MJF Says He’s Being Himself, Everyone Else Is Being Fake; Discusses Roddy Piper’s Influence
MJF is widely praised for never breaking character. Whether he’s flipping off kids or hurling insults at those less fortunate than him, he’s a heel in an era where wrestlers are heels on TV and are more kind when the light if off.
“I look at it like this: I’m being myself, everybody else in my industry is faking it,” MJF told Newsday. “There’s nothing fake about me. And I think there are some people that appreciate that. Even if they hate me, they appreciate the fact that I’m 100 percent authentically me.”
MJF has been in the spotlight since an early appearance on the “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” where he sang “You Are My Sunshine.” And since then, MJF knew he should be in the spotlight. And when it comes to wrestling, it may come as a surprise to learn that The Undertaker vs. Mick Foley from King of the Ring 1998 was what initially got him hooked.
“And then I just started digging deeper, you go on YouTube, you search the catalogs. I found this guy whose feet were up on the desk, he was chomping on gum real loud, you could tell he was talking to someone that was his boss but he didn’t seem to care. Once I saw Roddy Piper I knew exactly what I was going to be doing when I grew up,” he said.
MJF also explained that his plaid Burberry scarf is an homage to Piper.
MJF is coming off the biggest win of his career, having defeated Cody at AEW Revolution.
Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Dynamite beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
