Jon Moxley shockingly squashes CM Punk for AEW Championship

After weeks of anticipation, Jon Moxley and CM Punk officially took the ring for one of the most controversial matches in AEW history.

When AEW announced that Jon Moxley versus CM Punk would take place a few minutes after the one-hour mark of Dynamite, it generated an incredible amount of heat and intrigue around the professional wrestling world. Why wasn't the match the main event? Would the show go long after 10 pm ET? And what about the main event of United Empire versus Death Triangle, was that match going to be shortened or worse, preempted entirely in favor of a long, brutal grudge match?

Well, as it turns out, any fears about the show going over their allotted time limit on TBS were short-lived, as in the time it will take you to read this story, Moxley and Punk started, wrestled, and finished out their championship match with a 1-2-3 in the middle of the ring, with the former officially becoming the undisputed champion for the second time in AEW history.

… frankly, it's sort of hard to put into words just how shocking this booking decision was.

Did Punk get hurt? When he kicked Moxley in the head he immediately fell to the floor, grimacing in pain and screaming out in agony as he grasped at his foot. Or was this a way to write off Punk for the foreseeable future as he either heels up or reconsiders his spot in the company? His heat in AEW with the likes of “Hangman” Adam Page is very well established, and some have even suggested that he wanted to walk out of the show instead of appearing at the “House of the Dragons” edition of AEW Dynamite.