MJF Talks Cody Rhodes Smashing Triple H's Throne, Not Being Drawn To "Flippy Dudes"

MJF was one of the first names to sign with AEW earlier this year and he took part in the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing. MJF can thank his friendship with Cody for being on AEW's radar and he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast today about Cody smashing the Triple H-esque throne at DoN.

"I think the statement Cody was making was for himself," MJF said of Cody's intent, "and if you listen to the post fight interview, he wasn't digging anyone. He wasn't trying to stir the pot. That was for himself and was a cathartic thing for him. ?Cody Rhodes bared his soul at that PPV and that's why everyone in that audience was standing at the end and bawling their eyes out."

MJF also applauded Cody's match with Dustin for being a throwback and focusing on the right things.

"There is nothing in pro wrestling more important than drawing in an audience emotionally," revealed MJF. "Sure, you might get an 'ooh' and 'ahh' every couple of minutes. But if you can have somebody hook, line and sinker from the first bell to the second bell, that is the art of what we do. That is pro wrestling."

He was then asked if he considers himself to be a bit of a throwback wrestler.

"When I watch pro wrestling, I don't care for the flippy dudes and the let-me-run-myself-to-death guys or those that want to 'outathlete' you. I don't care about that. I come into the ring with one sole purpose. That is to win so I get the winner's purse and make more money than you," said MJF.

MJF says he grew up idolizing guys like Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard and others who epitomized what it meant to be a "wrestler."

"I gravitate towards that style of wrestling. When I come through the curtain, people aren't watching me because they wanna see moves. They're watching me because they wanna see me," said MJF.

"Sure everyone has 27 variations of a piledriver but not everyone has it and I was born with it. That's why it is the reason why I am going to be the only thing people talk about when it comes to AEW. That's why everyone is gravitating to me. Everyone is afraid to be a star, but I'm not afraid to be a star because I am one."

AEW is the first major promotion that MJF has been a part of and he was asked what other talents he's looking forward to wrestling.

"I look forward to wrestling everyone because [AEW] is filled with top stars and top-tier athletes," stated MJF. "You literally cannot go wrong ? that is the beauty of our roster. Most importantly, that's the beauty of me because if you put me with anybody, it's instantly a hit because everybody wants to see me wrestle."

MJF made his presence felt at the Jacksonville rally when he had a confrontation with Joey Janela.

"To me, the man that epitomizes everything wrong with independent wrestling would be the bad boy, Joey Janela," said MJF. "His bad breath, bad body, bad hair, bad life skills, bad in-ring work. Joey Janela attacked me because he is jealous. There is literally not any part of his game that he can approach me on. He cannot lace his boots, hold my microphone or successfully hold my jock strap. Joey Janela is the bane of my existence.

"He is a bug that I have not been able to stomp out yet. But I can assure you when that moment comes, I'm going to make sure that I not only beat the bad boy, I'm going to end the bad boy."

MJF then revealed his ultimate goal he wants out of this AEW experience.

"I wanna be the face of this promotion and I'm going to be the face of this promotion," stated MJF.

MJF is an active member of the AEW roster. He will be seen every week on TNT when AEW TV goes live each week this October.

Wrestling Inc's full interview with MJF was included as part of today's episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded player at the bottom of this post. In the full interview MJF discusses why he didn't lose the Casino Battle Royal at AEW's Double or Nothing, why he signed with AEW, who scripted his promo on Bret Hart, if he owes Chris Jericho a thank you, Jon Moxley's explosive interview with Chris Jericho, how he feels about Jerry Lynn and more.

You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.