There will be a world title match between MJF and CM Punk at AEW All Out
As part of All Elite Wrestling’s return to the ring, Maxwell Jacob Friedman will face two-time world champion CM Punk.
As part of All Out at the NOW Arena in Chicago on Sunday night, the polarizing young star made his return after a more than three-month absence by defeating Jon Moxley for the AEW title in the main event of the show.
It provided the final image fans were looking forward to as a way to close a mixed-bag show that was still more good than bad in the end.
As MJF’s fantastic story with Punk – its biggest imported star – is set up to unfold for one more chapter, AEW made it feel like a big deal that its top homegrown star was returning and they made it feel like a big deal.
In reality, MJF’s return story has been playing out for a long time, but we hadn’t quite seen it coming.
In order to build the team, Stokely Hathaway, who managed MJF early in his career, spent the last few months handing out his business cards and assembling a team that included Lee Moriarty, Colten and Austin Gunn, and William Morrissey.
Finally, we were able to find out why. As part of the Casino Ladder match, the group wore black hooded outfits on their way into the ring.
After climbing the ladder and grabbing the poker chip, Hathaway revealed himself to be the assassin.
There was then a pause while the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy to the Devil” was playing as he waited to give it to “The Joker”, who arrived in a white devil mask wearing a white mask.
Despite having the right to a future AEW world championship match, The Joker has not revealed himself to the public yet – at least not yet.
In the main event of the show, Punk and Moxley had a bloody and physical match that had the qualities of a world championship.
In spite of the fact that he had lost to Moxley in less than three minutes on “Dynamite” two weeks ago, “The Best in the World” fought through everything – including a death rider finisher that he kicked out of.
For Punk to win back the belt, he had to win consecutive Go to Sleeps from Moxley – the second of which saw him lift Moxley up off the ground and back to his feet.
As soon as the lights went out, the world went dark.
A voice mail from AEW president Tony Khan was then played, in which he told MJF that his absence was hurting the company and he would pay him an amount that was blurred out if he showed up at All Out for the Casino Ladder match, and that he would not be required to sign a contract extension.
As far as he was concerned, this was his last chance. According to the storyline and possibly in real life, the beef MJF has with the company is that he dislikes his contract and that led him to ask Khan to fire him on TV back in June as a result of his dissatisfaction with the contract.
As soon as the call ended, a clip played of CM Punk from Ring of Honor claiming that he is a snake and that the greatest trick the devil has ever played on him has been pretending that he does not exist – something MJF said in his own promo to Punk.
As soon as MJF appeared on the screen, he revealed himself as the Joker by placing his signature scarf on his neck.
The moment he stepped on stage in Chicago, MJF chants erupted and he stepped on stage to a huge pop and a huge pop of his music.
As he approached Punk, he signaled that he would be grabbing his belt. With the exception of MJF’s new crew attacking a bloody Punk in the ring, that segment was handled well.
Now the question is whether AEW will hold that match in Queens for Grand Slam on Sept. 21 or at Full Gear at Prudential Center, announced for Nov. 9.
