Early title reigns are appropriately romanticized, especially for young champions. There was the undeniable size and athletic prowess of The Giant in WCW, the otherworldly charisma of The Rock in WWE, the tenacity and concentrated violence of Samoa Joe in Ring of Honor. But very rarely is a talent’s second title reign considered groundbreaking or even particularly notable, because, clearly, he or she has already done what fans were probably clamoring for. Outside of a reign that exceeds the length of the previous one, new attention is rarely paid to something that has already been done.
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MJF won his first AEW World Championship in November 2022, defeating Jon Moxley at that year’s Full Gear event. He ended up holding the title for 406 days, an AEW record that still stands to this day. But MJF, an admitted braggart and braggart, criticizes his early career, where keeping the title became more important than making it something to aspire to. “I managed to be the longest-reigning AEW World Champion, (the) youngest (champion) of all time, and also the most successful defenses of all time,” he told Uncrowned ahead of his AEW Revolution title match against “Hangman” Adam Page. “But when you think about 10 title defenses in the span of 406 days, is it really that impressive? I had no problem running away from competition if it meant I would hold the belt for a longer period of time.”
There is intentionality to this second title run, which began at December’s Worlds End pay-per-view when MJF was inserted into a four-way match between challengers Swerve Strickland, Adam Page and then-champion Samoa Joe. Friedman eventually pinned Joe for the title and has since made it his mission to be a more active champion. He has already defended his title twice on AEW television, defeating Brody King at February’s Grand Slam Australia event and beating Kevin Knight on the March 4 edition of “AEW Dynamite.” But Friedman has also placed emphasis on the “global” aspect of the World Champion, choosing to defend the title against other promotions. Weeks after the end of the world, he traveled to Limitless Wrestling and wagered his belt against Alec Price, and the following month he tested his mettle again against Zilla Fatu at House of Glory’s No Turning Back show. In less than three months, he will have defended the AEW World Championship half as many times as he did during the year and change of his first reign.
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Having always studied the game, MJF has come to understand that greatness cannot simply be the numbers on a chart. To be one of the greats, you have to do what the greats did before you.
“People like Buddy Rogers and Harley Race… Jack Brisco, Dory Funk, these gentlemen would travel, not just around their home turf, but all over the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, and fight whoever was considered the best of the best in that local turf or area,” he says. “Another thing is that we’ve lost the history and tradition of our sport, because for a long time, professional wrestling was a monopoly. It was WWE, and that’s it. The idea of seeing (I’m just going to use one example) John Cena in his local independent company was sacrilege to Vince McMahon. But to Tony Khan, who understands and respects the idea of a traveling champion, it’s not ridiculous.”
Like the champions before him, MJF wants to restore the urgency of a world championship match. He is a champion in a world with some of the most talented fighters of all time, both in creativity and endurance. But he’s not looking for ratings in games: he’s looking for decisive victories to establish his dominance. “Another thing I’m trying to normalize is substance over style,” he says. “It’s not my job to go out and put on a five-star match. My job is to go out and try to win. The things I’m going to do when you see my fights are going to make a lot more sense and have a lot more substance than anyone else in professional wrestling. I’m not trying to impress you. I’m trying to win. If there’s a body part that I see that has a problem, I’m going to attack it like an animal.”
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We saw this exact scenario in his title defense against Knight, where a kitchen knee early in the match took Knight’s UFO jump off the top rope out of the equation. “I’m not trying to come out and thrill you,” MJF continues. “Now, does that happen even if I’m not trying? Yes, 10 times out of 10. I’m the best professional wrestler in the world today. But again, I’m not a circus monkey like everyone else in this industry. I’m a traditionalist. I fight the same way as (the former world champions) I mentioned before.”
The travel aspect of all this seems to motivate Friedman in a very unique way. You want to be everywhere, you want to do everything, and when those opportunities present themselves, you take advantage of them. A classically trained actor, he earned some big opportunities but found balance between his obligations. Friedman spent a significant portion of 2024 filming “Happy Gilmore 2,” Netflix’s most-streamed movie release, where he played the flannel-wearing, sleeveless eldest son of the main character, Gordie Gilmore. He won the CMLL Light Heavyweight Championship in August 2025, spent the fall of 2025 filming “Violent Night 2,” the sequel to 2022’s surprise dark comedy hit, and then immediately returned to the AEW world title picture. Again, he wants to be everywhere, he wants to do everything, and he wants to show everyone that they can’t do it. any of it the best you can.
“Getting on a private plane, flying to Mexico, fighting (Mistico) in one of the greatest matches of all time, certainly the best match that ever happened in that arena…then flying from Mexico to Toronto, Canada, to fight Mark Briscoe in another all-time classic in a Tables ‘N’ Tacks match in less than 24 hours, literally fighting twice in one day,” he says. “Unlike Hulk Hogan, I actually did that.
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“A lot of people would look at that calendar and be screwed. But that’s not how I operate. I enjoy, and dare I say almost feel a sexual thrill when you put a challenge in front of me. Because the challenge only makes the chip on my shoulder bigger, and the chip on my shoulder has made the man I am today. The chip grows every time I’m judged. The chip grows every time my talents are questioned. The chip will continue to grow, but it’s never going to break me. It just makes me stronger.”
One of the metrics that can define not only a title reign, but also a career, is how you compare to those who have traveled the same path and experienced the same levels of success. In MJF’s opinion, he is champion at a time in AEW where there has never been a stronger list of available challengers. “This is the most competitive card it has ever been in the history of our seven-year promotion,” he says.
“You’ve got me, ‘Hangman,’ Swerve (Strickland), Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Samoa Joe, Andrade El Idolo. Now you’ve got Brody King, who just showed up and fits like a glove, whether he wants to admit it or not. You’ve got your Kyle Fletchers of the world, who are biting the brakes, and your (Konosuke) Takeshitas, who are biting the brakes. I mean, the list goes on and on, and that’s the part terrifying.”
MJF (left) and “Hangman” Page have long been two of AEW’s biggest local stars. (Lee Sur, AEW)
From that same generation of talent, “Hangman” Page was the 2025 Uncrowned Male Wrestler of the Year, and his victory over Jon Moxley for the world title at All In: Texas was the bloody, hard-hitting highlight of his campaign. While Page has shied away from being AEW’s “main character,” MJF has no problem accepting that wherever he ranks or positions his opponent on Sunday, the two are representative of the passion it takes to stand out from your peers. “I feel frustrated because I hate to admit that we are similar in any way, shape, or form,” MJF says. “(But) we are both the two most motivated men in All Elite Wrestling by a wide margin.
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“Now, that’s not to take away from the talent of other men I mentioned earlier. But as far as two people who are willing to do literally whatever it takes to be the best, he’s the only person I feel like is in my category. But the only reason he won that award last year, and I didn’t, is because he was busy filming the most-streamed comedy of all time. Next question.”
This weekend, the “Hangman” seeks to once again test MJF’s mettle, this time in Page’s signature “Texas Deathmatch”: an anything-goes, anything-is-in-bounds contest, where the winner is the man who can survive the other man’s worst ideas. But one thing MJF carries with him is that while it may be Page’s signature match, Revolution is the champion’s event. “When you think of Revolution, you think of Dog Collar combat. You think of Ironman combat,” he says. “I think after this match, you’ll think about this specific Texas Deathmatch, because everyone thinks this is the Hangman match. People think I’m scared. I’m not scared.
“Would I have preferred this to have been a normal pro wrestling match because it’s supposed to be a pro wrestling company? Yes, of course. But what people seem to forget about me constantly… if you put me in a situation where my back is against the wall, I’ll do literally anything under the sun possible to come out with a win. Anything.
“There’s nothing off the table for me. Morality is only for suckers. Not if you want to go down as the greatest of all time. I think the statement that will be made (Sunday) is this: MJF will rule the world of professional wrestling for the next 20 to 30 years.”