Why CM Punk Just Lost In AEW For First Time
Elegantly working through the gears, the Dusty Finish trick provided a delicate reset, allowing an already-injured Punk to pick another body part to sell. Now nursing a bad shoulder and knee, MJF zeroed back in but the psychological damage of the near-win had clearly taken its toll and after the two had resorted to biting each other, the 'Salt Of The Earth' inadvertently put himself in the way of some harm that hadn't been inflicted for 17 years.
The Pepsi Plunge spot will share the same space in video packages and memories as the stunning Sammy Guevara double ladder cutter from a week prior, but there was much more to the moment than merely (!) the glorious unfurling of a spectacular and devastating spot. Punk didn't use it just because he was in Chicago or because he wasn't in WWE, but because the opportunity presented itself he was required to dig decades deep.
With the bulk of Punk and MJF's work done, the match again mimicked the angle in existing as a trojan horse for Wardlow's eventual babyface turn.
'The War Dog' first appeared to stand between the foes, then supposedly stepped aside to let Punk complete his work before one camera angle on the replay revealed that he'd actually picked his spot perfectly. He slipped MJF the Dynamite Diamond Ring to help score a win as ill-gotten as the chalked off one but - crucially - nowhere near as pronounced. As usual, he needed the service Wardlow provided (and exactly as Punk described, word-for-word in their first promo battle), and he'll miss it when that service finally kicks the living sh*t out of him.
It was all over. And all of it was over.
CONT'D...