They say absence melts the heart, but does that old adage really apply to MJF, the ultra-mega heel performer who hasn’t been on AEW television since June 1, when dynamite was streamed live from the “Fabulous” Kia Forum?

Ever since he launched into a swearing tirade about his booking in the company, his contract and his admiration for WWE, asking his ‘brand’ boss Tony Khan to fire him in the process , MJF was removed from all promotional material by edict from Warner Bros. superiors. Discovery and the promotion have largely progressed without a massive hole in their weekly booking. On the contrary, MJF’s absence was largely mitigated by a series of incredibly exciting developments both planned and not so much, like, between CM Punk’s injury, the interim title belt, the preparation of Forbidden Doorand the arrival of NJPW stars like Will Ospreay, El Desperado, and Tanahashi, the amount of exciting new content is enough to make your head spin.

Where would MJF even fit into the Forbidden Door image? Would he be booked on the show against an NJPW star like, say, Tetsuya Naito, or would it have been a slow time for the fast-talking Long Island native anyway? Well, when asked about his former enemy on TalkSPORT Along with Alex McCarthy, Chris Jericho had a lot to say about MJF’s future which is both predictable and nuanced.

Chris Jericho thinks MJF should stay in AEW but understands if he leaves.

Chris Jericho is a very smart speaker. He’s been a master of the mic for years now and over time has gotten on with his words as often as his in-ring work, so let’s see what Jericho himself has to say about MJF’s situation, the how reserved he would be in The Fed to his freedom in AEW, and even the understandable nature of wanting to try something new, as transcribed by the fine folks at Fighter.

Oh absolutely [his character would be watered down in WWE]. Better to stay in AEW. But, again, don’t put your finger in the socket. You tell a little child not to do this and he will do it to see what happens. I’m not going to tell anyone not to go somewhere else because I did. I did for years. I did it to come to AEW. I left WWE. When I signed my AEW contract, Vince McMahon was like, ‘Can you get away with this?’ – No, you told me to go here! The same thing happened when I left WCW to come to WWE. Sometimes you have to take a chance and if you believe in yourself and feel like you are not getting your due then you have to go somewhere else.

Alright, alright, alright, there’s a lot to unpack there. In an interview that also featured Jericho detailing his ongoing contract in 2024, ‘The Painmaker’ claimed that MJF’s character would likely be watered down in WWE, which makes sense given Vince McMahon’s heavy hand on the sheet. reservation. Jericho eventually left WWE and WCW before her because he wanted to be booked in a different way than his then-organization believed was the right move, and time and time again, born artist Christopher Keith Irvine has been vindicated in his desire to pursue something different. , even if that included temporarily leaving wrestling to pursue outside projects like Fozzy or acting roles in McGruber, Dark side of the ringand the Jay and Silent Bob reboot.

And yet, on the other side of the coin, if anyone understands wanting to leave a good situation to seek a better one, it’s Jericho. He could have returned to WWE in 2018, but he chose to take his talents elsewhere and parlayed a fantasy feud with Kenny Omega in New Japan into the top heel spot in AEW, which was then a Pay-Per Promotion. -View only without a TV contract. Although MJF doesn’t necessarily end up in the same opportunity as Jericho, as he’s a star performer in a fully formed AEW who would likely end up becoming a champion before his current contract expires, if he’s miserable in his current role. , This is not the case. is going to improve if he sits at home on hold or gets thrown up the card on the same contract.

When Forbidden Door is coming to an end, maybe MJF will be back. Maybe AEW is freezing MJF for the summer and hoping to bring him back this fall to pop some notes from playoff baseball? Either way, if Chris Jericho has a say in it, the two sides will get together again and make some money in the future.