7 Ups & 6 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Thanksgiving (24 Nov)

3. Deflating From A Hot Start

QT Marshall vs. CM Punk felt like a letdown after the tremendous opening segment (which we'll get to later on).

Energy was high in Chicago when Punk and MJF did battle on the microphone. There was an instant deflation when the match got going, however, as everything slowed down for the wrestlers to settle into a relatively ponderous opening match, culminating in Punk taking the victory after a GTS.

Eating people alive doesn't necessarily fit Punk's current character, as the story is about him going through the gears after seven years away. He isn't issuing one-sided pounding. The guy is being presented as an older, flawed wrestler who isn't quite there yet, which has been great so far.

But this match needed to be a squash.

An emphatic victory over a clearly overmatched wrestler would have kept the night's energy high and served as a nice segway from the opener. Inspired by his promo fire, it would have worked well for Punk, who didn't need to struggle past one of AEW's bottom-ranked wrestlers.