The Hall of Fame announcer, Jim Ross called the Jon Moxley vs. CM Punk world title unification match possibly the biggest bout in the history of the company, and he might’ve been right since the pair are arguable the biggest stars on the roster. That’s why it was so puzzling when it was announced that the contest would take place on Dynamite instead of next weekend’s All Out pay-per-view from Punk’s hometown of Chicago. Putting a definite money match that would’ve drawn a buy rate, something that isn’t easy in the modern era, on free TV prompted questions about what was next for the championship. Would MJF return to spoil CM Punk’s chance at the title to set up a grudge match at the pay-per-view? Would there be some type of non-finish to set up a gimmick match between Punk and Moxley at All Out?
Unfortunately, none of that materialized and the main event scene is completely flat a week and a half before the next pay-per-view.
Just minutes into the match, Punk “re-injured” his foot and that allowed Moxley to hit the paradigm shift to get the win. A bout that was considered potentially the biggest match in the history of the company went about three minutes and was completely one-sided. I wondered if Punk looked like he was hobbling when he made his surprise return to television a few weeks ago, and clearly, he’s not 100% from the foot injury that put him out of action almost three months ago. Obviously, the reason that Punk vs. Moxley was put on free television is because Punk still isn’t ready to compete from the injury. There’s not a heated angle that was going to build of off the bout on Dynamite for a bigger payoff at the pay-per-view. It’s not an opportunity for MJF to return or a plan for a major bout at All Out.
Instead, this whole scenario highlights the fact that Tony Khan booked himself into a corner and had to resolve the unification storyline before the pay-per-view in Punk’s hometown.
Sure, Punk could’ve theoretically stayed on the shelf indefinitely, but how long can you really continue to throw around the interim moniker? The basis of the interim championship is the expectation of the unification match to determine and undisputed champion. At some point, you have to get that resolved for the main event scene to be able to progress forward for new challengers and fresh matches. Khan couldn’t put a three-minute main event in the ring on the previously mentioned $50 pay-per-view so you had to wrap up the storyline on television before Chicago.
That said, Khan made and continues to make amateur mistakes with booking the All Elite product. Keep in mind, Punk informed everyone that he was going to be on the shelf before the extent of the injury was determined on the episode of Dynamite after Double or Nothing. Considering, Khan didn’t know how long Punk was going to be on the sidelines, it would’ve made more sense to have him officially vacate the title and then there’s no continuous expectation for the unification match. In short, it gives everyone involved in the angle more flexibility because the term interim isn’t a constant on television to reinforce the fact that the actual champion is still on the injured list. Hypothetically speaking, Punk could’ve taken a year away and there wouldn’t have been any pressure for his return because the storylines of the main event wouldn’t be linked to his championship status.
If there still wasn’t a clear time table for CM Punk to be back to a full-schedule then there wasn’t much choice except to book a short match to unify the belts, but that doesn’t make it any less of a disappointment because the audience expected a major bout. It was underwhelming and flat. It made CM Punk look weak because he more or less got squashed in a title match, and Moxley is the champion without an opponent for the pay-per-view.
If I had to guess, I’d say that Tony Khan foolishly assumed that unification matches intrinsically boost the importance of a bout, which is why he booked the Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara when Cody missed just two weeks of television because he wanted to recreate the Shawn Micheals/Razor Ramon scenario. Along the same lines, Khan booked another interim title without knowing the extent of Punk’s injury and the way that the situation unfolded ultimately led to a lackluster conclusion for an anticipated match.
There’s a reason that stipulations and gimmick matches shouldn’t be randomly thrown on television on a weekly basis, and it’s an example of Khan’s lack of focus toward the bigger picture.
The novelty of All Elite Wrestling as the new commodity of the industry has worn off and the substance of the organization is what will determine how successful it will be, as well as how long the company can maintain the success. Unless the promotion can start to make strides to continue to expand its audience and fully maximize its talent, the group might became stagnant, which is essentially what happened to TNA after a certain point during its existence. I think it’s fair to say that Khan’s booking hasn’t done the most with the talent that the free agent market allowed him to sign to contracts. CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole have all been a part of AEW for a year, but the ratings of the Dynamite are basically the same as they were before they arrived. That says a lot more about how the talented were booked than the wrestlers themselves.
The undisputed world champion, Jon Moxley doesn’t have an opponent for next weekend’s pay-per-view, and even if a match is announced for All Out next week, how can it be built as important just a few days before the event?
If you look at the All Out card on paper, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with it, but nothing jumps off the page as “must see” either. Is the Trios title tournament final really going to be a major selling point for a $50 broadcast? I already wrote a column about why I think the trios champions are completely unnecessary so I won’t repeat the same discussion, but it’s worth mentioning that the almost comical amount of championships is another example of Tony Khan’s amateur booking philosophy. Similar to the way that he throws gimmick matches on television to artificially boost feuds, championships are overused in an attempt to add importance to the product. Neither of those concepts are a substitute for meaningful angles that are well built toward a payoff on a major stage, which is why the MJF/CM Punk feud was so well done earlier this year.
The gimmick matches are a one-week solution and eventually those booking concepts yield diminishing returns. Ultimately, the substance of the booking is what counts, and that’s why Tony Khan doesn’t have many main event options for All Out. The trios title doesn’t have a long-term angle behind it and we’ve seen that inaugural championships don’t mean all that much either. Has Pac really done anything with the All-Atlantic title? Speaking of championships, how prestigious are the ROH TV or Pure titles right now?
The biggest takeaway here is that Tony Khan has the star power and the in-ring talent on the roster, but hasn’t been able to truly yield results with it. Again, the ratings for Dynamite are roughly the same now as there were before Punk, Danielson, and Adam Cole arrived. The product seems to promote “dream matches” instead of money matches. Aussie Open is a very talented team, but TBS is national television and they were booked for a main event segment when they vast majority of the viewing audience has no idea who they are. Profitability, not star ratings or booker of the year awards, is what counts on the national level. Tony Khan can have a vanity project or he can have a long-term commodity in the pro wrestling business. Hopefully, after All Out there can be a shift that spotlights the star power of the established names and angles that actually build toward a payoff to help make the younger talent bigger stars for the company.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Twitter @jimlamotta
