MJF doesn't believe he's playing a character. Not really.

"A lot of wrestling fans will say the word kayfabe, even though they have no idea what it means," MJF told CBS Sports ahead of AEW Double or Nothing on Sunday. "The fact of the matter is, I am not a character, I am not kayfabe. I am MJF, 24/7."

For more than a decade, Maxwell Jacob Friedman has carried himself as a narcissistic loudmouth whether or not the cameras are rolling. He slings insults at co-workers, competitors, interviewers and fans without prejudice. In an era where many wrestlers openly separate the performer from the person, MJF built his career in the opposite direction.

That philosophy traces back to MJF's earliest days in wrestling. He was 18 years old when he noticed something missing at a Create A Pro Wrestling show, his wrestling alma mater. His peers only mustered a polite applause from the crowd. There was no emotional investment.

"I was watching all the matches before I went on," MJF said. "They were getting respectful golf claps. I thought, 'Why are none of these people interacting with the audience?'"

The answer was so obviously hiding in plain sight. It's a truth that generations of great wrestling villains understood: fans pay to see bad guys get their asses kicked. While many independent wrestlers around him focused on highlight-reel sequences, MJF became obsessed with creating genuine resentment. Nearly 13 years later, the approach has turned him into one of professional wrestling's most complete performers and one of AEW's defining stars.

"That didn't happen by accident," MJF said. "That happened because I looked at what everybody else was doing and going, 'That's neat. I'm not going to do that.'

"I'm not going to flip and flop and fly and dump me on my head or my opponent on there. The thing that I was most concerned with was building a genuine vitriol. I wanted people to hate me. Because when people hate me, I make more money."

MJF's commitment, the wrestling equivalent of method acting, wasn't universally appreciated. Modern wrestling had already drifted away from protecting the illusion. Wrestlers post openly as themselves online and speak openly about the business' inner workings. MJF rejected almost all of it.

"When I started doing it, I got a lot of what wrestling fans would call 'heat' with people in the industry," MJF said. "They didn't want to share locker rooms with me. They didn't want to wrestle me. They didn't want to hear me cut a promo on them because they didn't want to deal with it."

MJF has no regrets.

"People are being p--sies, Shak, and I'd love to be quoted on that," MJF said. "We live in a society filled with weak people who are afraid of offending others. That's not something I'm afraid of."

If anything, he believes the industry is circling back toward the philosophy he embraces. A philosophy that was the rule, and not the exception, for most of wrestling's existence.

"When I offend you, you buy a ticket," MJF said. "When I offend you, the ratings go up. When I offend you, you have no choice but to watch me and hope that I lose against a guy like Darby Allin -- which I won't. And you'll continue to watch me because I grab you by the balls and I give you no choice otherwise."

Living the gimmick, as wrestling fans often call it, isn't just a promotional strategy. MJF believes peeling back the curtain too much damages the spirit of professional wrestling. To him, wrestlers too often undermine the emotional investment they're asking fans to buy into.

"Some of these guys I respect, but I see guys, they're on TV, and then they go on Twitter and write, 'Oh my God, I just had such a great match with so-and-so. I've had so much fun at work these last couple of weeks.' It makes me want to vomit," MJF said. "It's disgusting."

That disconnect goes against everything that captured his imagination as a child.

"I got in this sport to talk shit," MJF said. "I got in the sport to beat people up, and I got in the sport to make a whole lot of money doing it."

For all the attention MJF's words receive, he's proved himself equally inside the ring. His feud with CM Punk is widely considered among AEW's best rivalries, while his one-hour iron man match against Bryan Danielson elevated his reputation as a bell-to-bell performer. That's his real gift: drawing you in and keeping you engaged.

"As much as I love professional wrestling, most of the time, if you're this incredible talker, you're a dog shit wrestler," MJF said. "There aren't a lot of people that can talk and wrestle like me."

That confidence naturally extends to how he views himself historically. MJF is already a two-time world champion before age 30, joining a rare class of names that includes John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Winning a third world title from Darby Allin on Sunday puts him in even rarer territory.

"I'd imagine the last person that could do it at the level that I do was [Ric] Flair," MJF said. "You're looking at Flair, you're looking at [Steve] Austin, you're looking at Rock, you're looking at Cena."

The comparison sounds outrageous until you consider how central MJF has become to AEW. He was initially grouped with Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara and Jack Perry as AEW's "four pillars." They were young prospects expected to carry the company into the future. Of the four, MJF most quickly evolved from rookie to franchise player.

That role became even more important after MJF re-signed with AEW in 2024 amid speculation that he could jump to WWE. His decision reinforced AEW as a legitimate alternative. His faith remains significant as rumors swirl around the promotion's future media rights negotiations.

MJF doesn't buy the doom-and-gloom narratives surrounding AEW's television future. He believes those rumors are designed to weaken AEW's standing.

"It's a business. It's dog-eat-dog," MJF said. "TKO, WWE, what have you. Their job is to make themselves look great and make us look bad."

He points to AEW's consistent television numbers and pay-per-view success as evidence that the company remains healthy despite constant speculation about its future.

"That's f---ing news to me, bro," MJF said regarding rumors about Warner Bros. Discovery potentially waiving their one-year extension option after 2027 and AEW struggling to find a new deal. "Last time I checked, they're f---ing over the moon with us right now."

MJF framed the situation through the lens of corporate warfare, accusing WWE and its parent company, TKO, of leaking the rumor.

"I love jolly old Saint Nick [Khan] and the tricks he's pulling," he said. "I get it. It's smart. But it doesn't mean we can't use your brains...

"If Coke out of the blue said, 'Hey, I don't know if you know about this, but Pepsi has ass water in it,' everyone would think, 'Where is that source coming from? Oh, it's coming from Coke? I'm not going to give much thought to this.'"

That defensive posture reflects another evolution in his career. He's still an obnoxious narcissist, but he's grown into one of the company's biggest advocates. The same performer who antagonized his peers is genuinely invested in their long-term success.

"It's so important for there to be an alternative," MJF said. "And that's one of the reasons wrestling fans should be rooting for us. And they are. We're white hot right now. A lot of people, with love and respect, are pretty disenfranchised with WWE and TKO."

That balancing act between selfish star and company cornerstone may define this stage of MJF's career more than the insults or five-star classics. He still wants fans furious enough to pay money, hoping somebody finally shuts him up. But behind the arrogance is a man carrying a team on his back.

"We have the most talented roster," MJF said. "We have the best wrestling show. When it comes to pay-per-views, nobody does it like us, and it's not even f---ing close."