AEW star MJF's former employer and Major League Wrestling (MLW) founder Court Bauer has given some insight into contract negotiations with the Long Islander.
Fightful Select reported that after asking the MLW founder to share his thoughts on Friedman's situation, Bauer revealed that he and MJF had very similar discussions to those being held between Tony Khan and the star.
The report continued by stating that MJF felt his value wasn't truly reflected in his contractual payscale, as he negotiated with Bauer. However, unlike the ongoing situation with AEW, MJF and MLW reached an agreement and "things went well" afterward. The negotiations between Bauer and Friedman were smooth, and the MLW founder admitted that giving the star a pay raise wasn't a difficult decision.
MJF hasn't featured on All-Elite programming since his explosive promo mirroring CM Punk's 2011 'Pipebomb'. During the tirade, Friedman called Tony Khan a "mark" and demanded that his boss fire him. He last wrestled against Wardlow at Double or Nothing, where he suffered a very one-sided loss.
A former MLW personality spoke about what it's like working with the AEW star
Salina De La Renta recently spoke about what it was like working with The Salt of the Earth during their time on the indie circuit. The comments came during an exclusive interview with Dr Chris Featherstone on UnSKripted.
"Weirdly enough, I managed him at one point back when we were on the indies and it was like we we're starting, but it was on F.I.P, it's a show here in Florida. And then after that, we both got picked up for MLW and then we we're like 'oh, Hi, I know you." Salina said. [From 24:40 - 24:59]
MJF enjoyed significant success prior to joining Tony Khan's promotion. He captured the MLW World Middleweight and Tag Team titles, and CZW World Heavyweight and Wired Championships.
It will be interesting to see whether the issues between Friedman and AEW can be resolved, and if he returns to programming in the near future.