Insight with Chris Van Vliet
MJF's Most Honest Interview Ever: CM Punk Feud, WWE Rumors, Dream Matches, AEW Champ, Getting Married
12 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What does MJF reveal about his AEW World Title reign?
Well, great to see you again, Max.
I got to tell you, kid, this is very official. How long you been doing this?
Uh,
A little while. A little while. Very cool. This is full circle, right? Because our first interview together was seven years ago here in Las Vegas. And here we are back in Vegas. Come again? The Double or Nothing, first show we did.
I've never met you before. This is definitely the first time I've done this. I mean, it's, it's cute.
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Chapter 2: How did MJF's rivalry with CM Punk shape his career?
I'm not, it's like, it's a little rinky dink, you know, you got these like $25 Amazon stage lights, but I, you know, you got, you got different camera angles. It's, you know, you might have something here, but I, yeah, there, there's no way. I mean, you're saying we've met before. Do I, do I look different? Maybe. I feel like... Yeah, I just... I don't... No. No. Chris. Chris.
MJF. Great to meet you.
But you already knew that. CVV. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no.
Chapter 3: What insights does MJF share about the differences between WWE and AEW?
No, no, no. No? It's only one guy in this interview has three letters. That's it. No, it's MJF and you're Chris.
Chris. Yes, Chris. Well, we have done this before. I just haven't seen you in a while. I don't remember that. You've been really busy.
Yeah. Yeah. Movie star, world champion, greatest wrestler on God's green earth. I'm a busy boy.
Chapter 4: What is MJF's ultimate dream match and why?
I will say that you are a man of your word. Yeah. Because you said that we would do another interview when you were the AEW champion. And here you are.
I don't remember any of that. But it sounds like me. You know? When I set a goal... about 110% of the time I achieve it. For example, when I was five years old, I was on the Rosie O'Donnell show, and I said I was going to be a professional wrestler. And here we are. You said opera singer? Yeah. Or professional wrestler?
I'd say one out of two ain't bad, but to be fair, to be fair, I was told to say opera singer for the cameras.
Chapter 5: How did MJF's childhood experiences influence his wrestling journey?
That was not something I had any interest in whatsoever. What do you remember from that day with Rosie O'Donnell? She was a big woman, and she smelled... Outside of that, I was given Shrek ears, WWF restaurant tickets. The restaurant shut down before I could go, which was typical Rosie O'Donnell. I want something. I want money, something.
And I was given a lot of strawberry Dunkin' Donuts, which that was my mom must have told her those were my faves because they were at the time.
It's so interesting that at five years old, you're saying, I want to be a wrestler. Yeah. Was that when the goal started?
It's all I've ever wanted to be, that and an actor, truly since I was a young, young, young boy. And I don't know, man. There's always just been something about me. When you tell me I can't do something,
Chapter 6: What role does MJF see himself playing in the future of professional wrestling?
I imagine nine out of 10 people, maybe 9.999 out of 10 people would be like, all right. And I just, ever since I was little, that's just not something I can relate to. I was born with a chip on my shoulder, like the size of, Antarctica. It's ingrained in my DNA. Why, I don't know. It just is. So if you tell me I can't, I do.
So you're the type of person, if I tell you you can't do it, you look for a way to make it happen?
Yes, I look for a way to make it happen. I live on spite and hate. It drives me. Truly. I'd love to sit here and pretend like I'm just saying that for the cameras. Like, no, it's a very real thing.
Chapter 7: How does MJF balance his wrestling career with acting?
And I don't know if it has to do with my upbringing or what, but I think I've been driven to go down as legitimately one of the all-time greats simply because people... Wanted to deny a dream. At what point in your life do you feel like people were trying to deny this? Oh, my entire childhood up until the time I was 18. You know, pro wrestling... right now is pretty, pretty hot.
It's white hot, you know, between us and WWE and impact. And there's, there's a lot of great independence now. Like it's when I was a kid, it was a cold bit of a cold period. Like Cena, Cena was, didn't get the ball exactly yet. You saw a lot of tarpon drape, you know what I mean? So like, people in my friend circle and I would bring it up.
It was something to be made fun of for having being severely neurodivergent and having probably the world's worst attention deficit disorder, which I still have to this day, but I've learned, I've learned how to use it. Um,
Chapter 8: What personal milestones is MJF looking forward to in his life?
didn't help. That caused a lot of bullying in school. Being Jewish certainly caused a ton of anti-Semitic bullying in school. Coaches, because I was on the smaller side, especially when I was younger, didn't expect me to be able to excel in sports. Teachers didn't expect me to be much of anything in the classroom. So I pretty much just had doors slammed in my face from the time I was born to
All the way until the time I jumped into this. And then when I jumped into this, it got even worse because I busted my ass to become like a legitimate premier athlete in high school that had multiple Division I scholarship offers. What sport? Football. I was a middle linebacker. I broke the record in tackling in my high school. I was an all-state middle linebacker.
At the time, 5'9", which was unheard of. But again, that's because people looked at me and they said, oh, you're Jewish and you're short. This isn't going to happen. And I was like, okay, I'll fucking bite. I will bite people if that means I'm tackling them to the ground because you just said that, right? If you have the ball, I'm going to hurt you. And then when I entered wrestling...
I'm a loud dude. I'm unapologetic about how great I know I am. And people don't, people don't care for that. People like humble. I think humble, humble boards me. Humble doesn't, doesn't feel right to me. Humble to me has always been worse than being cocky. I'm honest about what I think about myself.
Every time somebody goes, I'll watch interviews with famous athletes and they're like, oh, it's the team. And they're the ones that threw up 50 points in the game. Is it the team, bro? You're annoying me. Just be honest. You're carrying them to the promised land. No different than how I'm carrying AEW to the promised land. Since I've won that championship, ticket sales, up. Ratings, up.
Intrigue, up. The level of competition in the world title scene, up. Um, we're hot right now, man. People are talking about all elite wrestling in a very positive way. And there was a period of time there where everybody was talking, restore the feeling, restore the feeling. I am the feeling. I'm the feeling. I'm the feeling. I'm the face. I'm the main character. I'm MJF.
When people think of AEW, they think of me. And the reason I have a chip on my shoulder when I say that, and the reason I'm not going to be humble about it is because people constantly want to deny me of what I've accomplished in the sport. And you can't do that because I'm a proven draw. I'm a proven top act. I'm a movie star. I'm a top guy.
I've had some of the greatest matches, moments, promos, rivalries in the modern era. Hell, probably in the history of the sport. And I do all of that because I think some people chase the hug. That's not why I do it. I think what I'm chasing is vindication and validation for the child that was told, who do you think you are?
Probably. For a lot of people, it's just having a wrestling match. It's just getting signed somewhere. That's not enough for me. If I don't have... One will never be enough.
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