MJF Recalls AEW Origins Ahead Of All In Main Event

The very first match of the All In main card in 2018 saw a plucky, cocky, abrasive rookie named MJF lose to legendary high-flyer Matt Cross. Now, 5 years later, MJF will headline the second All In event, which happens to be the biggest professional wrestling event in the history of the business. 

In a new article in The Ringer by Cameron Hawkins, MJF looked back on his start with All Elite Wrestling, which formed the year after All In, holding its first event, Double or Nothing in May of 2019. At that event, MJF was once again featured, this time in a Casino Battle Royal where he survived until the end.

"Realistically, if you look back at the inception of the company, I was the least known 'free agent' independent wrestler," MJF explained. "But even after that Battle Royale, as there has been in my whole entire ... forget career, my whole life, there was still a lot of doubt on if I belonged." According to MJF, the whole journey started with a text message to then-EVP Cody Rhodes. 

"I said, 'look, you don't owe me sh*t,'" MJF continued. "'Matter of fact, you might not even know who this is messaging you, but all I need is an opportunity, and I promise you, you won't be disappointed.'" MJF didn't know he was wrestling at All In until a month before the show, but the current AEW World Champion feels he made the most of his opportunity, as he'd never had a chance to wrestle on such a large platform.

"And I was offered a contract from both WWE and AEW," MJF said of the response to his performance. "And realistically, I don't think MJF is a thing without Cody Rhodes, and that's just a f*cking fact."