CM Punk in AEW: Part 6 – The MJF feud in January 2022 | Column
This was previously part of a book I had written and released on CM Punk’s debut to first world 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 and Part 5 here.
5/1/22
January 2022 would see a major change for All Elite Wrestling, specifically the Dynamite programme, as it was officially moved from the TNT channel to TBS; with the January 5th 2022 episode drawing big numbers for the company overall.
Although CM Punk and MJF’s segment didn’t draw the biggest viewership of the night, it still managed to average over a million viewers (around 1,010,000 viewers to be slightly more precise), and the show did a 0.43 P18-49 rating (about 558,000 viewers overall in the demo).
It’s worth noting here that Punk wasn’t advertised, as this was expected to be an MJF vs Shawn Dean match that Punk interrupted and caused a DQ win for Dean, which made Maxwell 0-1 for the year so far.
First MJF and CM Punk promo of 2022
The promo segment between the two men here is very underrated, and it falls under the radar because of some of the absolute gems that you see elsewhere in their feud. Maxwell stepped up to the plate once again, with references to Punk never being able to main event a WrestleMania (up to that point) being the crux of the insults:
“Everything that comes out of your mouth is fake and induces boredom. You came out here last week and you said you were done with this. You said you were going to focus on becoming a world champion. You might have this people convinced you’re the real deal, but deep down, without me, you’re nothing. I make you relevant. For you to come out here and claim that I’m a waist a money…when you sold Tony Khan nothing but a bill of goods. You ain’t the same guy you used to be. But you know who is…MJF. But by the way, you got offended when I drew the comparison to Roddy Piper. Do you think you’re Roddy Piper, PG Punk? The last time I checked, Roddy Piper was talented enough to main event a WrestleMania. And by the way, if I’m not starting to be shown the proper respect around here, maybe I’ll main event a Mania too.
To emphasise just how impressive the number was for the show, as it was the highest for Dynamite in P18-49 since the September 29th episode, and that did a 0.45 demo rating. Total viewership was nearly equal to two weeks prior to that date, when the second-to-last Dynamite on TNT had 1,020,000 viewers.
It was revealed during the promo between Punk and MJF that Wardlow would be facing Punk on next week’s show. With the build-up and confirmation that Punk would be back in the ring, it was anticipated that the number would be solid.
12/1/22
Punk vs Wardlow would be the opening match of the night on this card, with the match taking place at the end of the first quarter-hour into the second.
This episode of the show would come to echo what many episodes of Dynamite would do in the coming year, with the opening segments drawing over a million viewers but the run up to the main event losing viewers rapidly. Punk, MJF and Wardlow would all enter the ring following a promo segment with Adam Cole, reDragon and The Young Bucks.
The opening 15 minutes of the night drew 1,169,000 viewers with a 588,000 in the 18-49 demographic, and the second segment featuring the bulk of the match between Punk and Wardlow (including a picture-in-picture ad break) drew slightly less with 1,096,000 and 553,000 in 18-49.
Although Wardlow would end up becoming an extremely hot act in the months following (edit: well that aged like milk), it was still Punk and MJF that the audience were invested in; which may explain the small drop in viewership for the match, despite it still being an impressive number.
To highlight (again) how impressive the number was, the third 15-minute segment of the night dropped right down to 949,000 viewers and did not feature Punk nor MJF. The quarter-hour following, however, would prove to be another indication that Maxwell Jacob Friedman was becoming a genuine star, as his promo that would lead the 8:45-9:00 PM segment helped to get that segment back over a million viewers to 1,008,000.
Granted, MJF’s appearance at the top of the segment was a surprise, but without looking at the minute-by-minute numbers (which are still not currently available publicly as of writing), it’s fair to assume that Maxwell was the reason for this jump over the previous quarter-hour.
19/1/22
The January 19th 2022 episode of Dynamite would again seem to indicate something about MJF; he was rapidly becoming a ratings winner, with this Punk feud taking him to the next leve.
Maxwell and Wardlow would be in the second part of the opening 15-minutes of the show, which would have a viewership of 1,218,000 and 620,000 in 18-49. It was a big start to the night for a programme that was increasingly drawing strong numbers on a week by week basis.
What this show also seemed to highlight though, is that whilst CM Punk was a net positive for the company in terms of viewership, hype and branding, he wasn’t a miracle worker every single week when it came to the ratings. Punk would appear in the third quarter-hour of the night, late in the 8:30-8:45 PM slot, facing Shawn Spears. And although MJF also appeared in the segment, it would be part of the downward trend of the night, losing viewers from the second quarter-hour (1,127,000 to 1,039,000). The numbers would continue to fall that night, with the final two quarter-hours drawing 941,000 and 947,000 respectively.
So for context, we had now seen Punk facing MJF as part of a six-man tag match drawing a big rating, Punk taking on Wardlow in a match that lost viewers, and a match against Shawn Spears that also lost viewers.
Going by this logic, it’s fairly reasonable to say that the ratings winners were when Punk and MJF were verbally jousting in the ring or actually getting physical. Conversely, anything that Punk was involved in beyond that appeared to be filler. But, you can’t just have MJF and Punk going at each other every week, so these ‘filler’ elements were integral to continuing the feud, so it was a catch-22 situation for the company.
26/1/22
The January 26th episode of Dynamite further proves the theory that it was Punk and MJF going at it on the microphone that really drew in the crowd, be that in person, on television or on social media.
Despite the trend of shows starting to lose viewership after a strong opening quarter-hour, the January 26th episode saw an impressive rise in viewership from the fourth quarter-hour to the fifth…featuring both Punk and MJF in a promo exchange once again.
This jump in the middle of the show, again something that was not the usual trend and more of an anomaly for Dynamite at times during this period, further highlighted that the company had a hot feud that was reaching the point of needing a match. With MJF’s group The Pinnacle taking out the former WWE Champion on this episode of Dynamite, Maxwell would then sit Indian style on top of the downed Punk and declare that we would finally be seeing the match between the two…next week in the Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois:
“Cleveland, do you want to see us wrestle right here, right now? No! Are you guys out of your mind? Do you think I’ll waste one of the most historical matches in this sport in Cleveland, Ohio? This place is disgusting. I’ll do you one better. I’ll give you the match you’ve all been waiting for. Next week in Chicago it’ll be CM Punk versus MJF! But…but…but…we’re not in Chicago. We’re in crappy Cleveland, a place rich in the history of Punk’s career. These people are frothing at the mouth for CM Punk against MJF, a match they all want. Or at least they think they do. I’ll be beating you in Chicago, and after I beat you, something unsettling will happen. You people will finally get to see the real CM Punk. The CM Punk who loses his smile the minute after he doesn’t get something he wants. The last time Punk left, it was right here in Cleveland. And what makes you think he won’t do it again? And then he’ll cry about it on a podcast.”
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.