Voices of Wrestling 2022 Match of the Year: #9 (CM Punk vs. MJF)

In the year of the dog collar, CM Punk and MJF conclude their long-standing feud with a bloodbath for the ages.

Voices of Wrestling 2022 Match of the Year Archives

• Introduction & Honorable Mentions
• Matches #100-76
• Matches #75-51
• Matches #50-26
• Matches #25-11
• Early-Access Top 10 Reveal
• #10: FTR vs. The Briscoes – July
• #9: CM Punk vs. MJF

#9
CM Punk vs. MJF
03/06
AEW

Overall Points: 361
Total Votes: 59
% of Ballots: 28.23%
5 First Place Votes

““Love your hate, your faith lost. You are now one of us.” I still get goosebumps thinking about this match.” -Slyguy46

“The climax to one of the greatest TV wrestling feuds we have ever seen. Over three months these two went from peacocking and measuring their dicks in a classic reality-era style promo to bearing the very nature of who they are as people before bleeding buckets and buckets of blood in this sickening but beautifully cathartic match. Even if we never get the second chapter to their story CM Punk and MJF are of the greatest TV wrestling pairings we’ve ever had the fortune of seeing.” -Sam Brown

“This was brutality and storytelling is like chocolate and peanut butter. The MJF and CM Punk feud just felt old-school. Both of these guys have a huge love for the history of the business. And they put the history in this feud. A dog collar match the likes of Piper/Greg Valentine in the 80s. The match was a bloodbath! This was truly a classic match. A war between two students of the game.” -Franky DeJesus

“The two best feuds in 2022 ended in Dog Collar Matches. While this may be the second-best of the two, that doesn’t diminish it as AEW at its best. It’s a shame that CM Punk’s implosion will forever taint the run he had, because this is a great example of how great wrestling can be when matches pay off clearly defined feuds with vivid characters.” -Kevin Ely

“Its quite strange. In ranking these matches you really should do it in a vacuum, and usually that’s what I try to do. That being said its very hard to judge this match, in that sense, in both ways. Positively this match was a great cap to one of AEW’s best feuds. Negatively it wasn’t supposed to be the cap and we had the fallout of brawl out. The match itself felt near perfect when it comes to a blow off stip, yet it also got outshined by another match of the same stip. All in all the ranking of 5 feels quite right to me.” -Kentucky210 (Austin Hall)

“Because of how the year shook out for both CM Punk & MJF, this match (and the feud it sprang from) will likely not be what fans first think of when asked about either man’s 2022. However, this was everything you want in a feud-ending pro wrestling match. Blood, violence, the villain being foiled by the hero, and even a glimpse into what would be next for MJF, as they finally pulled the trigger on a Wardlow babyface turn. An immensely satisfying match.” -Liam Renner

“After the turmoil these men caused AEW in 2022, I hate to do it, but you gotta give the devils their dues.” -James “NuclearConvoy” Snelgrove

“CM Punk and MJF arguably had the best television feud in North American pro wrestling history, and for it to culminate in a way that was wholly satisfying in both presentation and execution puts the feud in a pantheon that becomes even more difficult to argue against. Obviously this feud wasn’t meant to be over with this particular match, but I guess that’s what happens when Ace Steel is your latest nepotism hire. At the very least, this acted as the perfect ending to a story that should have had several more chapters ahead of it. At most, it was a triumph in long-term, emotional storytelling. MJF was at his diabolical best, or worst, in the months that led to Revolution, but CM Punk’s reaction to the manipulation being the choice to revert back to “the devil” he was in Ring of Honor made this unforgettable. While only a minority of fans immediately recognized the guttural opening to AFI’s “Miseria Cantare”, it wasn’t for the majority; it was for the feckless nerds that had watched CM Punk on Ring of Honor tapes, DVDs, and grainy DVD rips on Dailymotion. I can count on one hand the number of times pro wrestling has given me goosebumps, but that CM Punk entrance was one. The feud had been so good up to that point, the match simply needed to deliver. The problem with dog collar matches, is that simply “delivering” is no easy feat. There hadn’t been a truly great dog collar match in nearly two decades until Brodie Lee’s final match against Cody Rhodes, and unbelievably there have been two since that TNT Championship match. This match was precisely as brutal as one would hope, and for Wardlow to help deliver the final blow to MJF and his ego was perfect pro wrestling storytelling not seen in a shockingly long time.” -Andrew Stewart

“This was a bloodbath of a match! Punk enters in his old school ROH gear and is ready for a fight! Perfect slow burn of a match as Punk starts off hot before MJF is able to use the chain to take over and bust Punk open. Punk is a bloody mess. But he keeps fighting and takes back control and works over MJF’s hand. Punk starts rolling and busts MJF open but hurts his own knee on a Shining Wizard. Punk has a bad wheel and MJF goes after it. MJF breaks out thumbtacks just to hurt Punk more but he won’t stay down! MJF calls Wardlow to the ring but Wardlow can’t find the Diamond ring. Punk grabs MJF and hits a GTS and MJF lands in the tacks! Wait, Wardlow finds the ring! He sets it down for Punk! Knockout punch to MJF! What a battle! Punk gets his revenge in a war AND we get Wardlow’s turn! This was violent, bloody and beautiful!” -Alex Kalil

“The story of this match was excellent and the callbacks were great too. MJF is always good and Punk was right there with him.” -Daniel Kuchler

“This to me is pure storytelling perfection. It’s a shame we didn’t get part 2 because of BRAWL Out because i can’t even begin to imagine how they were going to top this. The first match they had was EXCELLENT and one of the best TV main events of the year. The promo work leading into all this was top class with some of the best moments in wrestling history, most notably the go home Dynamite where MJF hangs Punk. Everything about the match was perfect for me. Punk going back to his old ways, symbolized by his use of his AFI theme and old look, completely made sense for the feud presented. Even the Wardlow turn was expertly applied to the finish. This match felt like an old school grudge. For someone who got into ROH because of the work of Punk with Raven, this absolutely felt like a masterpiece made for me.” -Christopher Duarte

“A match like no other. Punk and MJF culminated the 2022 feud of the year with a match that made me feel like a kid again. I was in the arena live, and watched it back, and it still gave me emotion like most matches do not.” -Jack Murphy

“The best feud in wrestling in 2022 has at least the resolution of his first chapter with a slow burn bloody dog collar match, with details and nostalgia sprinkled all over this amazing fight. The kickstart of the Wardlow vs MJF was done here and was tremendous.” -Diego Garcia

“In a vacuum I don’t think this would have cracked my top ten, but of all my favourite matches of the year, this benefitted most from its build. While Tony Khan didn’t exactly have a flawless year, one of his best and boldest booking decisions was to have Punk lose his first encounter with MJF. (In Chicago of all places.) Along with stellar mic work and a storyline that drew parallels with Punk’s villainous past, this loss set the stage for an almighty rematch at Revolution. The payoff was what it needed to be: a real crowd-pleaser that ticked all the boxes. MJF’s comeuppance and Wardlow’s turn were the predictable (and best) route; the AFI entrance and Punk’s belt-gesturing were perhaps more of a surprise. Still, CM Punk as champion? What could possibly go wrong…” -Jack G. King

“Let’s pretend the feud ended here and was supposed to end here. Because this is just stellar and a great cap to the best feud of the year. The Punk entrance, the Wardlow turn, the match itself told a fantastic story and is one of the most memorable matches of the entire year.” -Sandra Berry

“MJF became a man for the second time on this day, only his bar mitzvah was prior.” -Jeff Schwartz

“CM Punk’s long WWE tenure makes it easy to forget that he was once someone who could go toe to toe with the likes of Raven in a bloodbath, while MJF had never quite been taken to the limit in one in a singles environment. The closest he came was the first Blood and Guts match, and while that match helped give him an air of toughness, it was his match with Punk that helped take him to another level. He, like Randy Orton 18 years before, felt like he was on the cusp of greatness – but missing something to get there. He needed to get ugly and needed a physical war to show how tough he could be to get past the pretty boy facade. Punk and MJF had some of pro wrestling’s most compelling promo work of the past 20 years together and unraveled layers of their on-air characters using reality to make you cling to every word. The match itself was a violent bloodbath that fit right in with Punk’s wars with Raven nearly 20 years prior and was a fitting ROH tribute on a night where he brought back his “Miseria Cantare” to create an atmosphere unlike he had before or since in AEW. He won the battle and gave MJF some lumps that gave him a bit more toughness than he had going in.” -Jeremy Peeples

“While it didn’t end up becoming the best rivalry in decades like it was on track to be, this match that ended the first arc of their rivalry was incredible. From MJF being a shitbag the entire way before and after giving Punk his first pinfall loss in AEW to Punk coming down like it was Ring of Honor 2005 and showing his love for pro wrestling was still around, these two went all out, using the dog collar in creative ways and they bled buckets all over Punk’s basketball shorts. This was incredible from entrances to the finish and the epitome of why gimmick matches are phenomenal when the story calls for it.” -Tyler Forness

“Will you be my Valentine? CM Punk’s 2022 in AEW will go down as a bitter disappointment, as Punk’s feuds and maybe even his wrestling revival all unraveled due to injuries and the post-All Out meltdown. But goodness, Punk’s run before it all fell apart was so magical, and the feud with MJF was among the very best character and in-ring work of his career. The dog collar stipulation has become a signature match for AEW, and this may have been the best dog collar match under the AEW banner to date. The palpable feeling of hatred between these two was more than enough to justify that stipulation, and then Punk and MJF utilized the stipulation almost perfectly in the match itself. Punk was masterful in walking a fine line with symbolism, utilizing his past ROH self to elevate this match with MJF, but without feeling too indulgent or too confusing for the uninitiated. MJF was superb, not allowing himself to be swallowed up by the moment, and proving once again that he is deserving of his position in AEW. I remember thinking at the time that this match pulled off something really extraordinary, elevating THREE guys in a match between only two wrestlers. Wardlow’s turn on MJF was really well done, and he was able to ride that momentum for the rest of the year. It really is unfortunate that Punk’s run disintegrated just a few months later, as performances like this one show that the Ol’ Punker is still more than capable of delivering excellence in a pro-wrestling ring.” -TDE

“The match started with the first holy shit moment for me when Punk came out to Miseria Cantare with his basketball shorts and you immediatly felt this is the big one tonight, this match will be a war and boy you’ve got a war. The match was bloody, violent and brutal and emotional to wrap up an epic feud between two great pro-wrestling minds.” -Christian Gascoigne

“As an entire piece (build, atmosphere, match) The Dog Collar match is the match from my list that is maybe the best total package. It was a story that was reverent of history but done in a way that wasn’t obnoxious and inaccessible to younger fans. Both men were fully justified in their own minds for wanting to tear each other apart. Punk had become wrestling’s tradition, fighting to show that he belonged at the top to himself as much as anyone. MJF was the young arrogant kid, looking to upend the past, the role Punk himself once played. Punk’s arrival in his old skin, ring gear and music as a ghost of his and MJF’s past set the tone for what was a brutal match that proved both men right: MJF proved he belongs at the top of AEW, and Punk still belongs right alongside him. As well as that story though, it felt like the last lingering doubts people had about MJF’s in-ring work fell away. The guy can hang, and against the best he excels.” -Dave Ryan

Voices of Wrestling 2022 Match of the Year
(Full List)