Former WWE star says he approached Tony Khan to work with MJF in AEW; his pitch was rejected (Exclusive)

A former WWE star recently revealed that he met with Tony Khan a few years ago and pitched to work with MJF in AEW. However, his pitch was rejected.

MJF has been one of the top stars of AEW since the company's inception in 2019. He is arguably one of the best homegrown talents and has proven himself to be one of the biggest heels in the wrestling business today. Consequently, even EC3 wanted to work with Maxwell.

Speaking on the latest episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws podcast with host Dr. Chris Featherstone, EC3 revealed that he pitched to work with Maxwell when he met with Tony Khan following his release from World Wrestling Entertainment. Former WWE head writer Vince Russo pointed out the similarities between MJF's current character in AEW and Ethan Carter III's TNA Wrestling gimmick, suggesting that Carter could have accused Friedman of infringing, leading to a feud between the two men.

"That's exactly what I pitched," EC3 said. [From 04:51 to 04:53]

The former WWE star further elaborated on this, stating that he pitched to have amnesia, which resulted in him returning to his 1% gimmick, which he used during his TNA Wrestling run.

"That pitch was like, yeah. You know, I put him [MJF] over because we both want to be the top guy and that's cool. And then we'll do whatever. Like, maybe EC3 gets knocked on the head and he has an amnesia and then here's the top 1% is back and he doesn't understand what is going on except this top 1% is bank cards are declined and the cars are repossessed. It's like, I don't know what's happening?" [From 07:50 to 08:12]

---

Vince Russo urges AEW to hire EC3 to feud with MJF

EC3 and MJF are quite similar in terms of mic skills and in-ring ability. They even share an identical gimmick. Hence, it would seem like a no-brainer that these two men would eventually meet in the ring for a feud. However, this has not happened.

Speaking on the same episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws podcast with Chris Featherstone, Vince Russo recalled watching the Maxwell vs. Jeff Jarrett segment on Dynamite and suggested that it is a no-brainer to have EC3 come in and feud with Friedman.

"The only reason I watched it was because Double J was on it. I haven't seen Jeff in a long time on that show, so I'm like, 'Let me watch this.' But you've got MJF (...) and to me it is such a freakin' no-brainer to have an EC3 come in and just accuse another wrestler of 1000% ripping off your gimmick."

It will be interesting to see if there is a possibility that EC3 will show up in AEW and feud with Maxwell Jacob Freidman.