• “The most miserable I had ever been” – AEW Star On The 4 Pillars Storyline
Tony Khan has built AEW around some of its “original” stars since the very beginning. He sees MJF, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara and “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry as the pillars of his promotion.
In 2023, AEW booked the four stars in a program, which led to MJF defending the AEW World Championship in a 4-Way Match against Allin, Guevara and Perry. However, Perry did not want to be a part of the storyline at the time.
Speaking to VICE, the former TNT Champion said that he was hesitant to be part of the storyline because he thought it would be more effective in the future than it was two years ago.
“The pillars thing up to that point was the most miserable I had ever been. I didn’t wanna do that at that time. I literally said, I begged, I was like, ‘Can we do this later? I feel like this is only really benefiting one person and we all could grow so much more.’ I had just beaten Christian when that happened and then Christian got injured and that whole thing took way longer than it was supposed to.
I was kinda floating around, killing time until he got back so I could beat him. After I beat him, the next thing I got put in was that. I was like, ‘Could you guys let me get going a little bit? Sammy could be built up even more, Darby, and this could be a huge thing where any one of us could win the World Title at the end of this.'”
MJF has been the most successful of AEW’s four pillars, followed by Darby Allin, who has been involved in several major storylines. Jack Perry and Sammy Guevara, meanwhile, are still finding their path in the company.
• Big Bill Places Himself On Mount Rushmore Of Wrestling With 3 WWE Legends
Pro wrestling has produced countless great stars over the years, and picking just four to put on a Mount Rushmore is never easy. Every wrestler has their own version, based on who influenced them and who they admire the most.
AEW star Big Bill recently shared his version of the Mount Rushmore of wrestling in an interview with WiLD 94.1. He placed himself on it after being encouraged by the hosts and then named The Undertaker, Kurt Angle and Stone Cold Steve Austin as his other three picks.
“I put Austin. Austin’s up there for me. Austin’s up there. Undertaker’s up there. I don’t know, man. I know. It’s tough. Undertaker and Austin are locks. Undertaker, he’s a big guy. I emulate him a lot. Man, you really put me on the spot. Yeah, me. I really like Kurt Angle. I really like Kurt Angle. Yeah, Kurt Angle.”
• Tony Khan Says Most Wrestlers Don’t Like Top AEW Star
MJF joined AEW in 2019 and quickly became one of the promotion’s biggest stars. He’s known for never breaking his heel character, which makes it very easy for fans to dislike him.
It seems The Salt of the Earth isn’t liked by a lot of his colleagues either.
In an interview with Going Ringside, AEW President Tony Khan spoke about MJF’s reputation backstage. While many appreciate his hard work, he admitted that MJF doesn’t get along with a lot of wrestlers.
“MJF’s not the most popular guy backstage. You know, most of the wrestlers don’t really like him very much. So, I would say that among some of the villains of AEW, there is some camaraderie. And you know, a guy like maybe Don Callis or Okada – I think those guys are probably happy for MJF. But a lot of the fan favorites in AEW really don’t like MJF very much.
That being said, everybody is very impressed with what he’s doing. He is a really hard-working guy, and I am very impressed with MJF. I think he’s an incredible wrestling talent. When he focuses on the wrestling, I think MJF is one of the best. But he always takes shortcuts. He’s always trying to cheat his way to the top. And I don’t even think he needs to, is the truth.
He’s a really gifted wrestler and a student of wrestling – a student of the history of wrestling and a student of technical wrestling. And also, MJF is a student of acting now. And he’s doing a great job with it.”
In 2024, MJF reportedly had an altercation with Britt Baker after the former AEW World Champion’s wife Alicia Atout informed him that Baker was berating him backstage. Baker also went off on Atout. The incident led to Baker being suspended as AEW decided that she was at fault, not MJF.
