AEW's Jim Ross Full Of Praise For MJF: He's A Young Paul Heyman, Just With Muscles And Athletic Ability

Jim Ross was full of praise for All Elite Wrestling's MJF on the latest edition of Grilling JR and the hall of fame announcer compared Friedman to Paul Heyman, noting he is just a younger, more athletic version of Roman Reigns' special counsel. 

"I think Tony Khan is booking MJF perfectly because he's not overexposing him. He's keeping him fresh. Of course, Max is really great at keeping himself fresh because Max loves Max. I don't blame him. If he doesn't have his own back, who does? He's very smart. Let me tell you this, statement of the night may be that MJF is a younger, actually athletic version of Paul Heyman," JR began.

"I was around Paul Heyman when he was in his 20s a lot and I helped Paul a great deal back when nobody wanted to work with him because he was so obstinate in their view. Well, I saw talent. Was he a pain in the ass? Absolutely. But he was our pain in the ass and he was my pain in the ass partner who made both of us better. So we did some good work in WCW before he ever got to WWE, I always thought. I enjoyed it, I can tell you that," he continued.

"So Max is a young Paul Heyman, only with muscles and athletic ability. So that just tells you where he ranks in my lexicon of some of the smartest guys I've ever been around in pro wrestling. The thing about it, he's in his mid-20s. So hopefully he won't ever self-destruct... He and I have had some really good talks over our tenure there at AEW. I always talk to him at every TV and we chat about different things. He asks questions that are intelligent questions, so you know that he's thinking about things that are spot on because of the questions that he asks or the subjects that he wants to discuss."

MJF has established himself as one of AEW's top stars since the company's formation in 2019 and he hasn't been afraid to cross the line on the microphone, whether it be threatening to kill CM Punk's dog or shouting at Brian Pillman in hell.

Paul Heyman, meanwhile, remains on WWE TV. He was previously Roman Reigns’ special counsel but the Universal Champion relieved him of his duties on Friday’s SmackDown. 

H/T to Fightful