MJF dives deeper into quarters controversy, looks forward to the hard conversations it starts

In a second statement in response to the response to his AEW Dynamite angle with Juice Robinson that evoked the anti-semitic bullying story he’s told in the past, Maxwell Jacob Friedman breaks character to defend and embrace a story he clearly feels passionately about.

In it, he contrasts their angle with WWE’s aborted Muhammad Hassan Islamic terrorism one from 2005 which featured a non-Arab (Marc Copani) in the heel role (we’d link to a clip of Copani-as-Hassan dropping into a prayer pose as he summoned masked attackers to take out Undertaker before lifting him above their heads and carrying him out of the arena on an episode of SmackDown, but WWE’s done a thorough job of scrubbing it from existence). MJF also welcomes the dialogue Robinson’s “quarters” promo on the Oct. 10 Dynamite has started, and says he wants to use it push pro wrestling forward.

Here it is, as posted on X:

Muhammad Hassan was portraying an evil Muslim terrorist.

I’m actually Jewish. I’ve actually gone through this. This is my real life!!!!! MY STORY!

And I Look forward to giving Catharsis to every single person who’s ever been oppressed or bullied.

If you think I’d play with that or take it lying down or WORST OF ALL Hide from the hard conversations like a coward…

You’re on crazy pills.

I look forward to the hard conversations this starts and creates. I look forward to people being further educated.

My life’s work is to stand up to any and all injustices done to people due to something as Stupid as being different.

To anyone that thinks that can’t be done through the avenue of professional wrestling. Then that’s an indictment on things that have happened in this sports past.

I look forward to bringing this sport into the present.

I look forward to knocking Juice Robinson’s teeth down his throat.

And most of all I look forward to getting back the Triple B!

The one criticism it doesn’t address is the timing, coming shortly after Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel (another interesting contrast to WWE’s Hassan angle, which was scrubbed in part because it happened just before the 2005 London bombings carried out by Islamic terrorists). But based on how passionate MJF sounds about telling his story, our guess is he believes what’s happening in the Middle East makes AEW’s program even more urgent.

Does this change your mind about the angle one way or the other, Cagesiders?