Amazingly, after going 70 minutes with Bryan Danielson in the main event of AEW Revolution in San Francisco last night (Mar. 5), Maxwell Jacob Friedman still had a lot left in the tank for the post-PPV media scrum.
The World champ started with this one with rant, similar to the presser after he won the title at Full Gear last November. It wasn’t an identical tirade, though, as we started to get a sense of the shape of MJF’s performance here. Friedman started by specifically targeting Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer:
“Who’s the best wrestler in the world? Is it Jon Moxley? Is it Bryan Danielson? I’m just curious. Tell me Dave, is it your boy Kenny? Is it Jon? Yeah, laugh all you want, dipshit. I’m the fucking man now! Me! I’m the best wrestler in the world! There is no more complete wrestler on this planet — nobody’s got my body, nobody’s got my mind, nobody’s got my brain. Inside that ring, on the microphone. Hell [pounds the scrum table] even at a God damn press conference nobody can fucking touch me in this business.”
“I don’t need a whole group backing me. I don’t need someone advising me in my ear what to say, how to walk, how to talk. There is nobody. And I mean nuh, nuh, nuh, Nobody! On. My. Level. And you’re gonna hear it over and over, cause ain’t nobody dethroning the devil. God damn, I got a horn growing out now [pulls back his hair to reveal a mouse on his forehead]. Shit’s getting real, isn’t it?
“But I feel good. My back ain’t against the wall no more, I’ve got nothing to panic about. I’m having fun now. Tony, you ready to have some fun, answer some questions? Good shit. Got some Kaylin + Kaylin pickles over there — gonna eat the shit out of that…”
If the pickles remind you of Mindy’s Muffins…
Friedman ran down a few more “journalists” in the room as he mocked them by asking for hard questions. Fightful’s Will Washington hit him with one, about the child he threw a drink on in the early part of his match.
MJF brushed it off, saying he did it because “the kid looked thirsty.” Washington asked Tony Khan if there would be consequences, and the owner replied:
“We had a conversation before we came up here — a serious conversation, and I mean that. And it’s not to be taken lightly. The young man, Titus, was a real pro about it. And we’ll see Titus here again in AEW, and I believe Titus is actually coming to Sacramento [where Dynamite is this Wednesday]. But I was just with him, and he was a real champ about it. And you know, the champion didn’t act like a champion there. But I think Titus was great.”
This appears to be legitimate, as photos of the kid meeting with Powerhouse Hobbs backstage are floating around social media. Max was unmoved, scoffing, “Salt of the earth, that Titus. Real worried about him.”
MJF had a chip on his shoulder throughout about “marks”, of which the media people in attendance were “the cream of the crop”, doubting his wrestling ability. He really channeled CM Punk’s post-All Out “gripebomb” when pressed for lists of possible opponents, using that to (in character) list people in the locker room he doesn’t like. While removing the tape from his fists and smashing pickles, natch.
“I think Hangman [Page] is scared of MJF. And I think Hangman knows better than to come anywhere near MJF for the time being. There are other people here that I geniunely really, really don’t like. I also don’t love the fact that a guy like Jungle Boy, or Darby Allin, or Sammy Guevara is allowed to walk around like they are homegrown superstars. Yes, they’re homegrown. They’re very solid. But at this point I think it is very obvious that there is only one pillar actually holds this place up. So kinda would like to prove a point there. Adam Cole was talking shit on Twitter, wasn’t a fan of that, and think he should keep his fucking mouth shut, and maybe he should tell his girlfriend of his to do so as well.
“Are there more people? Sure. I don’t like Claudio Castagnoli’s face, I think Eddie Kingston’s a crybaby bitch, and I think he’s also a little punk, and I wouldn’t mind getting a chance to smack him across his blue collar face — there’s a lot of people I would love to absolutely demolish both on the microphone and in the ring. But as I said, I don’t do dream matches. The only dream I have is to hold this [puts hand on World title] and for the reign of terror to last an eternity. Next question.”
Fun with referencing Punk’s September appearance aside, the big takeaway is how Friedman makes a point of circling back to putting over greatness of the man he beat on Sunday night, and the importance of the AEW strap. The incident with Titus notwithstanding, he made a hell of case for himself at Revolution as the guy who can carry the company — even as a heel.
Check out the entire scrum, which also featured Ricky Starks, Wardlow, and plenty of Tony Khan, right here.
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