Jon Moxley didn’t mince words when it came to defeating CM Punk in short order to become the Undisputed AEW World Champion.
AEW fans were shocked when it was announced that the title unification match between CM Punk and Jon Moxley would take place on the August 24th episode of Dynamite instead of at the upcoming All Out event on September 4th.
CM Punk had been the reigning AEW World Champion since winning the title at Double or Nothing, but days later on Rampage, he announced that he needed an extended leave of absence due to injury, and it was later revealed that he underwent foot surgery. Jon Moxley won a tournament to crown an interim champion, and the battle to determine who was truly the best in AEW (if not the world) went far more quickly than anyone imagined.
Taking place in Moxley’s home state of Ohio, the bout went just over three minutes. CM Punk delivered a kick to Moxley that did more damage to his own foot than his rival. With Punk struggling, Moxley smelled blood in the water and doubled-down on his assault of the World Champion. With Punk beaten down, Moxley scored the pin after a second Death Rider, even flipping off the crowd in the process.
Speaking to Tony Pike & Rick Ucchino on Cincy 360, Jon Moxley reflected on his shockingly quick win over the former champion and said that it felt good.
“I don’t get paid by the hour. Belts come and go, I’ll lose this one at some point, somebody will beat me, I’ll get back on the horse and get another one. I’m not gonna quit for seven years or feel sorry for myself. That’s not how these things go. The win last night felt good, all this stuff is what you make it. If they say ‘you’re interim champion, no matter how hard you work, you’re not the real champion.’
“It felt obvious it would be leading to a confrontation with me and CM Punk. It was an inevitable collision that happened last night. I knew the minute I walked into Forbidden Door, I was going to work with him at some point. If you get mad about that [being Interim Champion] and bring negativity, your performance gets affected.
“If you use that as fuel and ‘you want to call me an interim champion, take it and shove it up your ass. Having that chip on my shoulder and using it as fuel, that’s what I’ve been doing the last several months coming to the ring and defending the belt. I showed what that mentality and energy can do when I showed up last night and beat the brakes off that bastard.”
While a rematch is reportedly in the works between CM Punk and Jon Moxley at AEW All Out, Moxley said he’s willing to take on anyone now that he’s the Undisputed AEW World Champion.
“That was some business I had to take care of and now the train rolls on. If I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. When I say anybody, anytime, any place, I’m at a Flying J outside of Columbus, if somebody wants to throw down in the parking lot, let’s do it. When I say that, I’m talking seriously. I got out and do stuff that people talk about. I’m what everyone pretends to be.
“All these guys sitting at home tweeting about what they should be doing, meanwhile, I’m at an indie show in front of 400 people, stapling dollar bills to foreheads. Now I get to walk into Chicago, his [Punk’s] hometown, and we’ll see how the story unfolds from here.”
h/t Fightful