After watching CM Punk deliver his big “I'm Home” promo on RAW, wrestling fans the world over wondered how AEW would respond, especially MJF, the current World Champion and a performer with a pretty impressive resume against the “Best in the World.”

Taking the ring with a cane helping him down, a byproduct of his combination hip/knee/shoulder injury suffered in the main event of Full Gear, MJF started shooting like he was Punker's idol, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, with WWE and the “Second City Saint” catching strays in a long-winding road to Samoa Joe.

“December 30th, Nassau Coliseum, Worlds End, it will be Samoa Joe versus yours truly for the grandest prize of them all, the ‘Triple B,’ the AEW World Championship. Now I’m gonna be honest, guys, when it comes to Samoa Joe as a person, ehhhh, I don’t like him. But professionally, I respect him. I respect what Samoa Joe has done for this industry, and most of all, I respect the fact when he came in here, he didn’t come here to line his pockets, he came here because he believes in those three letters. Now, back in the early 2000s, I remember getting a poster in my mailbox. I opened it up, and it said ‘TNA Wrestling.’ And I remember thinking to myself, ‘What’s this all about?’ I tuned in, and I couldn’t have been happier. I saw insane feats of athleticism. I saw a new cast of professional wrestlers I had never seen or heard of before. But most of all, what I saw was one man amongst the rest, and that was the ‘Samoan Submission Machine.’ Though Samoa Joe may have looked a little bit unconventional, he didn’t seem to care, and neither did any of us, because every time he walked through that curtain, we knew he was the baddest man walking on God’s green earth,” MJF told the crowd in Minnesota.
“Now, unfortunately, later on in his career, his talents weren’t fully realized, and he was not afforded the opportunity to be a World Champion in WWE. But what Joe did for this sport was bigger than that. Samoa Joe proved you don’t have to be a massive male model bodybuilder to be a top guy in this sport. Samoa Joe broke the mold. Samoa Joe proved alternatives matter, and because of the road that Joe paved, it has allowed for a man like me to stand before you today. Without a guy like Joe, there may be no AEW.”

Dang, now that is anything but subtle. So, with the pleasantries out of the way, MJF got down to brass tacks, explaining his goal for the next month in AEW.

MJF isn't going down without a fight at Worlds End.

Continuing on with his promotional efforts, MJF let it be known that while he may not be 100 percent heading into Worlds End, he's going to do everything in his power to remain a champion in front of his hometown crowd.

“So Joe, very quickly, what I’d like to say, as much as this all pains me to admit, thank you. Yes, thank you, Joe. However, I’m actually, while very grateful to go down the road that you paved, Joe, I’m not too shabby myself, now am I? I’ve managed to pave a road of my own. I’ve managed to help build a new alternative. I have been in AEW since day 1, and I have helped build this place brick by brick. And I did that by defeating some of the biggest names in this industry. Guys like Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, but of all of the names I have had to face inside the squared circle, the one name when I look back and I think not only was a lucky to have been victorious, I was lucky to have survived, that’d be you, Joe,” MJF noted.

“Samoa Joe, you are a wrestling legend, but December 30th is not about your legacy. December 30th is about mine. December 30th is about can Max Friedman, can Max Friedman outlast the final boss of this sport one more time? So now, I’m gonna make a promise. I’m going to make a promise to everybody watching at home and to everybody in this arena. Joe, on December 30th, I don’t care if my left knee keeps sliding in and out. I don’t care if my right hip keeps popping in and out of socket. I don’t care if my left shoulder is hanging on by a thread. I don’t care if you beat me within an inch of my life. I don’t care if you’re King Kong and Godzilla incarnate. Because I promise, December 30th, Samoa Joe, I am going to show the world in the Nassau Coliseum it is not about the size of the dog in the fight, it is about the size of the fight in the dog. And if you want to take what’s mine at Worlds End, you’re gonna have to put me down.”

Unfortunately for Max, when the promo came to an end, he was met with an attack from the Devil's henchmen, who attacked him until Joe came in for the save, a decision that led to a tag team match being booked for next week against the duo. On an episode of Dynamite that had a few more viewers than most in the hopes of seeing how AEW handled the Punk news, MJF delivered the promo fans were expecting from the “Best in the World.”