CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks was always going to have a hard time measuring up against the tag team title match, but that didn’t mean it had to be an abomination. Good lord, we hated this match. It was slow, it was plodding, and it was boring for almost the entire duration. At times, it was easy to forget Starks existed, as the confrontation taking center stage was between Punk and the once again divided Canadian crowd, but when we were able to concentrate on Punk and Starks wrestling each other, all we saw were both men’s limitations. And while in theory, we’re happy that Starks won, in practice, this finish was absolute garbage.

The problem here, as we see it, is that Punk and Starks are terrible opponents for each other. Starks has tons of charisma and athleticism, but isn’t always able to put it together in the ring without help. Punk, meanwhile, is just clearly only capable of working a certain pace and style of match at this point in his career, and having to work that style of match means Starks can’t be as dynamic as usual. Ironically, both men are conceivably better suited for WWE, which rewards screen presence and storytelling ability more than crazy spots and fast-paced action, but this is AEW, and the match has nothing going on in terms of story. Punk is out here trying to turn the thing into an MMA match, which contributes to its boringness, and meanwhile the crowd can’t make up its mind about who to cheer … especially at the end.

It has to be acknowledged that both Owen Hart Tournament winners this year were Black, which is a major step forward for AEW. However, we can’t disagree more with the way Starks won. We were hoping for a CM Punk heel turn during or after this match. We were not expecting, and very much not hoping for, a Ricky Starks heel turn. The fact that AEW has been unable to make Starks work as a babyface, despite the fact that he was extraordinarily popular, is a testament to his lack of creativity, and ending the Owen Hart tournament on a surprise roll-up and a rope grab is disappointing booking, to say the least. It was weird to bring in Jushin “Thunder” Liger for a moment with Starks that lasted five seconds on “Battle of the Belts,” and it was weirder to follow that up with Starks acting perfectly normal during the presentation of the championship belts. Again, we’re happy for Starks in theory, but we just can’t fathom the logic at work here.