MJF Reveals the Significance Behind Wearing Triple H's Iconic 2002 WWE Return Attire

Maxwell Jacob Friedman wore a cut-off blue jean jacket-vest over a black leather jacket for his AEW comeback appearance for a very specific reason.

The former longest-reigning AEW World Champion in company history spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated this week to promote his AEW Dynamite return at the Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado.

During the discussion, MJF explained the significance behind wearing the same attire for his long-awaited AEW comeback appearance at the recent AEW Double Or Nothing 2024 pay-per-view that Paul "Triple H" Levesque wore for his memorable WWE return at Madison Square Garden in New York. Triple H had been sidelined for nearly a year due to a torn quad he suffered in the classic WWE Monday Night Raw tag-team bout with himself and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin against Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho.

"The jean jacket was over what I feel is my leather jacket, but that jean jacket was certainly an homage to a return that meant something to me when I was a kid in Madison Square Garden," MJF told Barrasso. "I’m sure people can connect the dots."

Friedman spoke about the significance of him first appearing in the trophy room of his home in Long Island as a special remixed version of his traditional AEW theme music played before he came out live inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV, at the aforementioned AEW PPV on May 26.

"Outside of that, the video of me walking through one of my palatial estates in the most magical place on earth–Long Island, New York–looking at that trophy room, it allows people to remember all the moments I created in a very short period of time," Friedman explained. "The dog collar match. The epic promos with CM Punk. The Iron Man match with Bryan Danielson. The promo with William Regal. The Dynamite Diamond Ring and all the wins that came with that. Dinner Debonair. My pipe bomb in LA. Lashing and whipping Cody. Kicking Cody in the dick after I threw in the towel and ruined an opportunity for him to become world champion in my promotion. Me putting Wardlow through the paces."

He continued, "This is just a fact–I’ve created some of the greatest moments in the history of the business, and I’ve only been on national television for an extraordinarily short period of time. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again because it’s true–I’m 28 years old and I’ve already had a Hall of Fame career. There’s nobody you can compare or contrast me to, there’s never been anyone like me before."

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