10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2022 (So Far)
3. CM Punk Vs. MJF - AEW Revolution
As a complete end-to-end presentation, this was a pro wrestling masterpiece.
Every detail was perfect, even Excalibur describing AFI's Miseria Cantare as an anthem, and not a theme. This entrance was somehow controversial, but if you weren't aware of the context - despite it literally being described - the atmosphere it generated was something else. It also illustrated the genius of the story MJF and Punk had told. Earlier in the build, MJF described his rival as "PG Punk". It scanned as a lame-on-purpose insult, the lesser material in their venomous personal exchanges. Even that was paid off; MJF had summoned the ROH Punk in deliberate contrast and indeed vengeance for being manipulated and left a bloody pulp.
The match was so much more artful than the regulation plunder brawl. Every story beat was as linked as well as the chain, every bit of weaponry treated as something fraught with danger. In a tremendous sequence, thumbtacks were approached like a C4 explosive in a death match. So much suspense was generated from the fear they posed that it rendered almost every other use of the spot less than ideal. They should have been treated this way all along. And then, when MJF eventually took the bump, the delayed slapstick selling acted as the moment of catharsis fans had begged for throughout the best, richest feud of 2022.
The match also had a sense of humour about it; the second MJF threatened to cut an NXT-style monologue, Punk dragged him from the top turnbuckle to the canvas.
The match was in fact so artful that it yielded pro wrestling's 'One Perfect Shot' moment. The crowd erupted into a standing ovation when Wardlow walked out on MJF, with the importance of the ring - a consistent thread for over two years - emphasised as it was shot in close-up as Punk crawled towards it in the background.
This wasn't strictly a "cinematic" match, but its cinematic brilliance made a mockery of wrestling's pandemic output - and Punk absolutely pissing claret bled through everything so that it never felt too stylised.