We thought CM Punk was coming out when his music hit, but it turned out to be MJF instead. When it was time for Punk's entrance, he had an elaborate smoke show on the stage while his old Ring of Honor song played.
The ref put the collars around their necks, and they had just enough chain to stretch across the ring. Punk began to pull MJF toward him, but the heel whipped the chain into his face. Punk pulled him back into the ring but missed whipping him with the chain.
MJF got on his knees and tried to apologize, but Punk wasn't buying it. He kicked him in the face and stomped on his fingers. The Salt of the Earth trapped Punk's head for a kick in the corner and followed up with a powerbomb for a two-count.
He whipped The Straight Edge Superstar with the chain as the crowd booed. You could already see welts beginning to form from the impact. MJF used the chain to bust Punk wide open and then grabbed a mic and taunted him as he stomped him on the face.
Punk regained control and called for the GTS. MJF blocked it and locked in The Salt of the Earth armbar. The Second City Saint rolled him over to escape and put him in the Anaconda Vise.
He wrapped the chain around his knee and hit MJF with a Shining Wizard. He beat on MJF at ringside and threw him into the steel steps. They slowed the pace and started making every move count as they sold their blood loss and injures.
MJF grabbed a back of thumbtacks from under the ring and dumped them on the mat. Both men came close to landing on them a few times before MJF superplexed Punk onto them.
MJF called for Wardlow, and he slowly made his way to the ring. He was supposed to hand the heel his Dynamite diamond ring but it looked like he couldn't find it. Punk hit the GTS and MJF fell onto the tacks. Wardlow put the ring on the apron in front of The Best in the World and walked away.
Punk leveled MJF with one punch with the ring and got the win.
Analysis
If the ladder match was all about big spots with no story, this dog collar contest was all about the story with only a minimal amount of high spots used to accentuate the action.
Both men were verbal throughout, blood was spilled, the chain was used in creative ways and Punk included several callbacks to his Ring of Honor days with his gear and entrance. It all meshed together to create an intriguing and bloody performance.
Your opinion on blood in wrestling will have an impact on how much you enjoyed this one. If you don't mind blood, this was a blast.
The pace slowed a bit too much at times, but that felt intentional to sell the weight of their injuries. It's not as much a complaint as a preference.
The Wardlow face turn is going to be a hot topic moving forward.
