4 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (5 Jan)

2. CM Punk & MJF Take Shots

The WWF barbs will get most of the headlines, but the entire CM Punk/MJF deal was fire from start to finish last night.

MJF was supposed to flatten Shawn Dean. Punk stopped this from happening, drilling Dean with a Go 2 Sleep to trigger a disqualification that means MJF technically starts 2022 with a 0-1 record. The announcers made a big deal of this, as did Max, who bit back when Punk claimed he'd be doing the same thing every time MJF steps into the ring with him.

The duo went back and forth on each other with their usual levels of bile and spite, then delivered the big talking points. MJF, who claimed Punk needed him to keep his edge, took issue with his foe likening himself to Roddy Piper. Piper, he claimed, was good enough to headline WrestleMania, taking aim at Punk's failure to do so, then teasing his own future by suggesting he might main-event the WWE mega-show someday.

Punk's response?

"If you think the grass is much greener on the other side, be my guest. Go ahead, leave, main-event night four of a buy-one-get-one-free extravaganza and then get released faster than you last hit the sack. When you come back, I'll still be here and that *ss-kicking will be waiting for you."

MJF teased relenting, doing a phenomenal job of building the crowd up to think they were going to get what they want. Then, like a pro, he dropped the bomb. CM Punk wrestles Wardlow next week.

Another body for MJF to hide behind - and another hurdle for Punk to leap over.

It's a phenomenal storyline, and so was the segment. Informed by Punk's AEW run to date and true to both characters, it's as real and believable as modern pro wrestling gets.