Report: MJF is ‘leaning towards leaving AEW’ when his contract expires

MJF doesn’t hold back when talking about his AEW contract situation. He has claimed in interviews that his contract expires on Jan. 1, 2024, and Tony Khan will have to shell out the big bucks to keep him from leaving AEW for WWE.

After openly discussing that very topic with Ariel Helwani in March, follow-up reporting indicated that Tony Khan and MJF had a “heated discussion.” Khan apparently wasn’t upset with the content of the interview, but he was frustrated with MJF leaving AEW’s public relations team in the dark about it. MJF’s frustration was focused on money.

Fightful is now reporting that MJF is still frustrated with his AEW contract situation, and he is currently “leaning towards leaving AEW” when his contract expires. His comments about potentially departing AEW for WWE are a shoot. There has apparently been “some progress” on his future with AEW, including talks of an extension. But it sounds like his relationship with Tony Khan is more distant in the aftermath of their heated discussion.

Given rumors about WWE’s interest in signing MJF when he becomes a free agent, this could be a situation that is heavily influenced by the terms of AEW’s next television deal. If AEW secures a much bigger financial deal than their current one, Tony Khan is more likely to meet MJF’s asking price. If AEW doesn’t receive a substantial money increase in their next TV deal, Tony Khan might decide that he has enough high paid stars and it’s not imperative to keep MJF in the fold.