"Wasn't a difference of couple of dollars" – Top indie star on potential reason MJF may be upset with AEW

MLW World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone commented on the tensions between MJF and AEW.

Friedman and Hammerstone were part of a stable called The Dynasty in MLW. The Salt of the Earth landed in a major controversy after delivering a fiery pipebomb promo on the June 1 episode of Dynamite. He slammed the company and called the promotion's owner Tony Khan a "f****ing mark" before expressing his desire to be fired. Since then, he hasn't appeared in AEW programming, and nothing has been revealed about his return date.

Speaking recently at Cafe de Rene with Rene Dupree, Hammerstone explained that MJF had all his stats in place to ask questions about the company paying other athletes more than him:

“MJF’s case is a little bit different because he was, like, ‘Here’s the measurements, here’s the ratings, here’s this, here’s that, here’s the sales, here’s the segment views,’ and it wasn’t a difference of a couple dollars. It’s like, ‘Why are these people getting paid five/ten times more than me, just because of where they came from? What are they doing here?’" (H/T: Fightful)

---

Hammerstone confirms the tensions between MJF and AEW are real

There has been speculation that the differences between MJF and AEW are part of a larger storyline.

In the same interview, Hammerstone professed that his former partner was indeed frustrated about how the company valued his work:

“I don’t have an insider scoop. All I know is that if it’s something that is a giant work, it’s something that became that at a certain point. Because to a certain point, it was all very real. I know there were some legitimate, real frustrations there, and real tensions." (H/T: Fightful)

It has been almost two months since MJF last appeared in AEW. Do you want him back? Sound off in the comments section below!