MJF’s knee injury is real, but he is already making it sound like he has no plans to slow down.
The AEW World Champion suffered a hyperextended left knee during his match against RUSH on the June 3 episode of AEW Dynamite. The injury was serious enough that MJF had to pull out of Beyond Wrestling’s June 5 event in Cranston, Rhode Island, where he was supposed to face Bobby Orlando.
That immediately got fans wondering how bad things were, especially with Forbidden Door coming up. Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that MJF’s knee was swollen and painful, but his plans for the pay-per-view were not in danger. The line given was that MJF was “1 million percent” doing whatever AEW has planned for San Jose.
Now MJF has given his own update, and he did it in very MJF fashion. MJF posted a video to Instagram showing himself in a cold plunge, where he confirmed that he hurt his left knee during the match with RUSH. He also got in a shot at RUSH while explaining what happened.
“Very recently I have hurt my left knee. I hyperextended it in a match against Roosh, who is a bad person. I think we can all agree on that.”
MJF then said the injury happened on Wednesday, and by Tuesday, the swelling had gone down a lot. That is a good sign, even though he admitted he is still dealing with pain and inflammation.
“This match happened on Wednesday. It is now, I believe, Tuesday and my inflammation in my knee has drastically gone down. Obviously there’s still a ton of inflammation and pain.”
The AEW World Champion credited his cold plunge with helping him feel better faster. He said he believes the recovery process would have taken longer without it.
“Being honest with myself, without this cold plunge, I do believe it would have took me a lot longer to start feeling like myself.”
MJF also made it clear that avoiding time off is the goal. Naturally, he framed that as something AEW needs because of what he brings to the company.
“I think Nordic Wave is going to be a big part of ensuring that I don’t have to take any time off, which is imperative for both my career and frankly the company of all elite wrestling ratings, ticket sales, pay per view buys, you name it, you’re welcome.”
He closed the video by putting over the cold plunge brand and dropping his usual line.
“My name is Maxwell Jacob Friedman. Nordic Wave is my go to for cold plunging and I’m better than you. And you know.”
MJF may still be dealing with swelling and pain, but this update makes it sound like things are moving in the right direction. His knee injury forced him off an independent booking, but all signs still point to him staying on track for whatever AEW has planned at Forbidden Door. For now, MJF is banged up, not out. That is good news for AEW, especially with Forbidden Door bringing together AEW, NJPW, CMLL, and STARDOM talent in San Jose.
What do you think about MJF’s injury update? Should AEW be careful with him before Forbidden Door, or is this just another bump in the road for the AEW World Champion? Leave your thoughts and feedback below.