MJF is done tolerating people trashing All Elite Wrestling without actually watching the shows — and he completely unloaded on critics while defending AEW’s current momentum.
While speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, MJF argued that AEW is currently producing the strongest in-ring product in professional wrestling and said the quality gap is not even remotely close right now: “We have, bar none, the best wrestling on television—not even close.”
He then doubled down and insisted that calling AEW “the best wrestling” is no longer just a company slogan but an objective reality: “I feel like it’s not just a tagline, like ‘best wrestling’—it’s a fact.”
MJF acknowledged AEW previously dealt with criticism because of legitimate issues and backstage drama in earlier years, but he believes that narrative no longer applies in 2026.
“It’s gotten to the point now, because of the black eyes that were created in the past, there was a time when people were saying ‘AEW is bad,’ and there was a reason for that because there was some bullshit going on.”
But according to MJF, critics no longer have anything real to point toward because the company is consistently delivering strong shows and growing financially.
“But in 2026, there’s nothing to say, man. We’re putting on great show after great show. Pay-per-view buy rates are up, and I’m about to be in the main event of the second biggest grossing domestic pay-per-view in the history of our company.”
The former AEW World Champion then shifted directly toward social media criticism and mocked people who continue claiming AEW is “bad” despite clearly not watching the product anymore.
“If you go to social media right now, if there’s a post that says ‘AEW is bad,’ it used to be like, ‘Yeah, you’re right, screw AEW.’”
MJF said the online reaction has noticeably changed because fans now immediately challenge those criticisms. MJF then broke down the kind of conversations he believes happen constantly online between AEW critics and actual viewers.
“Now it’s like, ‘Uh, you’re not watching the show.’ Then just say you’re not watching the show, because you’re clearly not watching the show.
‘Oh, I watch the show!’ Okay—what’s happening? ‘Uhh… bulls***.’ “Oh, okay—so you don’t watch the show.”
MJF’s comments come during one of AEW’s strongest business stretches in recent memory, with the company continuing to secure major gates, improved pay-per-view numbers, and increased momentum heading deeper into 2026.
Bottom line: MJF is making it very clear that he believes AEW criticism in 2026 is coming mostly from people who no longer even watch the product — and he has zero problem publicly calling them out over it.
Do you think MJF is right that many AEW critics are judging the company without actually watching the shows, or do you believe the criticism is still fair? Leave your thoughts below.
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