MJF Admits There Was A Chance He Could Have Left AEW To Join WWE

How close was Maxwell Jacob Friedman to leaving AEW in favour of joining WWE? 

Speaking with Sports Illustrated ahead of his Dynamite return on June 5, the former AEW World Champion addressed whether he considered the possibility, saying: 

"Of course there was. Am I going to get into the weeds? No. At this point in time, this move (staying with AEW) made the most sense for me. I'm making a tonne of f***ing money. As far as when the contract ends, that's nobody's business but my own".

MJF made his first appearance since December's Worlds End at Double or Nothing (on May 26). Delivering an impassioned promo, the 28-year-old told AEW fans that he would be staying in Tony Khan's promotion. 

A notable feature of MJF's appearance was his choice of attire, as he wore a denim/leather jacket combination that some assumed was a shot at WWE Chief Content Officer Paul 'Triple H' Levesque (who wore something similar when he made his televised WWE return from injury on the January 7, 2002 episode of Raw).

According to Friedman, however, this was in fact an homage. 

"The jean jacket was over what I feel is my leather jacket, but that jean jacket was certainly an homage to a return that meant something to me when I was a kid in Madison Square Garden. I'm sure people can connect the dots," MJF said.

A recent report outlined AEW's plans for MJF moving forward.