JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In any relationship, things can turn toxic. But pro wrestling has seen very few relationships that have turned as toxic as the one between AEW megastars Adam Cole and MJF (Maxwell Jacob Friedman).
The two will face off this Saturday at AEW’s “World’s End” pay-per-view, which is being held in Orlando at Addition Financial Arena. Their match will be one of the main events.
Tickets are still available here.
The famous song from the band REO Speedwagon “Can’t Fight This Feeling” has a memorable line in it: “What started out as friendship has grown stronger.” That line is the opposite of what’s happened between Cole and MJF.
They were the best of friends in 2023 but that changed, and they are now mortal enemies.
In fact, they got so personal over the weekend that the two came to blows.
“He’s a terrible person,” Cole said of MJF in his interview with Going Ringside. “There’s a certain side to Max that a lot of people have seen and a certain side that a lot of people haven’t seen. But MJF is a massive danger not just to our locker room but to AEW as a whole.”
Beyond the feud with MJF, Cole also opens up on some big news for the Jacksonville-based wrestling company owned by Tony Khan, the son of Jaguars owner Shad Khan.
Recently, Variety reported AEW was worth north of $2 billion and put the younger Khan on its list of dealmakers of 2024.
This comes as AEW renewed its partnership with Warner Bros-Discovery and will soon start streaming its programming on Max. This is in addition to also airing on TBS/TNT.
(Note: The two most viewed Going Ringside episodes of 2024 were with AEW stars Swerve Strickland & Toni Storm)
“The progress that AEW has made in such a short time has been so exciting to watch,” said Cole about the company, which just celebrated its fifth birthday. “Being shown on Max is going to be one of the most exciting prospects.”
And AEW is making other media gains in mainstreaming the brand.
One way they’ve done that is through an unusual partnership with the social media stars “The Costco Guys.” The use of them on AEW programming has put AEW onto the mainstream radar. The company has been discussed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and Fox Business.
“I know I’m excited about it. The entire crew’s really excited about it,” Cole said. “It’ll be cool to go in this direction next year.”
Back to “World’s End,” there are more matches on the pay-per-view. Here’s a list of matches if you plan on watching on your TV or going to Orlando to watch in person:
- 4-way match for AEW Title with John Moxley (champ) vs Hangman Page vs Orange Cassidy vs Jay White
- “Tijuana Street Fight” between Mariah May and Thunder Rosa.
- AEW International Championship match between Konosuke Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs
- TBS Championship match between Mercedes Mone and Kris Statlander
- Also the “Continental Classic” semifinals and finals