Maxwell Jacob Friedman, or MJF, is one of pro wrestling’s fastest rising stars. At 23, he works prolifically on the independent scene, is heavily featured on MLW, and signed with All Elite Wrestling earlier this year.
A video released on YouTube by Create A Pro Wrestling last night shows that MJF was impressing people in show business at an even younger age, namely the producers of The Rosie O’Donnell Show after his parents sent in a tape of him singing “You Are My Sunshine.”
Friedman later tweeted that this child is “not me,” but the “five-year-old cutie patootie” is very clearly him. In addition to little MJF and adult MJF looking basically the same, give or take sideburns, he shows the same confidence in front of an audience he has today. His response to O’Donnell’s question, “When you made the tape, did you think you’d get to be on the show?” is simply, “Yeah.”
Other highlights of the interview with O’Donnell are MJF singing “You Are My Sunshine” opera-style starting at 2:42 and later saying that when he grows up, “Well, I’m going to be an opera singer and a wrestler.” He reveals his favorite wrestlers are Goldberg and the Rock and he gets a t-shirt and a free lunch at the WWF restaurant in New York. What a great day for this five-year-old in which he predicted half of his future career!
