Pro wrestler Maxwell Jacob Friedman is in Australia for AEW.Credit: Facebook
He wasn’t part of the company’s Australian debut when 11,000 people, myself included, packed the Brisbane Entertainment Centre last February, but it’s safe to say Australian fans made an impression.
“You guys definitely are very loud drinkers,” Friedman said.
“I would assume that everybody in that arena that night was drunk because you all were loud for people like [Canadian wrestler] Adam Copeland.
“I’d imagine with me coming in, an actual star, like a real big star, you guys are gonna sing my song like 10 times as loud.”
An entire arena singing Adam Copeland’s (FKA ‘Edge’) theme song a cappella after the entrance track finished was arguably the lasting image of All Elite Wrestling’s maiden voyage Down Under.
Copeland’s entrances from that moment onward, no matter where in the world, were met with similar efforts.
Australian wrestling fans’ laid-back attitude, combined with passion that can only come after decades of being deprived, lays the foundation for an environment MJF says is both desirable and rare.
“You guys just come to have fun,” he said.
“[When] the match starts, your arms aren’t crossed. It’s not ‘impress me’.
“In certain towns in America, there are crowds of people that feel like we owe them something and that we have to do some sick trick to get their attention.
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“That’s what I came up in at the tender age of 18, I had to impress the hardest wrestling fandom there is to impress, which is north-east independent professional wrestling fans.”
Friedman’s refreshing insight into his trials and tribulations doesn’t last long.
The consummate professional, he takes the opportunity to tout his own achievements and in his words, ‘shill’.
“Every crowd wants what I’m selling. Every crowd loves what MJF is doing,” he declares, with all the confidence you’d expect of a man holding around 10lbs of gold and diamonds.
“This is universal, this isn’t me being arrogant, it’s just the truth.”
A promo for the AEW Grand Slam in Sydney.Credit: AEW/Ticketek
It’s hard to deny Friedman’s gravitational pull.
It landed him in the orbit of comedy royalty and a big screen debut in arguably the most anticipated comedy sequel of all time.
In the span of six years, he’d gone from wrestling at PCYCs and bingo halls, to sharing the screen with Adam Sandler, playing his son Gordie in Happy Gilmore 2.
His rise, meteoric in any measurement, let alone in the mind of a Jewish kid from Long Island.
“It was surreal,” he admits.
“As a Jewish kid from New York, Adam Sandler’s kind of a God.
“[He’s] one of the most famous Jewish human beings, if not the most famous Jewish being of
all time, besides Albert Einstein.
“It was just wild to be within that man’s presence, how down to earth he is, how incredible his
family is.”
House Rules is in Brisbane on February 15.Credit: AEW/Ticketek
For a performer renowned for being ‘in character’ more than anyone else, the moment Friedman mentioned his Jewish upbringing was probably the closest I was going to get to the ‘real’ MJF.
After all, this is a man who on several occasions has blended wrestling with his religion.
He’s hosted in-ring bar mitzvahs, sported custom Hanukkah suits on holiday-themed live television episodes and openly spoke of a youth filled with antisemitic bullying.
The importance of main eventing the company’s first Sydney show isn’t lost on him, as it will take place exactly two months on since the Bondi attack.
“Horrible, horrible,” he says.
“They weren’t doing anything unjust. They weren’t making a political statement. They were just practicing their religion.”
Friedman’s wrestling attire usually contains the Star of David hidden in the details, a subtle message he likes to send to anyone watching who may be dealing with similar struggles he faced as a teenager.
“To be able to give people of my religion, somebody to like lean on and go, ‘no, screw you’.
“You can’t tell me that I suck because I’m Jewish, because MJF is the champion of the world.”
Ever the entertainer, the poignancy of the last few minutes subsides and we’re back to regularly scheduled programming.
All of a sudden, the interviewer becomes the interviewee as he looks for pointers on how to get under the skin of Australian fans.
He’s off to a good start, inferring that we still drink Foster’s (we do not) before looking toward State of Origin as inspiration for pissing off pretty much everyone.
“What colour should I wear in Sydney that would make people upset?” he asks.
Maroon, I respond.
“Can you write that down?” he gestures to his wife, Alicia, who’s sitting just off-screen.
“Maroon. He said ‘moron’ but he meant to say maroon.”
If I were a betting man, I’d wager MJF would have a pair of blue trunks readily available for the Brisbane show the next night.
Our conversation ends with him calling me a moron and me asking him to rate the custom shirt I wear to AEW events – it’s a picture of viral sensations Big Boom AJ, Big Justice and The Rizzler in a wrestling ring.
Nine News journalist Ned Balme’s shirt featuring Big Boom AJ, Big Justice and The Rizzler did not impress MJF.Credit: Ned Balme
He responded by hanging up on me.
What a scumbag.
AEW Grand Slam is at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on February 14.
AEW returns to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre with House Rules On February 15.
