AEW star reveals the reason he’s upset with Gunther: “That was really upsetting”

A top AEW star recently expressed his disdain for Gunther. The reason was the Ring General’s involvement in an iconic match that led to a major departure.

Gunther is one of the top heels in the pro wrestling business right now. The former two-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion currently performs on SmackDown and has had an amazing 2026. The Ring General was named among the top 10 wrestlers on this year’s PWI 500, finishing 10th. Notably, Gunther entered the year with a monumental victory over John Cena in the legend’s final wrestling match at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII on December 13, 2025. Unfortunately, this win did not sit well with AEW star MJF.

MJF, who ranked No. 1 on the PWI 500, recently gave an interview to Lyric Swinton, who was representing Pro Wrestling Illustrated. At one point, Friedman was asked to share his thoughts on the rest of the top 10 after him. When he got to Gunther, he said he was upset with him because of how his match with John Cena went. That said, the Salt of the Earth also praised the Ring General for the talent he possesses and called him a “tough SOB.”

“Great guy. Pretty upset about the John Cena match, still am. John Cena is the second greatest professional wrestler of all time behind me, and to just see John go out like that was really upsetting. I mean, Gunther is probably the hardest-hitting professional wrestler in the game, besides me, of course. Really talented, tough SOB. In the words of AEW commentator extraordinaire, Jim Ross, he is tougher than a 2$ stake,” said MJF. (2:11-2:47)

Check out his comments in the video clip below:

AEW star MJF called CM Punk a Cu*t

In the video above, MJF also had to share his thoughts on No. 3 on that list, which was held by CM Punk. However, the Wolf of Wrestling was not nearly as nice to the Second City Saint as he was to Gunther. Friedman and Punk have a major history in AEW, and their feud was one of the biggest storylines in Tony Khan’s promotion in late 2021 and early 2022.

While describing the former WWE Champion, MJF blatantly called him the C-word and said he beat him.

“Cu*t, beat him.”

As of today, MJF is on hiatus from All Elite Wrestling. It will be interesting to see when he returns and what the future holds.

Please credit Lyric Wrestling and PWI, and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you take quotes from this article.