Eric Bischoff thinks MJF is the perfect classic heel in the modern era: “I don’t know if he’d be any good as a babyface, but as a heel he’s like a freaking savant”

As one of the biggest architects and proponents behind Hulk Hogan’s infamous, industry-changing heel turn as ringleader to the NWO — a move which essentially kickstarted the Monday Night Wars in the late 90s between WCW and WWE — Eric Bischoff knows a thing or two about effective wrestling heels. And in his mind, AEW’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman, MJF, is the perfect classic heel in the modern era of wrestling.

“What is he? 12, 14? He’s in his 20s … think about how good he is at such a young age with such limited experience,” Bischoff said on his live reaction following AEW’s All In event, which took place on August 25th at Wembley Stadium in London, England.

Bischoff also expressed how impressed he is with how adept MJF is as a heel despite his somewhat limited experience on paper in the industry.

“He’s been in AEW for five years,” Bischoff continued. “There’s not a lot of house shows on his schedule, there’s not a lot of reps on his schedule, he was injured for quite a while, and he’s back overcoming an injury. Good to be 28 years old, that helps but still my point is that this guy, he’s a savant as a heel. I don’t know if he’d be any good as a babyface, but as a heel he’s like a freaking savant.”

MJF faced Will Ospreay for the AEW International Championship at AEW All In 2024 at Wembley Stadium in London, England this past weekend. The match, while not quite as spectacular as the hour-long match of the year candidate the two had at AEW Dynamite 250 (one which afterwards had MJF hilariously staring at the camera, half-comatose and wearing an oxygen mask, saying “Easy dub”) was a solid contest and saw Ospreay eventually winning with a Tiger Driver ’91 after interference by a returning Daniel Garcia.

Hopefully this isn’t the end of the feud between MJF and Ospreay, as MJF’s satiric take on an All-American champion and the self-professed biggest homegrown star in the AEW against Ospreay’s ideology of being both the “best wrestler in the world” and the best person to represent AEW as a result is one of pro wrestling’s most entertaining and riveting rivalries going.

Do you agree with Eric Bischoff that MFJ is the perfect classic heel in the modern era of wrestling? Let us know in the comments.