All Elite Wrestling world champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman aka MJF is Down Under for Sydney and Brisbane events
Professional wrestler Maxwell Jacob Friedman is in Australia for AEW.Credit: Facebook
He wasn’t part of the company’s Australian debut when 11,000 people, including me, packed the Brisbane Entertainment Center last February, but it’s safe to say Aussie fans made an impression.
“You guys are definitely drinking too loudly,” Friedman said.
“I assume everyone in the arena that night was drunk because you all raised your voices at people like that. [Canadian wrestler] Adam Copeland.
“I dream that when I come, as a real star, as a really big star, you will sing my song 10 times louder.”
An entire arena singing Adam Copeland’s (FKA ‘Edge’) theme song a cappella after the intro song ended was arguably the enduring image of All Elite Wrestling’s first trip Down Under.
From then on, Copeland’s entries were met with similar efforts wherever he was in the world.
The relaxed attitude of Australian wrestling fans, combined with the passion that can only come after decades of deprivation, is laying the foundation for an environment that MJF says is both desirable and rare.
“You just came to have fun,” he said.
“[When] The match is starting, your arms are not crossed. Not ‘impress me’.
“In some cities in America, there are large groups of people who think we owe them something and that we need to do some nasty trick to get their attention.
Loading
“That’s what I came up with at the tender age of 18; I had to impress the hardest wrestling fandom to impress, which was the independent professional wrestling fans in the northeast.”
Friedman’s refreshing insight into his trials and tribulations doesn’t last long.
A consummate professional, he takes the opportunity to praise his own accomplishments and, as he calls it, “shill.”
“Every crowd wants what I sell. Every crowd loves what MJF does,” he says with all the confidence you’d expect from a man holding nearly 10 lbs of gold and diamonds.
“This is universal, this is not me being arrogant, this is just the truth.”
A promotion for the AEW Grand Slam in Sydney.Credit: AEW/Ticketek
It’s hard to deny Friedman’s gravitational pull.
This launched him into the orbit of comedy royalty and made his big screen debut in arguably the most anticipated comedy sequel of all time.
In six years he had gone from wrestling at PCYCs and bingo halls to sharing the screen with Adam Sandler and playing his son Gordie. Happy Gilmore 2.
His rise has been rapid by any measure, let alone in the mind of a Jewish boy from Long Island.
“It was surreal,” he admits.
“As a Jewish kid from New York, Adam Sandler is kind of like God.
“[He’s] One of the most famous Jews in the world, if not the most famous Jew
All times except Albert Einstein.
“It was so crazy being in that man’s presence, how real, how incredible
family is like that.”
Home Rules is in Brisbane on February 15.Credit: AEW/Ticketek
For an artist known more for being ‘in character’ than anyone else, the moment Friedman talked about his Jewish upbringing was probably the closest I got to the ‘real’ MJF.
After all, this is a man who has blended wrestling with his religion many times.
He hosted in-ring bar mitzvah ceremonies, wore special Hanukkah attire on holiday-themed live television shows, and spoke openly about a teenager who was subjected to anti-Semitic bullying.
The importance of the main event of the company’s first Sydney show is not lost on him, as it will take place exactly two months after the Bondi attack.
“It’s terrible, it’s terrible,” he says.
“They were not doing anything wrong. They were not making a political statement. They were just living their religion.”
Friedman’s wrestling outfit often features the Star of David hidden in the details; it’s a subtle message he likes to send to anyone watching who is dealing with similar challenges he faced in his youth.
“To be able to give people of my religion someone they can trust and say, ‘no, to hell with you.’
“You can’t tell me I suck because I’m Jewish, because MJF is the world champion.”
Entertainers as we are, the poignancy of the last few minutes wears off and we return to regularly scheduled programming.
The interviewer suddenly becomes the interviewee as he searches for clues on how to understand the emotions of Australian fans.
He got off to a good start by concluding that we still drink Foster’s (we don’t) before looking to State of Origin for inspiration to piss off just about everyone.
“What color should I wear in Sydney that will upset people?” he asks.
Maroon, I answer.
“Can you write this?” he points to his wife, Alicia, sitting just off-screen.
“Maroon. He said ‘stupid’ but he meant burgundy.”
If I were a betting man, I’d bet MJF would have a pair of blue shorts on hand for his Brisbane show the following night.
Our conversation ends with him calling me an idiot and me asking him to rate the custom shirt I wear to AEW events; This is a photo of viral sensations Big Boom AJ, Big Justice and The Rizzler in the wrestling ring.
Nine News reporter Ned Balme’s shirt featuring Big Boom AJ, Big Justice and The Rizzler did not impress MJF.Credit: Ned Balme
He answered by covering my face.
What a dirty man.
AEW Grand Slam is at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on February 14.
AEW returns to the Brisbane Entertainment Center on February 15 with Special Rules.
