REVEALED: AEW's Original Plans For CM Punk After All Out 2022
What matches and angles were scrapped in the aftermath of CM Punk's shocking AEW exit?
CM Punk was set to immediately feud with former rival MJF for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship before the events of the post-All Out 2022 press conference exploded just about everything.
This is according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, whose detailed deep dive into the fall out from "Brawl Out" in the most recent edition of the newsletter confirmed that the Casino Ladder Match winner was to get straight back into business with the man that had conclusively defeated him in an iconic Dog Collar bout at March's Revolution pay-per-view.
The two men had a stare-down as the show went off the air, with MJF's return video using clips of Punk's legendary 2005 Ring Of Honor Championship victory and heel turn as a clue of what might have been to come with his new "Devil" moniker. Alas, Punk chewed out everybody while chowing down on muffins, and the whole thing was binned.
MJF had been absent since the Dynamite after May's Double Or Nothing, which was the site of Punk's first AEW Championship victory before injury derailed that run.'The Salt Of The Earth' was involved in a significant worked shoot angle either side of a loss to Wardlow at the event that culminated in him calling Tony Khan a "f*cking mark" on television before completely disappearing from view.