MJF vs CM Punk: Who Should Win AEW’s Next Big Feud

Last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite teased what would be one of the most anticipated feuds to date in the promotion when CM Punk came out to the ring and interrupted a promo by Maxwell Jacob Friedman, better known as MJF.

Punk’s arrival during the MJF promo didn’t lead to a physical or even a verbal altercation.  After CM Punk entered the ring, MJF would proceed to introduce himself as “Maxwell” and extend his hand towards Punk.

Instead of accepting the handshake, Punk simply looked MJF in the eye and smiled, and then turned and left the ring, shaking his head and smiling as he walked away from a perplexed MJF.

And with that, we may just have seen the start of something great.

MJF versus CM Punk is an intriguing feud for a couple of reasons.

The first is that these two men are capable of building a rivalry without ever laying a hand on each other until their match because of their skills on the microphone.

One would be hard-pressed to find two men that are able to captivate crowds with only their words the way that both CM Punk and MJF can.

Another reason that this potential feud is so exciting is the uncertain outcome of who will go over.

CM Punk has been a part of AEW for about three months.  And in that time he has maintained an undefeated record, despite having faced stiff challenges against the likes of Darby Allin, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Eddie Kingston.

Punk has a real connection with the fans and usually gets some of the biggest pops of the night when his music hits.

So to say CM Punk is on a roll would be a bit of an understatement.

Then you have MJF.  In his time in AEW MJF has built himself up from Cody’s buddy to one of the best heels in all of professional wrestling.

MJF works the crowd in the ring and on the microphone, saying things in his promos that a lot of wrestlers wouldn’t.  And the fact that MJF has never met a line that he is unwilling to cross is what elicits such a raw reaction from the crowd whenever MJF’s music hits.

The man will be a future AEW World Champion, he may even be the next AEW World Champion, so that begs the question:

Who should win the upcoming feud between CM Punk and MJF?

AEW can’t really go wrong with whichever outcome they pick in this program.

Neither MJF nor CM Punk would be damaged by a loss to the other.  Punk’s nickname of “The Best in the World” and his undefeated record in AEW will make him the favorite to win virtually any match-up that he is a part of.

Not to mention that AEW has a wild card known as Wardlow that the promotion can play any time it wants to hand MJF a protected loss.

The Wardlow turn on MJF has been teased for a while now and when it finally happens it will most likely cost MJF a high-profile match.

But the best choice in this feud is to have MJF hand CM Punk his first AEW loss.

It will most likely not be a clean loss, but that doesn’t matter.

Most of MJF’s high-profile wins have involved some shady antics and it hasn’t hurt his stock a bit up to this point.

And there would be no better way to build up a new star than by putting an exclamation point on that build by having said rising star beat an established superstar like CM Punk.

After dispatching CM Punk, MJF will have taken an unquestionably vital step in his trajectory towards a future showdown with “Hangman” Adam Page in his quest to become AEW World Champion.