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CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley for the unified AEW World Championship last week on Dynamite didn't end the way most fans expected. Pitting the lineal and interim champion against each, it was supposed to be a titanic wrestling matchup featuring the two most popular stars in the company.
Instead, it ended in shocking fashion when the Straight Edge Superstar was comprehensively defeated by the Purveyor of Violence in less than three minutes.
Punk seemingly reinjured his foot after delivering a roundhouse kick on Mox and he duly took advantage of the situation, hitting two Death Riders to become the Undisputed AEW World Champion.
The fallout from the result has been understandably massive and a rematch is most likely to happen at All Out 2022. But it's not the first time a major promotion has booked a world championship match that lasted less than a couple of minutes.
WWE has used this tactic generously in the past to varying degrees of success. Here are 5 world title matches that ended faster than CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley.
#5. WWE Championship match: Bobby Lashley vs. The Miz - Raw 1st March 2021 (27 seconds) was faster than CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley
The Miz successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Drew McIntyre at Elimination 2021, after the Scottish Warrior was assaulted by Bobby Lashley to become a two-time WWE Champion.
But the must-see WWE Superstar would hold the title for a week as he had to defend it against The Almighty on the March 1st episode of Monday Night Raw in a Lumberjack Match.
The Awesome One had no chance, as Lashley trapped him in his patented Hurt Lock, causing him to tap out in just 27 seconds.
It was a well-deserved victory for the then-leader of the Hurt Business as he became a WWE Champion for the first time in his career.
#4. Universal Championship match: Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg - Fastlane 2017 (22 seconds) was faster than CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley
Goldberg is known for his dominant squash matches in WCW, so it would be no surprise to see him feature on this list.
At Fastlane 2017, Kevin Owens was set to defend his Universal Championship against the legend during his initial comeback run to WWE.
The Prizefighter tried to evade Goldberg before the bell rang but he was soon distracted by his former tag team partner Chris Jericho's theme song. Goldberg took advantage of the situation and absolutely annihilated KO with a Spear and Jackhammer in quick fashion to win the Universal Championship for the first time in his illustrious career.
It was an absolute shock at the time as it lasted no longer than 22 seconds. CM Punk can take solace in the fact that he put up a slightly better fight to defend his championship than Owens did on this night.
#3. World Heavyweight Championship match: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan - WrestleMania 28 (18 seconds) was faster than CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley
Current AEW wrestler Bryan Danielson has also suffered the ignonimity of losing a world title in a squash match.
Bryan kicked off WrestleMania 28 as the World Heavyweight Champion and had been set to defend the title against that year's Royal Rumble winner Sheamus.
However, as soon as the bell rang, the American Dragon would request his on-screen partner AJ Lee, who is coincidentally CM Punk's real-life wife, to stand on the apron and kiss.
It turned out to be a kiss of death as Daniel Bryan was immediately nailed with a Brogue Kick to capture the World Heavyweight Championship in just 18 seconds.
The crowd was absolutely stunned by the result and the negative reaction helped propel the Yes Man to the top of the WWE a few years later.
#2. WWE Championship match: Diesel vs. Bob Backlund - House Show 26th November 1994 (8 seconds) was faster than CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley
Going back further in time, one of the most unexpected WWE Championship changes of the New Generation era took place on November 26, 1994 house show in Madison Square Garden.
Bob Backlund had beaten Bret Hart for the WWE Championship at the 1994 Survivor Series, but it turned out to just be a transitional title run.
Kevin Nash, a.k.a Big Daddy Cool Diesel, would completely obliterate the legend with a Jackknife Powerbomb to win the WWE Championship in just eight seconds and he went on to hold the championship for nearly a year.
Time will tell if CM Punk will suffer the same fate as Backlund and also become a transitional champion. They happen to be around the same age at the time of dropping their belts, so the early signs don't look promising.
#1. WWE Championship match: Brock Lesnar vs. Kofi Kingston - SmackDown 4th October 2019 (7 seconds) was faster than CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley
In one of the most shocking squashes of recent years, Brock Lesnar effectively ended Kofi-Mania when he demolished the then-WWE Champion on the debut of SmackDown on Fox back in 2019.
The New Day member took the fight to the Beast Incarnate but was quickly caught in an F5. Seven seconds later, Lesnar became the new champion in the shortest championship match in WWE history.
It's such a shame that Kofi didn't deserve to end his WWE Championship reign in such an underwhelming manner as he had been a fighting champion up to that point.
Kofi has been unable to get back at that level since then but it's hard to come back from such a brutal squash.
Coincidentally, CM Punk referenced Kingston in his promo on Dynamite a few weeks back in a jab towards Jon Moxley's best friend, Eddie Kingston. Punk and Kofi were even WWE tag team champions once, so it's pretty ironic that they have both lost their world titles in a similar scenario.
Also watch: 6 most hilarious Brock Lesnar moments in WWE history
