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All Elite Wrestling has garnered a reputation for its commitment to long-term storytelling over the lifespan of the promotion. AEW prides itself on its continuity. It even considers continuity from outside of AEW.
For instance, the promotion used the history between Chris Jericho and Juventud Guerrera to build their match on Dynamite last August. All of the history between those two wrestlers occurred outside of the company, but AEW made it important and seamlessly included it in the Chris Jericho vs. MJF feud the match was a part of.
There have been two major long-term stories the company has told. The first involved “Hangman” Adam Page and his two-year journey to the AEW World Championship. Page defeated former Bullet Club stablemate Kenny Omega at Full Gear 2021 for the World Title.
The second major long-term story involves MJF and current AEW World Champion CM Punk. Punk and MJF first clashed on a November 2021 episode of Dynamite, and their feud lasted until the Revolution pay-per-view in early March.
AEW hasn't had a major, long-term story on their programming since the Punk vs. MJF Dog Collar Match at Revolution. The closest we got was the MJF vs. Wardlow program, which had been building for years.
Reports of backstage drama have surfaced, once again leading AEW fans split on what's real and what's part of a storyline. Let's operate under the assumption that this is all a work.
If that's the case, AEW's next major long-term story is being built right before our eyes. And it involves major pieces from those last two big stories.
How AEW, CM Punk are building their next great storyline
Punk's AEW history
Let's begin by looking, briefly, at CM Punk's history in AEW. He debuted in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois on August 20, 2021.
He moved into a brief feud with Darby Allin, culminating in a match at All Out 2021, which Punk won. The feud was mostly about mutual respect, but Punk stated a desire to “see if I can hang.”
Punk had matches against the likes of Powerhouse Hobbs, Daniel Garcia, and Bobby Fish before feuding with Eddie Kingston. This feud was the first of Punk's feuds to blur the line between fiction and reality, as Punk and Kingston laid their animosity bare for all to see.
This led to a match between Punk and Kingston at Full Gear 2021. Punk won this encounter and moved on to his months-long feud with MJF.
He chased a singles match with MJF for months, until he finally received it on February 2, 2022. Punk faced the Salt of the Earth in Chicago, technically losing twice.
MJF originally choked Punk out, but the match was restarted when it was discovered he used tape to aid him. MJF then pinned Punk after assistance from Wardlow. Punk earned a rematch, defeating MJF in the aforementioned Dog Collar match after Wardlow turned on MJF.
He moved into the World Championship program with Adam Page. Punk went on to win the title at Double or Nothing in late May but went out with an injury before making his first defense.
That will change on the upcoming episode of Dynamite when Punk will face interim World Champion Jon Moxley in a title unification match.
What history tells us
Punk's history in AEW thus far reveals a rather interesting fact: despite being a babyface on television, every one of his feuds with the exception of MJF has been against other babyfaces.
Furthermore, only one of those babyface vs babyface feuds was built on anything other than mutual respect. The feud with Kingston was built on a dislike and disappointment in the other wrestler. Punk tore Kingston down and even outright called him a bum during the lead into their match.
In regards to Adam Page, the feud saw Punk emulate MJF in a lot of ways. During their final promo before the match, the current AEW World Champion tried to get the former champion to shake his hand. Much like how MJF tried to get Punk to do the same thing when their feud kicked off.
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The Second City Saint played mind games with Hangman Page, trying to get under his skin. He goaded Page into hitting him during the segment as well.
The conclusion
And this brings us to the biggest throughline in Punk's AEW history: the talking point against the AEW World Champion. The wording may be different, but the message is about the same.
That message? CM Punk is not the hero you all think he is.
Kingston called Punk out for judging him on the independents, calling him two-faced and narcissistic. Page said he was defending AEW as a whole from Punk because when the Straight Edge Superstar was on top of a company, bad things happened.
Perhaps most damning of all came from MJF. The Salt of the Earth went out on AEW television and essentially said Punk was the reason he was the way he was. MJF was this dastardly villain because CM Punk made him that way.
And when you go back through these segments, Punk isn't exactly doing much to disprove those accusations. During the feud with Kingston, Punk referred to him as a bum while talking down to him and belittling AEW Dark and Dark Elevation in the process.
When accused of judging Kingston unfairly, Punk phrased his actions in an interesting way. He and the other guys in those locker rooms weren't judging Kingston. No, they were “holding him to a standard.” Punk sounded exactly how one might sound if they were trying to put a spin on their own questionable actions.
The MJF feud made Punk question whether he was a good guy. He had to look himself in the mirror and ask every day if he was the good guy in that situation. Being credited for influencing such a detested person such as the Salt of the Earth shook him.
When it comes to Adam Page, however, any mask he may have been wearing began to slip. He resorted to the same mind games MJF did. He tried to make Page angry sometimes and tried to make him shake his hand other times.
And, as we saw Wednesday night, the facade seems to be nearly destroyed. Punk took a reportedly unplanned shot at Page, and tore into Jon Moxley. This is despite Punk earlier having spoken highly of Moxley when the Blackpool Combat Club member went to rehab for issues with alcohol.
And when Punk sought his rematch with MJF, he had to pick a tag team partner to fight by his side. Who did he call? Moxley, of course.
This is the story currently being built. CM Punk has always been a bad guy, but the fans have been too busy chanting his name from the top of their lungs to see it.
Where it goes next, we don't quite know. With rumors of MJF making his return to AEW television soon, that presents a potential opportunity for AEW to pull the trigger on a CM Punk heel turn.
The Straight Edge Superstar has worn a mask his entire run with Tony Khan's promotion. He is pretending to be someone he just isn't. And we may soon see Punk take that mask off and fully accept who he is.
