12 Ups & 2 Downs For AEW All In 2023

9. Starting Off Extremely Hot

As soon as CM Punk came out in white attire, chances are that this was going to be a bloody war, and that was indeed what we got. Well, at least bloody on the part of the Second City Saint.

From the get-go, Samoa Joe dominated his long-time rival, brutalising Punk on the outside, slamming him into the barricade, and then even throwing the Real Worlds Champion through the lower part of the announce desk. One mild complaint here is that, from a logic standpoint, referee Paul Turner allowed Joe and Punk to remain outside for several minutes without making any particular threat of a countout.

That mild grumble aside, this match was a belter; the perfect choice to open the main All In card out hot.

Once the bloodied Punker crawled out from the announce desk, Joe put an immediate stop to any attempted comeback, with the majority of the Wembley crowd firmly behind the King of Television. There were kickouts at a 1 count, there was a nice tribute to Terry Funk as Punk applied the Funker's Spinning Toe Hold, and there was a gnarly, nasty level of aggression brought to the table by this two wily veterans.

It would be CM Punk retaining his Real Worlds Title here, digging into his classic playbook to pull out the Pepsi Plunge to secure the 1-2-3 over the Samoan Submission Machine.