MJF made an explosive return to AEW TV at AEW Double or Nothing, and he paid tribute to Triple H while doing so.
What’s interesting about the return is that the Salt of the Earth was wearing a jacket that looked very similar to one that Triple H wore when he returned back to the company after a while in 2002.
No way. Max in the HHH return jacket. @The_MJF is back! pic.twitter.com/OBOMk5gUuW
— Sam Roberts (@notsam) May 27, 2024
Back in May 2001, Triple H suffered a career-threatening injury. On an episode of Raw Is War, Triple H and Steve Austin were defending the WWF Tag Team Championship against Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. When Jericho applied the Walls of Jericho move to Austin, Triple H ran towards them to break it up, but he suffered a tear in his left quadriceps muscle. This injury caused The Game to be sidelined for eight months, and he even missed the iconic Invasion storyline because of it.
The Cerebral Assassin then made his return to Raw in January 2002 in Madison Square Garden. During his return, he wore a denim jacket, which became an iconic symbol marking Triple H’s return. Triple H then went on to win the Royal Rumble that year and even won the Undisputed WWF Championship.
Quite similar to Triple H, MJF was also away from the ring for quite some time. He was last seen in the ring defending the AEW World Title in a losing attempt to Samoa Joe at AEW Worlds End. The event took place on December 30, 2023. Sporting a similar jacket to Triple H, MJF signalled to audiences that his era is upon AEW, and he is here to stay. It remains to be seen what trajectory his career takes from here.
There were also some rumors swirling that the former AEW World Champion is bound for WWE, however these rumors were laid to rest for good after the return. In fact, he made his contract status with AEW very clear by showing off a tattoo of the company’s logo on his ankle. You can read more about how the return took place here.