8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (8 Dec)

2. Pilloried

CM Punk
AEW

What a great fake-out to open the show.

MJF's entrance music drew the expected mega-pop, but it was CM Punk, not The Salt of the Earth, who walked out. This drew one of the most engaged split reactions you'll hear all year. While predominantly negative towards Punk, there were still sects of the crowd chanting for him, which created was must have been an awesome atmosphere inside the arena.

Punk had a blast with these, too. Ripping the Islanders hockey team, revealing a Pillars t-shirt that had MJF replaced with Britt Baker, and claiming he was disappointed in the audience for choosing Max as their guy, Punk played the crowd like a veteran politician. He knew exactly which buttons to push - and pushed them at exactly the right time.

Going for low-hanging fruit in the form of sports jabs works within the context of the feud and gives MJF ammo for the next time they verbally lock horns. This feud continues to be one of the best things in American wrestling at the moment, and this might have been its best night.

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Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.