MJF ruffled some feathers last week with a very open interview with Ariel Helwani. While the interview did spark some rage from AEW President Tony Khan, one person who liked it was Paul Heyman.

Speaking with Helwani as well, Heyman labeled MJF as very credible and very good at what he does.

“I think he’s very credible on the mic. Incredible’s not a compliment. Incredible means he’s not credible. He’s credible. He’s very good at what he does,” Heyman said, noting that the still relatively-young star has a massive future ahead of him.

Heyman said that MJF was “pretty smart” in doing the interview and being open about his contractual status and where he wants to be in a couple of years down the road.

“It’s not bad business at all. For what he obviously views his trajectory to be, for what he obviously views his future to be? Not bad business at all. Pretty smart, I might even say,” Heyman told Helwani. “No even might, I would say he’s pretty smart. And I will. It was pretty smart.”

In the same interview, Heyman also discussed the departure of Cody Rhodes from AEW, saying it was not a complete surprise for him that Rhodes decided to part ways with the promotion he helped co-found.

Admitting he has no first-hand knowledge of why Cody split, Heyman had his own theory, a theory which was also shared by a few others in the business.

“Cody always had a vision to fill the boots of his father, not just in the ring but behind the scenes,” Heyman explained. “And the fact that he didn’t have the level of participation in decision making that he initially probably thought, and this is speculation on my end…I never heard this from Cody, but just seeing the manner in which the creative end of that company grew, it doesn’t surprise me that at some point he was going to say, ‘Not what I originally envisioned and I want to see what life is like elsewhere.'”

Cody is rumored to be Seth Rollins’ opponent on WrestleMania Saturday and has hinted at Cody arriving several times through commentary on Raw.