MJF Returns, CM Punk Regains Title at AEW’s All Out

The world champion’s backstage fireworks may have overshadowed a lengthy show, but a successful pay-per-view will now open the next chapter for multiple key figures.

CM Punk defeated Jon Moxley in the main event of All Out, restarting a title reign that ended before it could get started.

Punk originally won the belt in May, but was injured at the beginning of June, necessitating an interim champ to be crowned. Moxley won that tournament, then unified the belts when he beat a returning Punk two weeks ago on Dynamite. Now, as the summer turns to fall, Punk has regained his place atop the company with this title victory.

A bloodied Punk showed his fighting spirit against Moxley, then delighted his hometown Chicago crowd with another world title victory. The celebration was only momentary, as Maxwell J. Friedman (MJF) revealed himself as the masked winner of the Casino Ladder match, which earned him a future title shot. While it initially appeared MJF was going to cash in his chip and challenge Punk, that was not the case. But it certainly looks like this will eventually lead to the start of MJF’s first-ever run as champ.

This was still an extremely compelling main event, an especially difficult feat to accomplish when taking place after more than three-and-a-half hours of wrestling. Despite the long card, with a handful of matches that could have been moved to Dynamite or Rampage, Punk and Moxley delivered in the final match of the night.

Highlights from All Out also included the World Trios finale pitting The Elite against Dark Order, Toni Storm’s first title victory in AEW, a phenomenal tag title match, and the return of Samoa Joe. Even more fireworks took place during the post-show press conference, where CM Punk criticized the Bucks and Omega for their work as EVPs, as well as laid into Hangman Page for “going into business for himself” during a promo before their match last May. Surprisingly, the focus shifted almost entirely from the angle with MJF, who Punk also critiqued. Much of Punk’s frustration was over reports, which he claimed to be entirely false, of anything to do with former friend Colt Cabana. Unfortunately for AEW, as good as their product was on-screen at All Out, the backstage fireworks completely overshadowed the show.

Here are the results:

• The Joker won the Casino Ladder match
• The Elite’s Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks defeated the Dark Order to become the inaugural World Trios champions
• TBS champion Jade Cargill defeated Athena
• Wardlow and FTR defeated Jay Lethal and the Motor City Machine Guns
• Powerhouse Hobbs defeated Ricky Starks
• Swerve in Our Glory defeated The Acclaimed to retain the tag team titles
• Toni Storm defeated Dr. Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, and Jamie Hayter to become the interim women’s champion
• Christian Cage defeated Jungle Boy
• Chris Jericho defeated Bryan Danielson
• Miro, Sting, and Darby Allin defeated The House of Black’s Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews
• CM Punk defeated Jon Moxley to regain the AEW world title

The pay-per-view opened with the Casino Ladder match. It benefited tremendously from the presence of Claudio Castagnoli, who has the ability to enhance whoever he is wrestling. The winner received a future world title shot, so it was unlikely that anyone involved—Castagnoli, who is already ROH champ, Wheeler Yuta, Penta El Zero Miedo, Rey Fenix, Rush, Andrade or Dante Martin—was going to be victorious. It appeared that the winner would be the mystery entrant, which turned out to be the case.

After the 13-minute mark, Stokely Hathaway’s men came out and cleaned house, The Rolling Stones’s “Sympathy for the Devil” then played, and a man in a devil’s mask came out to grab the casino chip for the victory. He teased unmasking, but exited the ring. All signs pointed to MJF under the mask, and that was the big reveal at the end of the show.

The ladder match was followed by the World Trios tournament finale pitting The Dark Order’s Hangman Page, Alex Reynolds, and John Silver against The Elite’s Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks. There is an electricity about seeing Omega and the Bucks together, and we were treated to a Page-Omega sequence in the ring, the first since last November in their world title match.

This was the best presentation of Page since he was world champ. He looked like a star, and the Bucks added to the brilliance of the bout. Even though the finish was obvious—you knew Silver was taking the pin—it was done creatively, with Page accidentally hitting Silver instead of Omega with the Buckshot Lariat. Omega and the Bucks are now the first trios champions, opening up plenty of possibilities for the titles.

Jade Cargill successfully defended her TBS title against Athena, who formerly was Ember Moon in WWE, extending her undefeated streak in the process. Athena was a really smart opponent to pair with Cargill, who is still extremely limited in the ring. At just over four minutes, this was short, yet effective in highlighting Cargill. Then came another six-man tag, this one pitting Wardlow and FTR against Jay Lethal and the Motor City Machine Guns. It overstayed its welcome at 16.5 minutes, but featured the right finish. Wardlow pinned Lethal after four straight powerbombs, and a highlight during the aftermath was the return of Samoa Joe, who was written out of programming while filming Twisted Metal.

This was followed by the biggest surprise of the night up to that point, when Powerhouse Hobbs made fairly quick work of Ricky Starks. Hobbs won after executing his spinebuster, which took place just after the five-minute mark. While it is effective to promote the notion that Hobbs can end a match whenever he hits that move, Starks deserved a chance to unleash more offense—and both men deserved more time for this story than five minutes. There was also no replay of the finish, which was very odd.

A marvelous match was The Acclaimed challenging Swerve in Our Glory for the tag titles. Anthony Bowens and Max Caster have been generating a greater response from the crowd on a weekly basis, and those in attendance at the Chicago-area Now Arena were fully behind them. Yet new champions were not crowned. Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland were victorious, and perhaps by design, this felt like a missed opportunity. The crowd would have exploded had Bowens and Caster pulled off the win, and it felt like this was the perfect time for them to win—but there was some outstanding heel work on display from Lee and Strickland. Hopefully this feud continues, as it finished leaving people wanting to see more.

The women’s title match was a four-way featuring Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, Jamie Hayter and Toni Storm. This was Storm’s moment, as she finally tasted AEW gold with the victory. It also advanced the story between Baker and Hayter, with Baker taking advantage of their partnership to try and steal the match away from Hayter. Shida also had moments where she shined, and all three should have compelling title matches against the new champ.

Christian Cage and Jungle Boy were up next, but this was less of a match and more of a progressing of an angle. During his entrance, Jungle Boy was attacked by Luchasaurus. He was beaten to the point that Christian needed only 20 seconds to beat him in his damaged state. This was a solid change of pace for the show, and furthered the intensity of the program.

A highly anticipated match was Chris Jericho against Bryan Danielson. The two didn’t disappoint, working an extremely physical contest that I would have preferred to see open the card. Jericho won with a low blow, one that referee Aubrey Edwards failed to see. The Jericho Appreciation Society, minus Daniel Garcia, celebrated ringside with Jericho after the win. Garcia wanted Jericho to wrestle the match without cheating, which he failed to do, leading to more problems between those two. While that story is interesting, it is jarring to see Danielson lose. He is one of the rare difference-makers in all of wrestling, still at the top of his game, and would do far more for the company in the world title picture.

There was another six-man tag before the main event, as Darby Allin, Sting, and Miro defeated The House of Black. The finishing sequence saw Malakai Black get misted by Sting, then take the pin from Allin. Nearly three-and-a-half hours into the show, this was another match that could have headlined Dynamite or Rampage. It also felt like a great chance for Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews to pick up a much-needed win, especially in the six-man format. With rumors circulating that Black is taking time off from wrestling, this did nothing to provide any clarity on his future.

The night finished with the main event, where Punk can now play out the storyline that had been intended to kick off the summer. It will be interesting to see what happens next with Moxley, who feels like he is better suited as a loner than as part of the Blackpool Combat Club.

All Out was, in a word, long. Perhaps that isn’t the worst thing—there was an abundance of wrestling to enjoy. But a lot of these matches could be saved for television—if you’re only giving Starks and Hobbs five minutes, why put it on pay-per-view? Yet it also had a healthy share of highlights, particularly in the closing moments as Punk regained the title—and MJF made his return.

This show was formatted and structured very differently from yesterday’s Clash at the Castle event, but a key part of AEW’s success is that it is a different presentation than WWE. Now, thanks to a successful pay-per-view, the next chapter will begin to play out for MJF, Storm, Baker, Hayer, The Acclaimed, and Moxley. And all eyes are on Punk, the man AEW believes can raise its stature even further during his title run.