With newcomers Trick Williams, Oba Femi and Je’Von Evans on the rise, and active legends Randy Orton, CM Punk and Roman Reigns still competing at a high level, the WWE main event roster is in great shape.
From top to bottom, the current WWE roster is arguably the deepest since the 2000s.
Still, the pro wrestling giant is always looking for more talent and tried to recruit one of its competitors’ biggest stars.
According to WWE Hall of Famer Brian “Road Dogg” James, the company made several attempts to poach away current AEW World Champion MJF. Up until March, James served as the co-lead writer for SmackDown, where the company envisioned MJF rivaling the likes of Cody Rhodes.
“Yes, a couple times (there were discussions about wanting to bring MJF to WWE).” James was asked why it didn’t happen, and he said, “We didn’t do it… It was always at a pivotal time and he always had something better to fall down on.”
AEW Star Repeatedly Turned Down Multi-Million WWE Offers
HeavyMJF turned down several offers to join WWE
MJF has publicly stated that he rejected WWE offers in the past. During an interview with wrestling savant Chris Van Vilet, MJF named himself the “greatest” wrestler to never appear on WWE programming.
“Yeah, it’s not even close,” MJF said when asked if he’s the best wrestler without a WWE match. “Before me, the answer would have been Sting. But then he wrestled there.”
@chris.vanvliet MJF says he’s the best wrestler to never wrestling in WWE #aew #wwe #wrestling #mjf
Additionally, MJF stated that AEW has the better matches and pay-per-views and urged WWE faithful to “give us a watch.”
“If you haven’t watched us yet, I truly do not know what you are waiting for,” MJF said. “We make gourmet food. We have the best matches and the best pay-per-views. It’s not even close…. give us a watch.”
MJF Admits He Would Be a Massive Star in WWE
While he seems content with his role and position in AEW, MJF isn’t ignorant of the fact that he could be a megastar in WWE.
WWE has paced American pro wrestling in ratings since the conclusion of the heralded “Monday Night Wars” with WCW in the 1990s.
SmackDown, the iconic wrestling show WWE envisioned for MJF, has consistently generated over 1 million weekly views over the last year, according to Wrestlenomics.
Meanwhile, AEW did not top 1 million views on any given week in 2025. AEW Dynamite, which airs weekly on TBS, typically hovers around 700k views.
On a bigger platform, MJF is confident he’d be a star if he jumped ship to WWE.
“I know I would’ve been successful if I went there [in the past]. I know I’d be successful if I go over there now, which is why they are still interested in me.”
However, MJF likes the creative liberation he has in AEW and isn’t sure he’d be given the same free rein in WWE.
“I respect what they’re doing. I respect their product. But, I knew I’d be given more opportunity and more of a leash [with AEW].”
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