in while calling on Nunes to get their fight going.

“Good morning [Amanda Nunes]! I can’t wait for us to have the greatest fight of all time take women’s MMA to a whole new level! The best vs. the GOAT!”

Good morning @Amanda_Leoa! I can’t wait for us to have the greatest fight of all time and take women’s mma to a whole new level! The best vs. the goat!

— Kayla Harrison Official (@KaylaH) April 16, 2026

Harrison versus Nunes was scheduled for January as the co-main event to Paddy Pimblett versus Justin Gaethje for the Interim Lightweight Championship. But the fight was canceled and has yet to be officially rescheduled due to a neck injury suffered by Harrison.

Big E said that it wouldn’t be a surprise if Femi was a world champion by the end of 2026, but the biggest test of his career comes against “The Beast Incarnate” at WrestleMania. He said he thinks there’s still a way for Femi to continue his momentum if he loses to Lesnar, but it would be tough.

The former New Day member also put over Lesnar, saying he doesn’t look like he’s lost a step at all, even for his age, and that the Beast is just “built very different.” He agreed with the sentiment that Femi is on a very similar career trajectory to Lesnar.

“I was sitting down watching the show and thinking, ‘You’re right. When’s the last time you’ve seen someone sky rocket like this?'” he said. “I think it is truly, looking back to Brock’s rookie year, thinking about what kind of run. We’re very early in this Oba run, but that’s the way it’s felt so far. It’s felt like 2002 again. Oba’s going to have to back that up.”

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “WWE Now: Raw Recap” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.