Original Plans For AEW All Out 2022 Main Event

This year's All Out was originally meant to be headlined by THIS match...

by Andrew Pollard
CM Punk MJF
AEW

This year's hugely eventful AEW All Out PPV was headlined by CM Punk defeating Jon Moxley to become a two-time AEW World Champion.

While what happened after All Out essentially null and voided that match - with Moxley last night reclaiming the World Title that had been stripped from Punk immediately after All Out - there now comes word that the PPV was originally to have a slightly different main event.

As per today's episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, this year's All Out was initially planned to be closed out by MJF challenging CM Punk for the AEW World Championship.

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These plans were thrown up in the air once the Second City Saint injured his foot and was forced to vacate the company's top prize shortly after Double or Nothing. With that injury, AEW opted to crown an interim World Champ in the shape of Moxley, with there clear question marks over whether Punk would be cleared to compete in time for All Out.

Indeed, the Straight-Edge Superstar managed to make it back for All Out, although whatever AEW had planned for Punk - with many presuming he was on a natural collision course with MJF once again - was thrown completely off the table due to the star now facing a lengthy injury lay-off and being suspended while a third party investigation looks into what exactly went down backstage after All Out.

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As for MJF, it's not known whether the Salt of the Earth's recent absence from AEW would have happened or not if Punk hadn't got that initial foot injury after Double or Nothing. Even all these months removed, there's no concrete details on whether Max's issues with Tony Khan and AEW were a shoot, a work, or a shoot that became a work.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.