CM Punk's Departure Reportedly Didn't Impact AEW's Current World Championship Picture

Samoa Joe as MJF's opponent for his AEW World Title has been in the works, even before CM Punk was released, following his altercation with Jack Perry at the All In pay-per-view.

According to the latest report from Fightful Select, even though Punk was in the middle of a feud with Joe with Punk's 'Real World Championship' on the line, that wasn't the only title storyline for Joe in the works. There were plans in place for Joe to face MJF, while there weren't any "immediate plans" for MJF and CM Punk to have any feud. So fans who thought that Joe was just a stand-in for Punk, who would have been putting "Real World Title" on the line against the AEW World Champion MJF seemed to be wrong.

Joe and MJF's feud started at All Out, when while Joe was going to the ring and MJF and Adam Cole were leaving to the back, Joe knocked into MJF on purpose. MJF was upset and attacked Joe until security and Cole could calm him down. Go forward to the September 13 episode of "AEW Dynamite," and Joe choked out MJF's tag team partner. It happened right after Joe defeated Roderick Strong in the Grand Slam tournament finals.

Joe gets his shot for the AEW World Championship on the September 20 episode of "Dynamite" special, Grand Slam. The third annual event is set to take place at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Other matches for the event include Jon Moxley defending the AEW International Title against Rey Fenix, Saraya defending the AEW Women's Title against her former friend, Toni Storm, and a winner-takes-all match between ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli and NJPW Strong Openweight Eddie Kingston.