It was billed as one of the biggest matches in AEW history, yet the World title unification bout between CM Punk and Jon Moxley wasn’t the main event of the Aug. 24 Dynamite.
This was sold as being so the match would all be televised even if it went to it’s 60 minute time limit. Mox only needed a few of them.
Commentary questioned from before the bell if Punk had come back from a broken foot too soon. And when he crumpled in pain while delivering a roundhouse kick, it seemed they were right.
The interim champ didn’t take his foot off the gas, even as trainers talked to Punk from ringside. Moments later, after a Death Rider and a Paradigm Shift, Mox was an interim champ no more.
The Cleveland crowd was almost too stunned to be happy for their home state hero, and it didn’t seem to sink in for Punk right away.
Count me among those who don’t know where this leaves things for All Out. My hunch is that Punk wasn’t going to be cleared to work a full match there, and this provides an angle for a later full-blown comeback. But that still doesn’t tell us who Mox will face at the Sept. 4 PPV in Punk’s hometown.
But with all the moving parts, rumors and reports flying around about Punk and AEW these days, who knows where it will fit in.
Get complete results and coverage of everything from tonight’s Dynamite here.