CM Punk in AEW: Part 7 – The MJF feud in February 2022 | Column
This was previously part of a book I had written and released on CM Punk’s debut to initial title win in All Elite Wrestling, covering August 2021 until May 2022. I’ll be uploading it here sporadically, adapted for easier reading online, so please feel free to check it out. You can check out Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here and Part 6 here.
2/2/22
So we’ve finally hit the landmark of CM Punk vs MJF for the first time one-on-one in an AEW ring on Dynamite. One of the biggest feuds that the company had going at the time, proven by some strong television viewership, will be finally culminating in a match. You would think that this drew an absolutely mega number for the show…right?
Well, no, it actually didn’t. As our own Dave Meltzer reported in the February 7th 2022 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: “AEW’s streak of beating Raw six straight weeks in men 18-49 ended with Raw doing bigger numbers coming off the Royal Rumble and Dynamite doing its lowest numbers to date on TBS, even though the last 45 minutes of the show was devoted to the C.M. Punk vs. MJF match which had been built up for a long time. Dynamite did 954,000 viewers and 0.35 (456,000) viewers in 18-49 and 0.22 in 18-34, numbers that have to be disappointing given so much time was devoted to that match.”
On top of the fact that it was a poor number for what had to be considered Punk’s biggest match to date, even beyond his debut against Darby Allin, this was Dynamite’s lowest total and 18 to 49 viewership since December 15th 2021.
Looking at the competition for the night itself, it wasn’t like there was anything that was expected to draw a hefty amount of viewers away. Big Brother on CBS ranked #1 for the night, and both South Park and NBA on ESPN beat out Dynamite on cable originals. Sports has of course been a major ratings killer for pro wrestling in the past, but this was a regular season game, not even the playoffs.
The match would end up main-eventing the show, and considering the trend of viewers going down throughout the night, the match was at least able to retain and even gain viewers throughout.
The fifth quarter of the night did 928,000 viewers and 442,000 in 18-49, with it clear that MJF vs CM Punk would be going on next, so the next quarter-hour dropping to 901,000 with 434,000 in 18-49 is just…again, baffling.
As I said, the match would manage to gain viewers over the remaining time on the show, with the second third of the bout doing 938,000 viewers and 451,000 in 18-49 and the final 15 minutes of the show doing 951,000 with 454,000 in 18-49, so it wasn’t a complete loss, but still…considering the magnitude of the bout and the fact that it had been built for WEEKS beforehand? It can easily be considered one of the biggest anomolies of Punk’s run up to that point.
Thankfully, both men clearly knew that they had to kick it up a few notches to build to their first encounter on PPV…
9/2/22
The February 9th episode of AEW Dynamite would feature an intriguing wrinkle in the ongoing Punk and MJF story, with FTR of Maxwell’s group The Pinnacle taking on Punk and Jon Moxley halfway through the show.
Punk’s teaming with Moxley was not announced beforehand, and with this segment opening the night with 1,249,000 viewers, you would hope that the intrigue would keep the audience around for later in the night.
That 1.2 million number would end up being the biggest number of the night, likely with the lead-in helping, but it actually wasn’t a huge dropoff for the Punk/Moxley vs FTR match itself. The match would come in the fifth quarter of the night, drawing a still impressive 1,179,000 viewers, which would prove to be the biggest number before the final three quarters all saw slight dropoffs.
From a storyline standpoint, this match was pivotal in advancing to the rematch between Punk and MJF, with Maxwell exclaiming in that opening segment: “You want a rematch against me and FTR want a rematch against you. We’re in Atlantic City, how about we roll the dice a little? If you can beat FTR with a partner of your choosing, you can wrestle me, but it can’t be Sting or Darby Allin.”
With Punk and Moxley winning the match, it officially set the stage for what would be arguably one of the greatest matches in All Elite history (up to that point) at AEW Revolution 2022.
16/2/22
Punk would not wrestle again on television until he got his hands on MJF at Revolution, but it was at the February 16th 2022 episode of Dynamite that he confirmed the stipulation for the much-anticipated rematch.
In yet another one of Punk’s great promos inside an All Elite ring, he brought up his past: “I go back and think of these matches I’ve been in. I’ve been in cage matches and I’ve won more than I’ve lost. So I thought back to some of the toughest matches of my career because that’s where we learn our toughest lessons. And I want you to learn a lesson. Max, you want to be tethered to Piper in Portland. You’ll be tethered to me. We’re two days removed from the Hallmark holiday, so I get to ask Max, will you be my Valentine?”
And with that, Punk would pull out a dog collar. This was an excellent beat of the story, as Maxwell had previously mentioned how Punk was his idol, how he always wanted to be the version of CM Punk that he had seen in Ring of Honor, which is where Punk had his iconic dog collar match with his own idol: Raven.
When Punk opened with Maxwell (the week before) they drew the highest number of the evening (the aforementioned 1,249,000), but without a massive lead-in number, the opening segment drew 944,000. This was a good number, but Dynamite was unable to retain some of that audience as the second segment of the night, which featured a Bryan Danielson match, only drew 851,000.
23/02/22
The February 22nd episode of AEW Dynamite introduced the most interesting element of the feud between Punk and MJF so far, with Maxwell cutting a promo during the third quarter of the night where he claimed that Punk leaving the industry (WWE) in 2014 made him ‘give up’ on his own aspirations of becoming a professional wrestler:
“January 2014 you leave me when I needed you most. When I believed in you. You left me. You left all of us. That’s when I realized that if the Best in the World couldn’t do it, how could I? So I packed my bags, went to college and buried my dreams.
“I was scrolling on social media and I saw a photo of CM Punk shaking hands with Bryan Danielson. I made a promise to myself that day that I would become the best in the world in spite of CM Punk. I made a promise that I wouldn’t be a gutless coward like CM Punk.”
Punk would appear after MJF finished his promo to ask him if it was true, and in a weird way, it started to humanise Maxwell to the audience. This was a magical piece of storytelling, with MJF managing to outsmart the Second City Saint and eventually turn on him again ahead of their Revolution match.
In terms of the segment itself, this would draw 1,038,000 viewers. In what had continued to be a worrying trend with Dynamite overall at this point, every quarter would fall slightly, with the opening segment drawing 1,088,000 and by the time the show got to the main event it was down to 942,000. Although this wasn’t a massive loss of viewership, it is definitely something that AEW would struggle with in the months and even years to come.
Jake is the Head of Audience at F4WOnline, having previously worked as a Combat Sports, Gaming and Pro Wrestling writer, successful Editor in Chief and Sports Coordinator for NationalWorld. He has more than ten years of experience covering mixed martial arts, pro wrestling, football and gaming across a number of publications, starting at SEScoops in 2012. His work has also been featured on Wrestling Headlines, Wrestlingnewsco, HotNewHipHop and The Hard Times.
Previously, he worked as the Editor in Chief of 24Wrestling, building the site profile with a view to selling the domain, which was accomplished in 2019. Jake was previously the Editor in Chief for FightFans, a combat sports and pro wrestling site that was launched in January 2021 and broke into millions of pageviews within the first two years. He previously worked for Snack Media and their GiveMeSport site, creating Evergreen and Trending content that would deliver pageviews via Google as the UFC and MMA SEO Lead. Jake managed to take an area of GiveMeSport that had zero traction on Organic and push it to audiences across the globe. Jake also has a record of long-term video and written interview content with the likes of the Professional Fighters League, ONE and Cage Warriors, working directly with the brands to promote bouts, fighters and special events.
He previously also worked for PROGRESS Wrestling, as PR Head and Head of Media across the social channels of the company.