For Long Island wrestling fans, AEW show in Louis Armstrong Stadium is the main event

When Josh and Matt Danishefsky were growing up in Massapequa, they had to hide their professional wrestling fandom.

"Our mom tried to ban it from us," Josh Danishefsky, 34, said in an interview. "It didn't work."

No longer do the brothers have to hide. They were among the more than 14,000 fans packed into Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens on Sunday for All Elite Wrestling's "Double or Nothing" pay-per-view event.

Many of the Long Islanders in attendance said they were drawn to AEW, the second-biggest wrestling company in the world after WWE, in part because of the wrestler MJF, a Plainview native who proudly champions his roots.

MJF — Maxwell Jacob Friedman — a "heel," or bad guy, often cheekily refers to Long Island as the "most magical place on Earth."

"That's the essence of loving Long Island," Pete Cahill, 34, of Mastic, said in an interview. "You are being a little sarcastic, but you do love it that much. Because he's from Long Island, he captures that perfectly. ... Everybody knows an MJF."

MJF, 30, was scheduled to wrestle AEW men's world champion Darby Allin in the main event Sunday night.

Cahill and his friend Ryan Jones, 33, of Coram, drove to Port Washington, where they hopped onto the Long Island Rail Road to get to the show. They said they paid $35 for their tickets — a stark difference from WWE ticket prices, which have become more expensive in recent months, shutting some fans out from attending shows.

"While WWE is feeling less and less accessible, I feel like that's the biggest draw of AEW," Jones said. "You can't get in the building in WWE for less than $100."

Josh Danishefsky said he also had been turned off by WWE's ticket prices. He said he and his brother had considered buying tickets for WWE's "Saturday Night's Main Event" at Madison Square Garden but balked at the entry fee.

"WWE is just out of control," he said. "It makes a big difference in feeling like you can actually be part of the [AEW] product."

Mick Foley, a WWE Hall of Famer who grew up in East Setauket, made his AEW debut Sunday, as a co-host of the pre-show. Kris Statlander, a 30-year-old performer from West Islip, was set to challenge for the AEW Women's World Championship.

But the AEW performer who elicited the most anticipation from the Long Islanders in attendance was MJF. Nicholas Maguire, 12, wore a shirt that read "MJF Did Nothing Wrong" along with a Burberry scarf — an MJF trademark. Nicholas and his parents drove in from Massapequa for the event Sunday — his first AEW show.

"He thinks in a way that ensures that he has the most success for him as possible," Nicholas said of MJF. "He's an old-fashioned heel."