History Wrestling / MJF

* CallBack: At ''AEW All Out 2023'', as Samoa Joe walked down to the ring following Max and Adam Cole's tag team match, he pushed Max aside. At ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}} [=TakeOver=] Brooklyn: II'' during 2016, Joe shoved Max as he made his way out to the ring for his NXT Championship match when MJF was an extra. This time, however, Max took exception as he's the defending AEW World Champion and attacked Joe.

** "When you're in Wrestling/ThePinnacle... you're always on top." Obviously retired after the disbandment of the pinnacle.

** "Nobody is on the level of the devil."
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Important rule; never trust Max. In the span of four years, he has been associated with four different factions (Nightmare Family, Inner Circle, Pinnacle, and Firm) but all except The Firm came crashing down after betraying them or his poor treatment towards the other members—and that one was only because he had them "on retainer" and was never an official member. Even when Lord Regal helped him win the AEW World Championship, Max repaid his generosity with a brass knuckles punch to the back of Regal's head. He even has the Rolling Cutter as a finisher, naming it Double Cross to serve as a reminder of his betrayal of Cody Rhodes. [[CharacterDevelopment However, since his face turn, he has become leagues more trustworthy.]] As of November 2023, he has not betrayed Adam Cole despite Adam injuring his neck with a tombstone piledriver, and he did not attempt to screw over the Acclaimed in any way after they came to his aid against Bullet Club Gold.

->"None of you are on the level... of '''''the DEVIL!'''''"

* BlasphemousBoast: Declared himself "better than [[Literature/BookOfExodus Moses]]", and has also repeatedly said that he is "the Devil himself" during his feud with Wrestling/CMPunk as a reference to a Wrestling/RingOfHonor promo of his where he did the same. Since, one of his favorite catchphrases is “No one is on the level of The Devil.”
* BrokenPedestal: His feud with Wrestling/CMPunk draws on this. MJF says that he used to look up to Punk when he was a kid, but Punk has become a "corporate product" that ruined MJF's dreams. At one point, MJF said that Punk "may as well come out here preaching [[Wrestling/JohnCena hustle, loyalty, and respect]]". However, that's just smokescreen for the ''real'' reason he hates Punk -- he never forgave Punk for leaving professional wrestling and staying away for seven years, as Punk was his hero and his inspiration for becoming a wrestler in the first place.

** He will usually find a way to insert into his promos how he's the "salt of the earth." He does it less often as of 2023 though.
** He usually [[SigningOffCatchphrase ends his promos]] with "I'm better than you...''and you know it!''"

->"None of you are on the level... of '''''The DEVIL!'''''"

* AntiVillain: Has shades of both the [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Woobie]] (grew up a bullied and disabled teen without any friends, whose love for Wrestling was the only thing that kept him together) and [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-intentioned]] (wants to turn AEW into the world's largest wrestling company and topple the WWE, [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist but]] with [[ItsAllAboutMe him at the top]]) variety.

* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: He was a bullied, disabled Jewish kid growing up. Now he is probably the ''biggest'' bully on the AEW roster.
* BerserkButton: After becoming AEW World Champion, he freaks out if anybody so much as touches his belt.
* BigBad: MJF rests comfortably on the throne as the near universally hated AEW World Champion, and will sabotage or betray anyone in the company to ensure he remains at the top.

* TheBully: Puts down various personnel on the AEW roster, such as Brandon Cutler, Wrestling/TonySchiavone, and Conrad Thompson.

** He will usually find a way to insert into his promos how he's the "salt of the earth."

** "When you're in Wrestling/ThePinnacle... you're always on top."

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Important rule; never trust Max. In the span of four years, he has been associated with four different factions (Nightmare Family, Inner Circle, Pinnacle, and Firm) but all except The Firm came crashing down after betraying them or his poor treatment towards the other members—and that one was only because he had them "on retainer" and was never an official member. Even when Lord Regal helped him win the AEW World Championship, Max repaid his generosity with a brass knuckles punch to the back of Regal's head. He even has the Rolling Cutter as a finisher, naming it Double Cross to serve as a reminder of his betrayal of Cody Rhodes.

** Attempted to become this to Wrestling/AdamCole after being paired together as part of the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament. Adam was well aware that MJF wasn't being genuine, but played along due to MJF being easier to deal with that way. As the tournament progressed however, the friendship grew genuine on both ends.

* FinishingMove: Salt of the Earth (a Fujiwara armbar), Heat Seeker (a rope assisted pile driver), Double Cross (a rolling cutter directly based on Wrestling/CodyRhodes' Cross Rhodes).

* FireForgedFriends: With Wrestling/AdamCole. The two couldn't stand each other initially, and were ''not'' happy about being assigned as tag-team partners during the Blind Tag Team Eliminator tournament after their match against each other. The both of them initially pretend to be friends with each other for their own benefit, but begin to genuinely bond as the tournament progresses. It culminates in MJF allowing Adam Cole to have a rematch with him at the end of the tournament, regardless of the outcome.

* GenreThrowback: Much of his character is a tribute to the old-school {{jerkass}} heels of the 80's and prior, down to his strict adherence to {{kayfabe}}.

* HeelFaceTurn: Slowly shown signs of pulling one off as a result of bonding with Wrestling/AdamCole. The turn was eventually completed after the two lost against [[Wrestling/TheRevival FTR]], MJF rejecting his initial instict to strike Adam from behind with his belt, and later praising FTR for the match and burying the hatchet with them. And as of All In 2023, MJF appears to have solidified himself as a reformed man. In spite of Cole's willingness to take liberties against him, Max refused multiple opportunities to return the favor, tried desperately to console Cole after Max's victory, and even offered himself up for belt attack after feeling that Cole had betrayed him. He’s still willing to use heelish tactics though. As the man says himself, he is a scumbag, but he is now the people’s scumbag.

* IGaveMyWord: Despite being a self-admitted scumbag, if MJF promises something will happen, more often than not, said thing will happen. This usually will happen in regards to him promising to beat an opponent in a particularly silly manner such as beating Darby Allin with the aforementioned headlock takeover or winning the ROH Tag Team Championship with a Kangaroo Kick.

* ItsPersonal: With CM Punk. As revealed during the build up to ''Revolution'', MJF's rivalry with Punk isn't just some standard disrespectful rookie/venerated veteran rivalry that it was initially presented as. MJF loathes Punk in a deep and unrelenting fashion, having never forgiven his former idol for abandoning professional wrestling to the point that it briefly caused MJF to abandon his own dreams of becoming a wrestler himself. For all that he played at his rivalry with Punk being "beneath" him, it turns out Punk had him pegged from the start-- he's an obsessed fan who holds a massive grudge against his rival for "leaving" him.
* {{Jerkass}}: As a {{heel}}, MJF is a proud, unapologetic asshole who likes to run his mouth. The impressive part is that he never drops this even [[{{Kayfabe}} outside the ring]]. Even as a babyface, he cheats during his matches and openly calls himself a scumbag.

** This lessened to a ''very'' small degree after his face turn. While he still generally maintains kayfabe, he has dropped the mask from time to time, notably when discussing antisemitic bullying he faced in school.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: MJF was once a normal kid with several learning disabilities that was mercilessly bullied because he was a jew, and whose love of Pro wrestling was the only thing that got him through those tough times. Suffice to say, this isn't the case anymore.

* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Defeated Wrestling/JayWhite at the main event of ''Full Gear 2023'', not only delivering Jay his first singles match loss in AEW, but also being the first person in the company to pin him at all.

* {{Jerkass}}: As a {{heel}}, MJF is a proud, unapologetic asshole who likes to run his mouth. The impressive part is that he never drops this even [[{{Kayfabe}} outside the ring]].

* CombatPragmatist: MJF won't hesitate to use any trick or item to get the win, whenever it's by wearing his diamond ring, using his championship belt, or even an oxygen tank to hit his adversaries.

* {{Catchphrase}}:

* InvincibleVillain: MJF surprisingly has an impressive win-lose record in AEW since its establishment, with only six losses, two of them are from Shawn Dean which are the results of disqualification and count outs due to outside interference.

* AHeroToHisHometown: MJF is despised the world over... except in Long Island. When AEW went there, the crowd cheered him and booed ''Wrestling/CMPunk'' à la Wrestling/BretHart and Wrestling/DGenerationX in Canada.

[[caption-width-right:350:The Devil Himself.]]

* SatanicArchetype: Max has claimed on more than one occasion to be "the Devil himself!" It's caught on to the point that "The Devil" has begun to overtake "The Salt of the Earth" as his RedBaron.

* HeelFaceTurn:
** Slowly shown signs of pulling one off as a result of bonding with Wrestling/AdamCole. The turn was eventually completed after the two lost against [[Wrestling/TheRevival FTR]], MJF rejecting his initial instict to strike Adam from behind with his belt, and later praising FTR for the match and burying the hatchet with them. He’s still willing to use heelish tactics though. As the man says himself, he is a scumbag, but he is now the people’s scumbag.
** As of All In 2023, MJF appears to have solidified himself as a reformed man. In spite of Cole's willingness to take liberties against him, Max refused multiple opportunities to return the favor, tried desperately to console Cole after Max's victory, and even offered himself up for belt attack after feeling that Cole had betrayed him.

* ReformedButNotTamed: While he became a nicer person as a result of Adam Cole's influence, he remains as egotistical and prone to making offensive comments as ever. Or as he put it when addressing the fans in an August 2023 promo:

* HateSink: He's a complete asshole who likes to run his big mouth, who likes to beat and bully the older members of the AEW roster, who personally insults kid fans and lacks a FreudianExcuse or PetTheDog moments. Is it really surprising that even the smark-heavy AEW fanbase absolutely ''loathes'' him and that he generates genuine heel heat? While his interactions with CM Punk ultimately revealed that he ''did'' have a StartOfDarkness, his brutal beating of Punk before their match at ''Revolution'' after luring him into a false sense of security, capped off by calling Punk a "stupid old man", proved that he'd long become heinous enough that FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse and pushed him back into this territory.

* AbortedArc: MJF is supposed to continue his feud with CM Punk for the AEW World Championship after ''All-Out 2022'' but because of Punk's backstage altercation with the Elite, he was stripped of the title. Luckily for Max, Punk's replacement, Jon Moxley, is another person he has past issues.

* BlasphemousBoast: Declared himself "better than [[Literature/BookOfExodus Moses]]", and has also repeatedly said that he is "the Devil himself" during his feud with Wrestling/CMPunk as a reference to a Wrestling/RingOfHonor promo of his where he did the same.

* EliteFour: He coined in a promo the title "The Four Pillars" (inspired by the legendary "Four Pillars of Heaven" in Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling) to describe AEW's top four future stars -- himself, Wrestling/DarbyAllin, Jungle Boy and Wrestling/SammyGuevara. He does, of course, rate himself as the top among them, having already scored wins over Jungle Boy and Sammy when he cut the promo, and then beating Darby in their subsequent confrontation at ''Full Gear 2021''. Wrestling/CMPunk would invoke and exploit this during his feud with MJF, removing MJF from the equation and instead inserting his own preferred wrestler, Wrestling/BrittBaker.

--->'''MJF''': I'm still a scumbag, don't get me wrong. But, I'm ready to be ''your'' scumbag.

** Slowly shown signs of pulling one off as a result of bonding with Wrestling/AdamCole. The turn was eventually completed after the two lost against [[Wrestling/TheRevival FTR]], MJF rejecting his initial instict to strike Adam from behind with his belt, and later praising FTR for the match and burying the hatchet with them.