Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Maxwell Tyler Friedman (born March 15, 1996), better known by his ring name Maxwell Jacob Friedman (commonly abbreviated to MJF), is an American professional wrestler and actor.

He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a one-time former AEW World Champion, with his reign being the longest in AEW World title history.

He is also the current holder of the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring, which he has won for five consecutive years.

Friedman previously worked for Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he became a one-time MLW World Tag Team Champion and a one-time (and the inaugural) MLW World Middleweight Champion.

He has also worked on the American independent circuit for promotions such as Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he became a one-time CZW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time CZW Wired Champion.

Maxwell Tyler Friedman was born into a Jewish family in Plainview, New York, on March 15, 1996.

At the age of five, he appeared on an episode of The Rosie O'Donnell Show that aired on September 10, 2001, singing "You Are My Sunshine" after his parents submitted a tape of him singing it in an operatic style while eating a pear.

Friedman graduated in 2014 from Plainview – Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, where he was a member of the football team.

He briefly attended Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York.

Friedman was trained by Brian Myers and Pat Buck and made his in-ring debut in their Create A Pro Wrestling Academy in Hicksville, New York.

He also wrestled for Combat Zone Wrestling and Five Borough Wrestling during his debut year and went on to appear in numerous promotions across the northeastern independent wrestling circuit.

In April 2015, WWE uploaded Friedman's entry for WWE Tough Enough to their YouTube channel.

Friedman worked under the new ring name Pete Lightning in several CZW Dojo Wars events since 2015, usually in tag team matches with Hous Blazer and Penelope Ford.

Friedman also appeared as a security guard during Samoa Joe's entrance at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II in August 2016 during which he was pushed by Joe.

On the September 7, 2016 edition of CZW Dojo Wars, he returned to his previous ring name Maxwell Jacob Feinstein, he entered the Dramatic Destination Series tournament.

On May 13, 2017, at CZW Sacrifices, Friedman defeated Johnny Yuma to win the CZW Wired Championship.

He won his first title defense at CZW EVILution, defeating Trevor Lee.

He successfully retained the title in further singles matches against Mike Del, John Silver, and Ace Romero.

On October 14 at CZW The Wolf of Wrestling, Friedman lost the CZW Wired title to Joey Janela.

Two months later at CZW Cage of Death 19, Friedman won the title back after defeating Janela in a rematch.

On September 5, 2017, it was reported that Friedman signed a contract with the reinstated Major League Wrestling (MLW) to appear at its reunion event One Shot to compete in a match against Jimmy Yuta, which Friedman won.

Friedman then became a member of the MLW roster as he continued his winning streak against Joey Ryan at Never Say Never.

Friedman returned on February 10, 2018, at CZW Nineteen, where he won the 27-Man Battle Royal to become the new number one contender for the CZW World Heavyweight Championship.

He also successfully defended the CZW Wired Championship against Alex Colon on that date.

There he defeated Rickey Shane Page to win the CZW World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, and surrendered the CZW Wired Championship on the same night.

MJF would forfeit the title in November 2018 and would make his final appearance on CZW.

MJF suffered his first loss in MLW against Brody King at Zero Hour on January 11, 2018.

He then participated in a tournament for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship at Road To The World Championship, losing to the British wrestler Jimmy Havoc in the opening round.

Friedman went on to defeat Lance Anoa'i at Spring Break.

He made his Fusion debut on the May 11 episode by defeating Fred Yehi.

He continued his success with an upset win over Montel Vontavious Porter at Intimidation Games.

On July 29, MJF defeated Joey Ryan to become the first-ever World Middleweight Champion at the Battle Riot special.

Later that night, MJF participated in the namesake match as the No. 38 entrant and was eliminated by the eventual winner Tom Lawlor.

On the August 10 episode of Fusion, MJF made his first title defense against Joey Janela in a falls count anywhere match, which he retained after Janela's on-screen girlfriend Aria Blake turned on Janela by hitting him in the head with a bottle.

This led to Blake becoming MJF's valet.

On the September 21 episode of Fusion, MJF and Blake defeated Joey Ryan and Taya Valkyrie in a mixed tag team match.

MJF made his second title defense of the World Middleweight Championship on the November 9 episode of Fusion, where he successfully defended the title against Jason Cade and Jimmy Yuta in a three-way elimination match.

On November 25, Friedman revealed that he had suffered a fractured elbow with a recovery time of 4 to 6 weeks.

After a video of his performance resurfaced in 2019, he (in-character) denied the appearance before admitting it, stating that Rosie O'Donnell was trying to cling onto her fading star and that he "didn't have the nerve" to tell Britney Spears (who appeared on the same episode) that she "wasn't going to make it as a singer".

During his interview with O'Donnell, when asked about what he wanted to be when he grew up, he stated that he would be an opera singer and a wrestler and that Goldberg and The Rock were his favorite wrestlers.