MJF Gets Emotional While Dedicating AEW Full Gear World Title Match To His Grandfather

Fresh off his heroic performance against Jay White at last night's Full Gear pay-per-view, AEW World Champion MJF burst into tears during the post-event media scrum while dedicating the match to a departed family member. An emotional MJF revealed that this past week marked the three-death anniversary of his late grandfather and that he drew inspiration from his beloved "Poppa" while battling through injury. 

"He was one of the few people in my life that really cared about me, and there weren't a lot," MJF said of his late grandpa. "He taught me how to be a man, he taught me how to be a leader, he taught me how to be brave. So when I had moments in that match where I wanted to quit, I just thought about my Poppa Stanart and it helped me get through it." MJF also gave a shoutout to his tag team partner, Adam Cole, for being by his side during the match despite battling an injury of his own, "So I dedicated that match to Poppa Stanart and also to my best f—ing friend, who literally had no right to get on a plane and travel literally across the country just to be in my corner."

MJF proceeded to refer to Cole as "the best human being I've ever met in my life" and revealed the two have remained in constant touch throughout Cole's injury hiatus. "He's just a really good person, and I'm not used to that," an emotional MJF added. "I've only had a couple of people I can count in my hand that I can trust — Papa Stanley was one of them and Adam Cole is the other."

Earlier this week, MJF took to X to share a video of his late grandpa speaking at a family gathering along with a heartfelt caption that shed light on their special bond.