MJF is living in a total fantasy world with this PPV comment

Maxwell’s delusional wrestling history lesson

Our favorite scarf-wearing windbag Maxwell Jacob Friedman decided to open his mouth again. He claims that AEW has already built the most impressive catalog of pay-per-view events in the entire history of professional wrestling. I choked on my beer when I read that. It is the kind of statement that sounds right at home if you started watching wrestling in 2019 but becomes a joke the second you actually look at the ledger.

Listen, I like AEW. I was there for the first All Out in Chicago. The buzz in the air felt like electricity. But calling their library the greatest in history is like saying your local taco truck is better than a Michelin-star restaurant in Mexico City because you really like their salsa verde. It is recency bias on steroids.

The weight of the history books

When you start talking about the history of pay-per-view, you have to acknowledge the titans. We are talking about the era of NWA Starrcade at the Omni. We are talking about the peak of WCW from 1996 through 1998 where every show felt like a cultural event. Even early WWF shows like WrestleMania III laid the pavement that everyone else drives on today.

AEW has put out some absolute bangers, don't get me wrong. Full Gear 2021 was a masterpiece of storytelling. The Anarchy in the Arena matches usually deliver on the chaos we crave. However, having a few standout shows does not mean you have a superior catalog to decades of wrestling innovation. It takes more than a handful of years and a 60-minute iron man match to build a legacy.

The flaws in the AEW formula

Let’s be real about the inconsistencies. As witnessed in the NXT Stand and Deliver 2026 broadcast, modern promotions face immense pressure to keep the audience hooked through long shows. AEW often trips over its own feet by booking cards that drag on deep into the night. Some of their mid-tier PPVs have felt like bloated episodes of Dynamite with higher production values and a 50-dollar price tag.

We can’t just ignore the clunkers. AEW has had events where the momentum stalled, the crowd died, or the booking felt like a random number generator. Compare that against a run like the WWF’s late 90s output, where the shows were lean, mean, and had consistent character arcs even when the in-ring work wasn’t perfect. It is about the rhythm, not just the highlight reel.

The salt of the earth needs a reality check

MJF is a master of the microphone, but his recent remarks regarding his status in wrestling history show he is huffing his own supply. He wants to be the protagonist of every conversation. If he actually believes this nonsense about the PPV catalog, he should probably spend less time on podcasts and more time watching tapes of Ric Flair in the 80s or Shawn Michaels in the 90s.

I’m not saying AEW is bad. I’m saying they are a young company. They have decades to earn that title. Claiming it now doesn’t make them the best; it just makes them look like the new kid at the party trying way too hard to impress the seniors. It is fine to be hungry, but don’t pretend you’ve already finished the meal when you’re still on the appetizer.

We have WrestleMania 41 around the corner. That is going to be a 14-hour spectacle if we are being honest about the current state of spectacle wrestling. We will see how that stacks up in the history books before we start crowning anyone king of the mountain. MJF is great, but let’s stop pretending AEW is a historical juggernaut just because they’ve managed to stay afloat for half a decade.

If you want to be the best, you have to do it for a lifetime, not just for a few stellar pay-per-view cycles. Maybe in 2040, we can revisit this. For now? Keep the championship belt on your shoulder and keep the hot takes in the locker room where they belong. The history of this business is too rich to be rewritten by a guy with a great promo and a very short memory.