If you plan on watching just one episode of AEW Dynamite in 2022, the Wednesday, September 7th edition of the show would very much be the episode to tune into, as this two-hour block of television could very much change the direction of Tony Khan's company for the foreseeable future.

According to of Sports Illustrated, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Pat Buck, Christopher Daniels, Michael Nakazawa, and Brandon Cutler have all been suspended by the company as it attempts to understand exactly what happened during their very well-publicized backstage brawl via a third-party, independent investigation. Furthermore, Barrasso has multiple sources who claim that “Punk and Ace Steel will either be among those suspended or will no longer be with the company by the end of Wednesday,” which, considering the man born Phillip Brooks just secured the AEW World Championship for a second time at All Out, is pretty unfortunate for all parties involved.

Will AEW be able to overcome this serious blow to their momentum and the backlash that will accompany it regardless of how things shake out? More likely than not, yes; MJF is officially back with a shot at the AEW World Championship already secured via Stokely Hathaway and his band of baddies at All Out, and his ability to rile up a crowd and garner attention is second-to-none. Still, even if Khan's address doesn't result in Punk being outright fired, Dave Meltzer has it on good authority that the “Chick Magnet” will likely leave the night without the AEW World Championship around his waist, as he reportedly suffered an injury at All Out that could keep him out of action indefinitely.

CM Punk's title reign might have ended before it began at AEW's All Out.

When Punk took the ring against Jon Moxley in the main event of AEW's All Out, he looked like a completely different performer than the man who dropped the strap in under five minutes in the penultimate edition of Dynamite before the Chicago-based Pay-per-View. He moved smoothly, had some fire in his eyes, and played to the crowd as any good baby-faced hometown hero should. But then, as the match went on, Punk didn't look quite right. His movements looked more labored, and his GTS didn't look quite as fluid as even earlier in his AEW run.

When Punk went to the back for his now-infamous media scrum teardown of Colt Cabana, “Hangman” Adam Page, and EVP members of The Elite, he was icing his chest, and apparently, there's a good reason for that: Dave Meltzer is reporting that Punk suffered a “serious” pec injury that is expected to keep him out of action for the foreseeable future even if he is retained by AEW.

“(CM) Punk injury, believed to be from the tope, is serious. Rumors from Sunday but he hadn't confirmed them, but it's been confirmed to me no matter what happens discipline-wise that the title situation has to be changed and addressed tonight.” – goodness, that is not good.

Now, for fans in the know, this isn't the first time Punk suffered a major injury that resulted in an abbreviated championship tenure; Punk suffered a foot injury in his very first match post-Double or Nothing back in June when he performed in a trios match with FTR against Max Caster and The Gunn Club from the “Fabulous” Kia Forum, and that injury kept him out of action for almost three months and set this whole ball into motion. Even if Punk remains in the company, he could miss anywhere from 4-6 weeks if the tear is minor all the way up to a year if things are serious, according to Dr. Lorenzo Masci, Sports London Doctor. 

Based on the wording of Meltzer's tweet, when coupled with the physical nature of professional wrestling, it's pretty safe to assume Punk's timeline for recovery would likely be measured in months, not weeks.

Ever since the conclusion of All Out and the now-extensively analyzed media scrum with CM Punk and Tony Khan, AEW fans the world over have been constantly refreshing their news feeds and checking for notifications in the hopes of learning more about what happened and what the future holds for Tony Khan's promotion. While the tweet from Khan himself and the various reports seem to indicate that things will (hopefully) be addressed tonight on TBS, the sheer fact that what was by most accounts a successful Pay-Per-View featuring one of the greatest trios matches in recent memory has devolved so quickly has been unfortunate.