Top champion reveals they almost got AEW thrown off television: "I am not exactly a company man"

AEW has been pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable on a nationally televised wrestling show since 2019, but one segment from the summer of 2022 may have landed the company in hot water.

The segment involved current AEW World Champion MJF, who was embroiled in a controversial contract dispute with the company last year. On the June 1 edition of Dynamite, The Salt of the Earth took to the ring with a microphone and went on an eight-minute rant filled with passionate obscenities, many of them directed at company president Tony Khan.

In a recent interview with WrestlePurists, MJF was asked why he never confronted CM Punk over his "real" AEW World Championship on Collision. Despite the fact that Friedman was actually the company's world champion, he indicated that he didn't feel the need to defend All Elite Wrestling from Punk, illustrating that he nearly got AEW thrown off Warner Bros. Discovery programming with his inflammatory promo:

"I never commented on it. I'll tell you why. I am not exactly a company man. I almost got our company thrown off of Turner after I called Tony a f*cking mark. So I won't sit here and tell you I'm a company man," said MJF. [H/T Fightful]

Check out the full interview below:

MJF went on to say that he was happy to let Punk hold his version of the title, as he believes it helped the Saturday show draw viewers.

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AEW World Champion MJF looks back on his rivalry with CM Punk

The feud between MJF and CM Punk from early 2022 remains a favorite among fans, and it seems that The Salt of the Earth is proud of it as well.

In the same interview, MJF gave his thoughts on the rivalry and its climax in the now-infamous dog collar match at AEW Revolution 2022, claiming that it was one of the best feuds of all time:

"To me, it wasn't business. It was life. I know it was life to Phil, too, and I think that's why that rivalry is going to go down as one of the best of all time, and I'm proud of it," he said. "Am I proud of some of the sh*t that I did during that time period? I don't know. I kind of got pushed to the edge, so I'm not going to just f*cking sit here and tell you that I didn't mean anything I did because I did. I've grown a lot since then, both as a professional wrestler and a person."

MJF further stated that he would be happy to show the bloody Dog Collar match to his future children:

"I think when I'm an old man and, God f*cking willing, I find a woman to put up with my bullsh*t that will let me impregnate them, and I'm sitting there with my kids, I can be like, 'Hey, check out this Dog Collar Match. Check out this moment here,' because I feel like it's a rivalry that will stand the test of time." [H/T Fightful]

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Do you think MJF should have confronted CM Punk before the latter was fired from the company? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!