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103-501: Maxwell Tyler Friedman (born March 15, 1996), better known by the ring name Maxwell Jacob Friedman and the shortened epithet MJF , is an American professional wrestler and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since January 2019. He is a one-time AEW World Champion , with his reign being the longest in the title's history, and is also a one-time AEW International Champion . Friedman previously worked for Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he became

206-593: A Dog Collar match by handing Punk the Dynamite Diamond Ring, which Punk then struck MJF with. On the May 18 episode of Dynamite , Wardlow, as part of a set of contract stipulations which would make him able to wrestle MJF, was lashed 10 times by MJF. The following week on Dynamite , Wardlow completed the final stipulation which guaranteed him a match with MJF at the upcoming Double or Nothing by defeating Shawn Spears in steel cage match , with MJF serving as

309-479: A Fusion television special. MLW began introducing contracts as part of their growth strategy. In August, the promotion started a working agreement with Mexican-based promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). On September 19, it was announced that MLW expanded its partnership with beIN Sports to air Fusion in Spanish . In October, MLW announced a Halloween-themed, Fusion television special, and announced

412-514: A steel cage match and receiving ten lashes by MJF on live TV. On the February 5 episode of Dynamite , Cody took the ten lashes from MJF, including one from Wardlow. Cody then went on to beat Wardlow in the first steel cage match in AEW's history on the February 19 episode of Dynamite to make the match against MJF at Revolution official. At Revolution, MJF defeated Cody by pinfall after hitting him on

515-502: A tournament to receive an AEW World Tag Team Championship match on the July 29, 2023 episode of Collision . The two men would form a strong friendship and bond in various matches, segments, and skits over the next few weeks and MJF would show signs of a face turn. They won the tournament, defeating The Jericho Appreciation Society ( Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara) in the finals. However, they would lose their title match to FTR . After

618-538: A "strategic alliance". On August 23, MLW and The Crash announced they would co-promote their first event on October 5 at the Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez in Tijuana , Mexico . On February 1, 2020, MLW announced a working relationship with Japanese promotion Dragon Gate (DG), which would include a talent-exchange between the two promotions. After AAA vs MLW on March 13, 2020, MLW would take

721-452: A Community post on their YouTube channel that they had launched a membership program, later to be known as the "MLW Standard Pass". Subsequentially, past uploads from MLW's weekly programming library, and several full match videos, became paywalled. Ahead of Battle Riot VI on June 1, it was reported that MLW would be moving its streaming events to their YouTube channel as part of the rollout of its membership program. This subsequently ended

824-737: A Dynamite Diamond Ring after he and Orange Cassidy were the final two entrants in the second Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale . On the December 9 episode of Dynamite , MJF won his second Diamond Ring after pinning Cassidy. On the January 20, 2021 episode of Dynamite , a tag team battle royal was announced for Beach Break , with the winners getting an AEW World Tag Team Championship match against The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) at Revolution . The Young Bucks also participated and had they won, they could have chosen their opponents. Jericho last eliminated Dante Martin of Top Flight to win

927-553: A Stadium Stampede match. At All Out on September 5, MJF faced once again Jericho, with Jericho's career on the line. After a false victory for MJF, in which referee Aubrey Edwards counted the pin for MJF but did not see Jericho's foot placed on the rope, the match was restarted and Jericho forced MJF to submit to the " Walls of Jericho ", losing for the first time against Jericho. On the November 17 episode of Dynamite , MJF began

1030-454: A brawl between the two. On the June 19 episode of Dynamite , MJF defeated Rush in his first match since Worlds End. At Beach Break special episode of Dynamite on July 3, MJF accompanied Daniel Garcia for his AEW International Championship match against Will Ospreay, where he would unintentionally distract Garcia and cost him the match. After the match, MJF would attack Garcia, turning heel in

1133-541: A color commentator starting March 2, 2019. He continued to work for the company for Rise of the Renegades , Battle Riot II , and Fury Road . He also worked unofficially in an agent-like role for the company. This includes coaching younger talent on their television presentation and promos. In addition to SuperFight and Intimidation Games, Rise of the Renegades and Battle Riot II were all revealed to have sold out. In April 2019, MLW would move their operations into

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1236-626: A corporate office building in New Rochelle, New York . On April 18, MLW announced the creation of a new title: the MLW National Openweight Championship , with the inaugural champion to be crowned during Fury Road in Waukesha, Wisconsin . In June 2019, International Wrestling Association (IWA-PR) owner Savio Vega was brought in as an on-air talent and backstage agent. This working relationship resulted in

1339-541: A deal to produce a new series centered around Azteca Underground, featuring a different roster from that seen on MLW Fusion . In an update during Wrestling Observer Radio on November 1, 2021, Meltzer reported that tapings for the series were cancelled because MLW was unable to secure a TV deal. On July 7, 2021, it was announced that Shimmer Women Athletes co-founder Dave Prazak had joined MLW to help relaunch its women's division; later to be announced in September as

1442-634: A feud with CM Punk , after Punk interrupted his promo. On the February 2, 2022 episode of Dynamite , MJF became the first person to defeat Punk in AEW and also the person to defeat him in a televised match since 2014. During the match, which was held in Punk's hometown of Chicago , Illinois , MJF scored a pinfall over Punk after Wardlow provided a ringside distraction and handed MJF his Dynamite Diamond Ring, which he then hit Punk with. On March 6 at Revolution , Wardlow, who began developing tension with MJF in December 2021, turned on MJF and helped Punk defeat him in

1545-595: A feud with Jon Moxley , campaigning against Moxley's championship reign and decreed that fans deserved a better champion. The two faced at All Out on September 5, where MJF was defeated, marking his first loss in a singles match. On the October 28 episode of Dynamite , Chris Jericho and MJF agreed to wrestle each other at Full Gear during a confrontational "Town Hall Meeting" with Eric Bischoff . Should MJF win, he would join Jericho's Inner Circle. The previous week, Jericho and MJF had participated in "Le Dinner Debonair",

1648-465: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

1751-551: A good outcome for MLW, its fans and REELZ." On March 7, MLW filed an amended lawsuit against WWE, citing WWE's alleged interference with the promotion's deal with Reelz. In March 2023, MLW reached an agreement with the Premier Streaming Network to distribute MLW Underground Wrestling outside of the U.S. On May 2, 2023, a new partnership with FITE was announced, in-which MLW would produce live specials for subscribers to FITE+. The first event under this deal

1854-463: A live, premium event for Triller TV+ subscribers; and a free, taped , TV special for Bein Sports and MLW's YouTube channel. MLW Azteca Lucha , the promotion's first event to take place at Cicero Stadium since Saturday Night SuperFight in November 2019, would break MLW's all-time box office record with the announcement that tickets were sold out on April 29. During the same month, MLW announced in

1957-598: A mask, he won the Casino Ladder match as the "joker" entrant with the help of Stokely Hathaway , securing himself a future shot for the AEW World Championship. He was revealed to be the person behind the mask at the end of the event, when he came out and stared down the newly crowned AEW World Champion CM Punk on the entrance stage. On the September 14 episode of Dynamite , MJF introduced his faction, The Firm, led by Stokely Hathaway. This new faction

2060-411: A meeting over a steak dinner during which Jericho and MJF performed a modified rendition of " Me and My Shadow ". Journalist Wesley Morris later named the performance one of the "Best Performances of 2020" in an article published by The New York Times . At Full Gear, MJF, along with Wardlow, became members of Inner Circle after he pinned Jericho. On November 11 episode of Dynamite , MJF appeared for

2163-575: A member of the MLW roster as he continued his winning streak against Joey Ryan at Never Say Never. MJF suffered his first loss in MLW against Brody King at Zero Hour on January 11, 2018. He then participated in a tournament for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship at Road To The World Championship , losing to the British wrestler Jimmy Havoc in the opening round. Friedman went on to defeat Lance Anoa'i at Spring Break. He made his Fusion debut on

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2266-466: A new "anthology mini-series" titled MLW Azteca to premiere on Thursday, January 6, 2022, on MLW's YouTube channel and FITE TV . On January 11, 2022, MLW filed an anti-trust lawsuit against WWE , accusing them of interfering in television and streaming deals and poaching talent. Through the lawsuit, it was disclosed that a streaming deal with Fox Corporation -owned Tubi was terminated due to WWE allegedly threatening to pull their programming from

2369-480: A new broadcast deal with Ayozat TV in the United Kingdom . Two days later, MLW announced an expanded agreement with beIN Sports USA to carry the promotion's programming on BeIN Sports Xtra, both through its FAST channel and across its over-the-air television station affiliates, on Friday nights. On October 11, 2022, MLW announced a partnership with streaming platform Pro Wrestling TV (PWTV), bringing

2472-424: A new media rights deal to stream their programming on DAZN . CEO Court Bauer also announced during the same month that reruns of MLW Underground TV would air on Bein Sports throughout the summer. In August 2020, MLW announced that Fusion TV tapings will resume in October of that year. On September 10, it was announced that MLW Fusion would move to Wednesday nights on fubo Sports Network . On October 10, it

2575-540: A one-time MLW World Tag Team Champion and a one-time and inaugural MLW World Middleweight Champion . He has also worked on the American independent circuit for promotions such as Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he became a one-time CZW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time CZW Wired Champion . Maxwell Tyler Friedman was born into an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Plainview, New York , on March 15, 1996. At

2678-465: A partnership with Revolution Pro Wrestling . In June 2021, Wrestling Observer reported that MLW had ended its deal with DAZN. it was also reported that MLW had begun taping content in Los Angeles for a spinoff series that would "resemble Lucha Underground ", with plans to film vignettes in the summer and matches in the fall. It would later be revealed on August 4, 2021, that MLW had signed

2781-534: A pre-match stipulation. After the match, MJF turned heel on Cody by giving him a low blow and walked away. Shortly thereafter, MJF found a bodyguard in the debuting Wardlow . On the November 20 episode of Dynamite , MJF and Adam Page were the final two entrants in the inaugural Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale . The two met in a singles match on the Thanksgiving Eve special episode on November 27, which MJF won. Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) then awarded him

2884-805: A professional wrestler, and that Goldberg and The Rock were his favorite wrestlers. Friedman grew up as a religious Jew , having had his "original" Bar mitzvah in 2009. Friedman graduated in 2014 from Plainview – Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School , where he was a member of the football team. He briefly attended Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York . Friedman was trained by Brian Myers and Pat Buck , and made his in-ring debut in their Create A Pro Wrestling Academy in Hicksville, New York , on February 15, 2015. He also wrestled for Combat Zone Wrestling and Five Borough Wrestling during his debut year and went on to appear in numerous promotions across

2987-761: A rematch on August 25 at All In . On August 25 at All In, MJF lost the title back to Ospreay after interference from a returning Daniel Garcia, ending his reign at 39 days. On September 7 at All Out , MJF defeated Garcia. On October 12 at WrestleDream , MJF made his return after a brief hiatus and attempted to attack Garcia, but would be chased off by a returning Adam Cole. On November 23 at Full Gear , MJF defeated Roderick Strong. MJF made his Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre debut on August 3, 2024 at Viernes Espectacular successfully defending his AEW American Championship against Templario . Friedman's character has been described by The New York Times as "part heel , part tool ... and part goodfella wannabe". Many people within

3090-559: A six-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic . On April 21, MLW announced they had begun digitizing the 2003–2004 tape library, including the complete run of MLW Underground TV . On April 30, MLW announced a limited series titled MLW Anthology to air on Bein Sports starting May 16, 2020. Following the last episode of Fusion on May 9, 2020, a new digital spinoff series titled Pulp Fusion would launch on MLW's YouTube channel beginning on May 29, 2020. On June 9, 2020, MLW reached

3193-450: A tie. The match was met with critical acclaim, and received a 5.75 star rating from Dave Meltzer , making it the first five star match in MJF's career. On May 28 at Double or Nothing , MJF defended the AEW World Championship against Sammy Guevara , "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and Darby Allin , who MJF pinned, in a four-way match . In June, MJF started to feud with Adam Cole , who he faced on

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3296-754: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

3399-456: A working agreement with Japanese-based promotion Pro Wrestling Noah , which would include a talent-exchange agreement and content collaboration between the two promotions. On August 8, MLW announced that they had reached a new deal with FITE TV to carry MLW pay-per-view events, with the first event being Saturday Night SuperFight. Four days later, MLW announced a working relationship with Mexican-based promotion The Crash Lucha Libre termed as

3502-646: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

3605-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

3708-594: Is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York . The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as "Hybrid Wrestling", with its roster featuring a mix of different wrestling styles. The promotion originally ran live events until 2004, with these events seen on the television series, MLW Underground TV . MLW returned to promoting events in July 2017, and resumed weekly television programming with

3811-675: The MLW Women's Featherweight division. During the television premiere of Battle Riot III on July 24, 2021, MLW announced a new season of Fusion to air on "a new home" in the Fall, and a new, four-part mini-series titled MLW Fusion: Alpha . Initially announced to air in August, Fusion: Alpha was later announced as "a new season and series from MLW" to premiere on September 22 on MLW's YouTube channel, and would air on Saturdays and Mondays on Bein Sports. On December 7, 2021, MLW announced

3914-676: The MLW World Tag Team Championship with Richard Holliday as part of the Dynasty. He left the promotion in January 2020, but would wrestle Mance Warner in a loser leaves town, empty arena match in April 2020. On January 7, 2019, it was announced that Friedman was signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) for a five-year deal. He debuted as a heel at Double or Nothing as a part of the pre-show Casino Battle Royale for an AEW World Championship opportunity. He lasted until

4017-627: The Worlds End pay-per-view instead. On the December 27 episode of Dynamite : New Years Smash , MJF and Samoa Joe were scheduled to defend the ROH World Tag Team Championship against The Devil's Masked Men, but an apparently injured Samoa Joe was shown backstage, causing MJF to unsuccessfully defend the titles on his own. After being defeated by the Masked Men, MJF was attacked before being saved by Joe. However, it

4120-617: The professional wrestling industry. Many prominent professional wrestling figures have appeared on the network, including former WWE and WCW stars Kevin Sullivan , Jim Duggan , MVP , current WWE executive Bruce Prichard , former WCW and current AEW commentator Tony Schiavone , former WCW and WWE manager Jim Cornette , and former WCW President and WWE executive Eric Bischoff . In 2017, MLW announced that it would once again be promoting wrestling events. Tickets for their first event, MLW One-Shot , went on sale on July 21, 2017. In

4223-485: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

Maxwell Jacob Friedman - Misplaced Pages Continue

4326-737: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

4429-487: The 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. At the end of 2023, MLW would cease airing weekly television programming. Beginning at One Shot on December 7, 2023, select matches would be taped during MLW's live events, and later air as part of television specials produced for Bein Sports and MLW's YouTube channel. In 2018, after the promotion was revived, MLW signed some talent to exclusive contracts. It also gave MLW power over

4532-476: The AEW World Championship against Cole and win the ROH World Tag Team Championship with Cole, making MJF a double champion. At All Out the following week, MJF and Cole successfully defended the ROH Tag Titles against The Dark Order; on his way to the back, MJF was pushed by ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe , leading to a brawl. Joe would win an Eliminator tournament to earn a shot against MJF for

4635-425: The AEW World Championship at Grand Slam ; before Joe's tournament final match against Roderick Strong on the September 13 episode of Dynamite , MJF cut a promo that referenced the infamous " Scott Steiner math" promo that Steiner cut against Joe before TNA Sacrifice . At Grand Slam, MJF successfully defended the AEW World Championship against Samoa Joe. At WrestleDream in October 2023, MJF successfully defended

4738-444: The August 10 episode of Fusion , MJF made his first title defense against Joey Janela in a falls count anywhere match , which he retained after Janela's on-screen girlfriend Aria Blake turned on Janela by hitting him in the head with a bottle. This led to Blake becoming MJF's valet. On the September 21 episode of Fusion , MJF and Blake defeated Joey Ryan and Taya Valkyrie in a mixed tag team match. MJF made his second title defense of

4841-680: The CZW Wired title to Joey Janela . Two months later at CZW Cage of Death 19, Friedman won the title back after defeating Janela in a rematch. Friedman returned on February 10, 2018, at CZW Nineteen, where he won the 27-Man Battle Royal to become the new number one contender for the CZW World Heavyweight Championship . He also successfully defended the CZW Wired Championship against Alex Colon on that date. There he defeated Rickey Shane Page to win

4944-543: The CZW World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, and surrendered the CZW Wired Championship on the same night. He would forfeit the title in November 2018 and make his final appearance on CZW. On September 5, 2017, it was reported that Friedman signed a contract with the reinstated Major League Wrestling (MLW) to appear at its reunion event One Shot to compete in a match against Jimmy Yuta , which Friedman won. Friedman then became

5047-598: The Devil. After the event, it was reported that MJF would be taking some time off due to injuries. At Double or Nothing on May 26, 2024, MJF returned after nearly a hiatus of five months by attacking Adam Cole and revealing that he had re-signed with AEW. On the June 5 episode of Dynamite , MJF addressed the fans and called out various wrestlers such as AEW Continental Champion Kazuchika Okada , AEW International Champion Will Ospreay and AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland . He would then be interrupted by Rush , leading to

5150-463: The Double or Nothing weekend of May, MJF legitimately no-showed a fan fest. This came after months of rumors about the backstage tension between MJF and AEW owner Tony Khan about MJF's contract and payment he felt he should have, as well as doing an interview with Ariel Helwani without telling management. On the June 1 episode of Dynamite , MJF cut a worked shoot promo about not being respected by

5253-513: The Dynamite Diamond Ring as a prize for defeating Page. On January 15, 2020, at Bash at the Beach , MJF teamed with The Butcher and The Blade to defeat DDP, Dustin Rhodes and Q. T. Marshall . MJF rekindled his rivalry with Cody, and lay down three stipulations that Cody must follow to gain a match against him at Revolution which included not touching MJF till the match happened, facing Wardlow in

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5356-550: The February 16, 2019 episode of Fusion , where he unsuccessfully challenged the new champion Teddy Hart for the World Middleweight Championship. After the match, Richard Holliday joined MJF in attacking Hart. As a result, the duo formed a team called The Dynasty and began feuding with the Hart Foundation . They were shortly after joined by the newcomer Alexander Hammerstone . He later won

5459-401: The June 14 episode of Dynamite . The match ended in an 30-minute time-limit draw. At Forbidden Door , MJF successfully defended the AEW World Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi . On the July 1 episode of AEW Collision , MJF successfully defended the AEW World Championship against Ethan Page . On the July 5 episode of Dynamite , MJF and Adam Cole were teamed together to participate in

5562-513: The May 11 episode by defeating Fred Yehi . He continued his success with an upset win over Montel Vontavious Porter at Intimidation Games . On July 29, MJF defeated Joey Ryan to become the first-ever World Middleweight Champion at the Battle Riot special. Later that night, MJF participated in the namesake match as the No. 38 entrant and was eliminated by the eventual winner Tom Lawlor . On

5665-456: The November 17 episode of Rampage when he accepted after Joe saved him from a beat down. On November 18 at Full Gear, MJF would both successfully defend the AEW World Championship against Jay White and the ROH Tag Titles with Joe against The Gunns, although MJF suffered a minor leg injury. On the following episode of Dynamite , MJF said he would defend the AEW World Championship against Joe that night, but Joe declined, opting to challenge MJF at

5768-523: The ROH World Tag Team titles against The Righteous ( Dutch and Vincent ) in a handicap match after Cole suffered a broken ankle . On October 25 episode of Dynamite , MJF successfully defended the Dynamite Diamond Ring for the fifth time against Juice Robinson . After the match, MJF was challenged by Kenny Omega to an AEW Championship match on the October 28 edition of Collision which MJF accepted. On Collision , MJF successfully defended

5871-663: The September 7, 2016 edition of CZW Dojo Wars, he returned to his previous ring name Maxwell Jacob Feinstein, he entered the Dramatic Destination Series tournament. On May 13, 2017, at CZW Sacrifices, Friedman defeated Johnny Yuma to win the CZW Wired Championship . He won his first title defense at CZW EVILution, defeating Trevor Lee . He successfully retained the title in further singles matches against Mike Del, John Silver, and Ace Romero. On October 14 at CZW The Wolf of Wrestling, Friedman lost

5974-573: The World Middleweight Championship on the November 9 episode of Fusion , where he successfully defended the title against Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta in a three-way elimination match. On November 25, Friedman revealed that he had suffered a fractured elbow with a recovery time of 4 to 6 weeks. MLW later announced that the Middleweight title has been stripped from Friedman due not being cleared in time for his scheduled title defense at MLW's live Fusion December 14 episode. MJF returned from his injury on

6077-424: The age of five, he appeared on an episode of The Rosie O'Donnell Show that aired in 2001, singing " You Are My Sunshine " after his parents submitted a tape of him singing it in an operatic style while eating a pear. After a video of his performance resurfaced in 2019, it was referenced as part of a wrestling storyline. During his interview with Rosie O'Donnell , Friedman said he aspired to be an opera singer and

6180-474: The attack of his "best friend" Cody by Inner Circle , attacking Santana and Ortiz with a steel chair seemingly turning face. At Full Gear , he accompanied Cody in his AEW World Championship match against Chris Jericho . Cody lost the match after MJF threw in the towel when he was caught in the Liontamer and as a result, Cody was no longer allowed to challenge for the AEW World Championship again due to

6283-467: The battle royal, earning himself and MJF a title match at Revolution. On the February 10 episode of Dynamite , following weeks of growing tension between MJF and Guevara, Guevara attacked MJF following a backstage confrontation, which gave MJF a kayfabe rib injury. Later on in the episode, following MJF and Jericho's victory against The Acclaimed ( Anthony Bowens and Max Caster ) in a tag team match , Guevara announced his departure from The Inner Circle. In

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6386-622: The debut of MLW Fusion in 2018 on beIN Sports USA , the promotion would once again resuming touring, returning to New York later that year. On September 18, 2018, MLW announced their debut in Chicago . On October 19, 2018, MLW announced that they would return to Florida to make their Miami debut. From Fall 2020 until 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , MLW would return to Gilt Nightclub in Florida to tape their programming behind closed doors . From July to December 2021, MLW programming

6489-671: The end of 2002, MLW began running two shows a month and, in 2003, multiple shows in a weekend were held in New York. The first time MLW left New York was December 20, 2002, for King Of Kings from the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida . The promotion primarily held events in Florida prior to closing its doors in 2004. MLW initially held shows in Florida since their revival in 2017. Soon after

6592-719: The event drew the highest attendance in MLW history, shattering the previous attendance record of 1,536 people for the June 20, 2003 event, Hybrid Hell , in Florida. On November 29, Bauer announced that Fusion would be broadcast live on beIN Sports on December 14. This coincided with their two-day television tapings in Miami: "Never Say Never" and "Zero Hour"; the live episode was an hour of "Zero Hour"'s events. MLW continued to air live Fusion specials throughout 2019, including SuperFight in February and Intimidation Games in March. The company brought former manager Jim Cornette on as

6695-543: The face with the Dynamite Diamond Ring . MJF then entered a feud with Jungle Boy , defeating him at Double or Nothing with a roll-up. On the May 27 episode of Dynamite , MJF unsuccessfully competed in a battle royal to face Cody for the AEW TNT Championship , being eliminated by Jungle Boy. At Fyter Fest , MJF and Wardlow were defeated by Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus . MJF then moved onto

6798-461: The fans and Khan. The segment ended with MJF demanding to be fired by Khan, calling Khan a "fucking mark ", his microphone being cut off, quickly fading to commercial, and the commentators not referencing the situation after the break. The next day, his profile was removed from AEW's website and his merchandise was pulled on AEW's merchandise site as part of the storyline. MJF made his return to AEW programming at All Out on September 4, 2022. Wearing

6901-575: The final two, before being eliminated by Adam Page . Friedman went on to compete in a four-way match against Page, Jimmy Havoc and Jungle Boy at Fyter Fest in June, which Page also won. The following month at Fight for the Fallen , he teamed with Shawn Spears and Sammy Guevara to defeat Havoc, Darby Allin , and Joey Janela in a six-man tag team match. On the first episode of Dynamite on October 2, Friedman defeated Brandon Cutler by submission. The following week on Dynamite , Friedman intervened in

7004-399: The first time as a member of The Inner Circle, where he gave a speech talking the struggles he overcame to get this far in wrestling, and then brought out a surprise birthday party for Jericho, the group's leader, which involved free tickets to Las Vegas and leading the crowd in a rousing rendition of " Happy Birthday ". On December 2, at Winter Is Coming , MJF once again became a contender for

7107-460: The group. However, he then revealed that he had been building his own group with Wardlow, Shawn Spears, Tully Blanchard and FTR ( Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood ), who appeared and violently attacked The Inner Circle. The stable would come to be known as The Pinnacle . At Blood and Guts on May 5, The Pinnacle defeated The Inner Circle in the inaugural Blood and Guts match . At Double or Nothing on May 30, The Pinnacle lost to The Inner Circle in

7210-482: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

7313-401: The lead-up to their match at Revolution, MJF and Jericho attacked The Young Bucks' father, Papa Buck, and bloodied him backstage, vowing to take the titles off them. At Revolution, however, MJF and Jericho were defeated by The Young Bucks. On the March 10, 2021 episode of Dynamite , MJF was kicked out from The Inner Circle after it was revealed that he was secretly planning to perform a coup of

7416-629: The likes of Jim Ross , Jim Cornette , Tommy Dreamer and Chris Jericho . Friedman began dating artist Naomi Rosenblum in 2020, and they were engaged in September 2022, but had broken up by February 2023. He started dating Canadian media personality Alicia Atout in February 2023, who is of Palestinian ancestry. In a statement to The Players' Tribune , in relation to the Israeli-Hamas war , Friedman said he did not "support terrorism , Zionism , genocide [and] genocidal governments , dead innocent Palestinians [and] dead innocent Israelis ". In

7519-556: The match, MJF in frustration would tease hitting Adam Cole with the AEW World Championship but eventually tossed the championship aside and embraced Cole in a hug, turning face for the first time in AEW and in his entire career. Despite the loss, MJF would grant Cole his rematch in the main event of All In while also challenging Aussie Open to a match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship on All In: Zero Hour. At All In, MJF would both successfully defend

7622-454: The network's programming and live feed to be carried on the service. However, due to a pre-existing exclusivity agreement with WWE, MLW programming was blacked out on Reelz's live feed on the service. On February 28, it was reported by Variety that MLW's deal with Reelz would conclude after 10 weeks. However, in a statement made to PWInsider, the network confirmed that "No decisions have been made by MLW or REELZ and we are both committed to

7725-469: The northeastern independent wrestling circuit. In April 2015, WWE uploaded his entry for WWE Tough Enough to their YouTube channel. He also appeared as an onscreen security guard during Samoa Joe 's entrance at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II in August 2016, during which he was pushed by Joe. Friedman worked under the new ring name Pete Lightning in several CZW Dojo Wars events since 2015, usually in tag team matches with Hous Blazer and Penelope Ford . On

7828-444: The now-defunct Lucha Libre promotion and television drama, Lucha Underground , into an angle involving IWA-PR. Talent formally associated with Lucha Underground were brought into MLW as part of the "Azteca Underground" stable. In April 2021, MLW announced a television deal with Vice TV . A block of MLW programming, including reruns of Fusion , began airing on Saturdays starting May 1. The agreement would further expand when it

7931-588: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling ( MLW )

8034-580: The premiere of MLW Fusion in April 2018. Following the closures and acquisitions of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as the WWE) in 2001, Major League Wrestling (MLW) was founded in 2002. Shortly after its founding, the promotion spent three months moving their headquarters from Philadelphia to New York . MLW styled itself as an alternative to WWE 's sports entertainment , following in

8137-668: The process. At Dynamite 250 on July 17, MJF defeated Ospreay and won the International Championship for the first time, in a match that finished only seconds short of the sixty-minute time limit. At Blood & Guts on July 24, MJF renamed the International Championship to the AEW American Championship with a brand new belt design that featured the colors of the American flag . Afterwards, he would be chased off by Ospreay who challenged him to

8240-473: The promotion highlighted many former ECW talents, such as Sabu , Terry Funk , Shane Douglas , and Steve Corino . This led to criticism of MLW for being an imitation of ECW in comparison to Ring of Honor , another Philadelphia-founded promotion that launched five months prior to MLW's formation. After shuttering in 2004 , Major League Wrestling would return in 2011 as a podcast network, initially focused on producing broadcast and digital content relating to

8343-636: The promotion's partnership with TrillerTV. On June 26, 2024, David Marquez (founder of Championship Wrestling and the United Wrestling Network ) was announced as MLW's new head of production. It was also announced that David Sahadi (who previously worked in TNA Wrestling ) has joined MLW's production crew. In the beginning, MLW would hold one show a month, originally from the Viking Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . By

8446-631: The promotion's programming library to the service. The partnership began on November 3, with the premiere of the Battle Riot IV event. MLW Fusion would return for a new season the following week on November 10. On January 20, 2023, MLW announced a new broadcast deal with Reelz in the United States, with a new weekly flagship show titled MLW Underground Wrestling premiering on February 7. In February, Reelz reached an agreement with NBCUniversal -owned streaming service Peacock for

8549-557: The ring for MJF, helping to make him the youngest AEW World Champion in the history of the company. On the November 30 episode of Dynamite , MJF discarded the standard AEW World Championship belt, calling it trash, and unveiled his own custom version, which he dubbed Triple-B, the "Big Burberry Belt". It features the exact same design as the standard belt; however, the leather strap is brown and fashioned in Burberry 's trademark check pattern to match MJF's signature Burberry scarf. Later in

8652-732: The same statement, he denounced Hamas as a "literal terrorist organization". Friedman is a fan of the New York Giants , New York Mets , and the New York Islanders . Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

8755-471: The same year, MLW announced it would run more shows in Orlando in 2018. Given the success of their independent outings, MLW was able to secure a television deal with beIN Sports for a new program, titled MLW Fusion , which debuted on April 20, 2018, on beIN Sports USA . Their first episode featured Pentagon Jr. against Fenix as the main event. In July 2018, the inaugural Battle Riot would air as

8858-436: The segment, MJF turned on Regal by attacking him, causing him to be taken to a nearby hospital thus ending their partnership. On December 14 at Winter Is Coming , MJF successfully defended the AEW World Championship against Ricky Starks and won the Dynamite Diamond Ring for the fourth time. On March 5, 2023, at Revolution , MJF defeated Bryan Danielson in the overtime of their sixty-minute Iron Man match, which had ended in

8961-452: The sibling Fox broadcast network. The suit also alleges that WWE pressured Vice TV to withdraw from negotiations with MLW. In February 2023, the lawsuit was dismissed due to a lack of "sufficient facts to plausibly allege a relevant antitrust product market" and that their "allegations are insufficient to plausibly allege a relevant product market." MLW was given 21 days to file an amendment to their lawsuit. On July 5, 2022, MLW announced

9064-492: The signings of PCO and Richard Holliday as full-time members of the roster on October 18. It was also reported that Court Bauer and several MLW executives would travel to Monaco for Sportel, with intentions of making a big push internationally. Also announced was a project between MLW and Spiff TV. On November 8, 2018, MLW held a Fusion television taping, named Fightland , in Chicago at Cicero Stadium. Bauer claimed that

9167-450: The special referee and being unsuccessful in his effort to cost Wardlow the match after Spears accidentally knocked him out; should Wardlow win, he would be officially released from his contract with MJF, but would be banned from obtaining a new AEW contract and be required to remain under MJF's employment should he lose. At Double or Nothing, MJF lost to Wardlow after ten powerbombs , MJF's first clean loss in singles action in AEW. During

9270-569: The title against Omega. On November 8 episode of Dynamite , MJF successfully defended the AEW World Championship against Daniel Garcia. On October 30, it was announced that MJF and a mystery partner would defend the tag title against The Gunns ( Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn ) during the Full Gear Zero Hour pre-show. He was offered by Samoa Joe to be his partner in exchange for a future AEW World Championship match, but MJF declined until

9373-454: The tradition of ECW. In 2003, MLW again moved their base of operations to Florida , and negotiated a deal with Sunshine Network to air a television series titled Underground TV , which ran between April 7, 2003, and February 14, 2004. The series was hosted by Joey Styles , later replaced by Kevin Kelly , and consisted of pre-taped matches from prior events. Furthering MLW's ties to ECW,

9476-580: The use of the IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Championship in MLW storylines. On August 18, 2019, MLW teased the formation of its women's division, later announcing its official launch on October 18, 2019. The division's first official match would be later held at MLW Blood and Thunder on November 9, 2019. On July 5, it was announced that MLW would hold its first pay-per-view event, Saturday Night SuperFight , which would be held on November 2. On July 26, MLW announced

9579-458: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

9682-484: The wrestling industry have praised him for his aggressive villainous character, largely due to his ability to blur the line between storylines and reality; he often insults fans and other non-professional wrestling celebrities on social media, and fellow wrestler Dasher Hatfield praised him for being able to "walk on the edge" and be a "heel without people calling him racist or homophobic". He has also been praised for his professionalism and skill, despite his young age, by

9785-433: Was Never Say Never on July 8. It would be MLW's first live broadcast since the 2019 Saturday Night SuperFight pay-per-view event, which was also carried by FITE. On the August 24, 2023 episode of Fusion , MLW announced a new partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling would begin at Fury Road on September 3, 2023. On December 11, 2023, MLW and WWE reached a settlement in the former's antitrust lawsuit. MLW's lawsuit

9888-438: Was announced on September 17 that Vice would air MLW Fightland as a television special on October 7. On the April 21, episode of MLW Fusion , Bauer announced that MLW's "new season" would begin with their July 10, 2021 event at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia , later revealed to be Battle Riot III , and it would be their first event since the pandemic to have a live audience in attendance. On April 29, 2021, MLW announced

9991-555: Was considered as MJF's "Support System" and when they were not supporting MJF, all of the members in The Firm would do their own thing. However, on the October 26 episode, MJF was attacked by The Firm, after he had fired Hathaway for disobeying his orders not to attack AEW World Champion Jon Moxley because he wanted Moxley at 100% for their title match at Full Gear . On November 19 at Full Gear, MJF defeated Moxley after using William Regal 's signature brass knuckles. Regal slid them into

10094-455: Was dismissed with prejudice on December 26, 2023. It would later be revealed in a 10-K filing of TKO Group Holdings , the holding company created by that year's merger of WWE and the UFC , that they had paid $ 20 million to MLW. In December 2023, SE Scoops reported that MLW was "overhauling" their front office. In January 2024, MLW would revamp their event schedule to air two events every month;

10197-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

10300-604: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

10403-424: Was revealed that Fusion would return on November 18 at 7pm EST and new episodes would also premiere on MLW's YouTube channel on the same night. In October 2020, MLW announced a "strategic alliance" with IWA-PR for the "celebration of inter-promotional events, direct support to the events of each of the companies and collaboration in other types of promotions". MLW would also began incorporating story elements from

10506-455: Was revealed that Joe feigned the injury and had been working with the Devil to set MJF up, after which, Joe hit MJF with a steel chair and delivered a muscle buster. At Worlds End on December 30, MJF lost the AEW World Championship to Samoa Joe, ending his reign at 406 days. After the match, MJF was attacked by Roderick Strong, Matt Taven, Mike Bennett and Wardlow, who revealed themselves as The Devil's Masked Men, with Adam Cole revealing himself as

10609-566: Was taped at the 2300 Arena from the promotion's home base in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion would resume a regular touring schedule later that year, beginning with their second joint show with The Crash Lucha Libre in December. Matches and segments from the 2022 Fightland event that were originally taped for Fusion were later repurposed for the promotion's new weekly series, MLW Underground Wrestling , which premiered on February 7, 2023 on Reelz . From late 2022, and throughout 2023, MLW would predominantly host events from

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