When AEW was established as a full-time brand, MJF wasn’t a household name, but it could now be argued he’s wrestling’s last irredeemable heel. He’d established himself in CZW and MLW, but his moniker wasn’t featured as highly on the marquee as the Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, or even Joey Janela in the early days of All Elite Wrestling. That began to change once he aligned himself with Rhodes in 2019, only to turn on him at AEW Full Gear. That kicked off a star-making feud that propelled MJF to totally new heights as a bad guy.
Wrestling is chock full of tweeners and kinda’ faces. Even the likes of Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe have floated to the middle—the former even getting locked into multiple comedy angles in WWE—while acts like Adam Cole and Kenny Omega bounce between heel and face as needed. That’s typically the norm, with wrestlers being moved from one end of the spectrum to the other as needed. AEW usually does a better job of explaining the motives than WWE, but the list of truly bad guys is a short one.
It could even be argued that there’s only one name on that list at all, and it’s MJF. Chris Jericho does dastardly things in AEW these days, but it’s hard to see him as a true heel when fans sing his entrance music when he walks to the ring. Sammy Guevara has been getting great heat lately, but he’s coming off of a short-and-sweet run as a face. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s just that MJF hasn’t spent any time on the light side of the force, and it’s hard to imagine him ever leaving the dark side. Hence the question: even if he wanted to break good, could he? There’s just something about MJF that makes him such a fantastic heel. When he speaks down to the crowds, it feels like he means it. When he calls the crowd a bunch of hicks or insults their mothers, it’s with such vitriol and savagery that it feels real.
He virtually never breaks character either, bringing an old-school Undertaker-esque commitment to his appearances. When MJF speaks to wrestling reporters, he does it in character. When MJF signs autographs for little kids, he does it with the same snide attitude that he carries while performing for AEW. And when MJF gets another wrestler in his sights, all bets are off. He’s made fun of Cody Rhodes for his lisp, claimed that he was going to put Darby Allin in a wheelchair like Lex Luger, and made light of Bret Hart getting attacked by a fan. These aren’t isolated incidents when things got personal between MJF and his one opponent. Everything feels personal when MJF shoots, and it’s left him in the unique spot of being the One True Heel left on televised pro wrestling.
It’s tough to even fantasy book a situation where MJF is able to redeem himself fully for how he’s acted since breaking through in AEW. Usually, fans will organically come around to the side of a heel, turning them face naturally. That’s when they’re too cool to dislike, as in Adam Cole or Attitude Era Stone Cold Steve Austin. MJF rubs his coolness in the face of the audience, though, using it to alienate them and elevate himself. It’s led him to a place where he may very well be irredeemable, even though he’s just 26.
