MJF has had a number of high profile feuds throughout the course of his All Elite Wrestling career, and his rivalry with CM Punk is perhaps the most notable of all. After a compelling promo segment in which Maxwell Jacob Friedman talked about looking up to Punk as a child, the two culminated their feud with a brutal dog collar match at AEW Revolution.
Punk was victorious in their Revolution bout, gaining assistance from Friedman’s then-employee Wardlow, who’d had enough of his boss taking advantage of him. The match was highly praised, as was the feud leading up to it.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated named the rivalry between MJF and CM Punk as their Feud of the Year, and Friedman won an additional award naming him the Most Hated Wrestler of 2022.
MJF took to Instagram to boast about his accomplishments, posing with the two plaques he received for his PWI awards. However, he took a dig at Punk by placing a piece of tape over his opponent’s name on the Feud of the Year plaque, writing his own name on the plaque instead, indicating that he believed he carried the feud on his own.
CM Punk Blasted Recent AEW Ratings In Reply To MJF’s Social Media Post
Friedman’s shot at Punk didn’t go unnoticed, and the two-time AEW World Champion took a shot at All Elite Wrestling’s recent television ratings in a comment on the social media post, saying:
“Maybe find some tape for the ratings so nobody sees those either.”
This isn’t the only time the star has taken a jab at the company in recent days as he also sent a message about his value to the company via a series of Instagram stories.
CM Punk hasn’t been seen in All Elite Wrestling since the events following All Out, where he launched into a verbal tirade against the company’s EVP’s during a post-show media scrum. His comments led to him being confronted by The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, and the ensuing brawl saw his friend and trainer Ace Steel not only throw a chair at Nick Jackson, but also bite Kenny Omega.
Everyone involved in the brawl was suspended from the company and Punk and The Elite were stripped of the titles they’d won at the pay-per-view earlier in the night. Punk’s future with the company remains in doubt while The Elite returned at AEW Full Gear and were once again crowned AEW Trios Champions on the January 11th episode of Dynamite.