AEW World Champion CM Punk will battle AEW Interim Champion Jon Moxley tonight on Dynamite to determine the Undisputed Champion. All signs were pointing to this match happening at All Out early next month but it was surprisingly booked for tonight’s show.
Here are 4 reasons CM Punk versus Jon Moxley for the AEW Championship is more than just a title match:
The Company Needs Some Momentum
AEW Dynamite has flatlined in the ratings just below 1 million viewers, but thankfully they have an established and loyal audience that tunes in every week. The issue is that AEW President Tony Khan has spent a ton on contracts for ex-WWE talent that haven’t really made a huge difference yet in regards to attracting the casual fan.
It is hard to get invested in some of the talent when they are only featured once a month on television. Wardlow capturing the TNT Championship should have felt more important by now. He finally was able to rid himself of MJF and capture some gold, so why he is in a 6-man tag at the PPV?
The TNT Champion is wrapped up in a storyline with Sonjay Dutt, Jay Lethal, and Satnam Singh. ROH Tag Team Champions and forever #1 contenders in AEW without getting a title shot, FTR, will be joining teaming up with Wardlow to battle the trio of heels at All Out. The match will likely be entertaining but it feels like an egregious missed opportunity for both the Wardlow and FTR to be in bigger storylines.
CM Punk versus Jon Moxley needs to deliver tonight in order to get people talking about how exciting All Elite Wrestling is again. Many fans are scratching their head and wondering what is going on at the moment. These two should have a long feud with a story, with weeks of promos and attacks, not a rushed title match to pop a rating. However, if tonight’s show is newsworthy and gets people talking about the product over the drama backstage, then maybe it was worth it.
Fan Perception Has Changed
All Elite Wrestling arrived as the cool kid in the wrestling industry, while Vince McMahon’s vision for professional wrestling felt dated and borderline unwatchable at times. None of that applies anymore, just a month after Vince departed the company and his son-in-law, Triple H, has taken over as Head of Creative.
WWE has not only turned the page, but they’ve also flipped the script. They are now the cool company in the wrestling industry that talent is signing with. It is stunning how quickly the perception surrounding WWE has changed, despite unprecedented chaos at the top of the company over the summer.
Nowadays, AEW feels dated in comparison. The Jericho Appreciation Society refers to themselves as “sports entertainers” while Drew McIntyre is dropping the word “wrestler” in his promos on RAW. At this point, AEW is parodying itself and not the competition.
Talent Getting In Each other’s Way
Before his promo with Jon Moxley on last week’s Dynamite, the AEW Champion bizarrely called out Hangman Adam Page in his home state of West Virginia. He sat in the ring in his iconic pose and challenged Hangman to a rematch. The 43-year-old captured the AEW Championship from Hangman at Double or Nothing, only to break his foot the following Wednesday and go on the shelf for two months.
CM Punk gave Adam a few moments to come to the ring before uttering “that isn’t cowboy sh*t, that is coward sh*t”. It was an odd moment, but most people moved on when Moxley showed up. However, the incident was reportedly unplanned and Punk acted on his own to give Hangman a “receipt” for a perceived slight during a previous promo between the two.
Something just always seems to go awry now. Jonathan Gresham flipping out before Death Before Dishonor due to lack of communication from management, Tony’s unprofessional response to Big Swole, Cody Rhodes exiting the company, and the whole MJF thing, Why are Miro and Andrade liking tweets hinting at their unhappiness? It is always something, at least at least it appears that way.
During the post-Double or Nothing media scrum after CM Punk won the title, he said the following about AEW in comparison to WWE:”It felt like 10 years of fighting silly battles and standing on my own d*ck. I feel there’s no limitation put on myself or anybody, the sky’s the limit.” He’s used that phrase multiple times in reference to WWE.
That seems to contradict Fightful’s report of Punk telling management that he would not lose to Hangman Page. From the outside looking in, it appears AEW is repeatedly standing on themselves at the moment.
The Possible Return Of An Unlikely Hero
One of the possible reasons that the title match may have been moved up was because the promotion has a better main event planned for AEW All Out. If MJF returned, the company would have the majority of its stars back and the shows would instantly improve. MJF is an immense talent, a picture-perfect heel.
He delivered one of the most memorable promos of any promotion, in any time period, and the man is only 26 years old. The Dynamite following his loss to Wardlow at Double or Nothing, not too many people were discussing the match or even the victorious Wardlow. MJF skipped out a signing during the PPV weekend and reportedly booked a flight out of Vegas. Thankfully, cahooler heads prevailed and he did the job to Wardlow. The distraction still sullied the TNT Champion’s moment and he hasn’t fully recovered.
After MJF’s pipebomb promo, Punk tried to confront MJF but he left through the crowd at The Forum in Los Angeles, and that was the last time he appeared on television. He’s also gone completely dark on social media. If he returns tonight it will inject some much-needed life into the product just a couple of weeks out from All Out. Somehow, MJF has managed to become an even bigger star in the company without even appearing on television.