From left to right: Wardlow, Shawn Spears, MJF, Tully Blanchard, FTR.
The early seeds of the faction were sown when Blanchard began managing Spears and later FTR, initially on a separate individual basis. Meanwhile, MJF and his bodyguard Wardlow failed to carry out a coup in Chris Jericho's Inner Circle faction when all the other members remained loyal to Jericho, tricking MJF into showing his hand. Revealing that he'd formed a faction of his own, MJF was joined by Blanchard and his clients united along with Wardlow as they all bludgeoned the Inner Circle. The next week, MJF formally introduced the group, revealing that he'd been intending from the start to destroy the Inner Circle from within.
After a lengthy heated feud with the Inner Circle, The Pinnacle entered a sort of limbo where its members would each branch off to focus on their individual goals and feuds generally, occasionally reassembling to assist one another when needed, so it wasn't often they were all seen together at once. This included especially MJF's feud with his former childhood hero CM Punk, a saga which revealed the roots, as well as the depths, of MJF's darkness, with his overbearing nature as Wardlow's boss also rearing its ugly head to the point of costing Wardlow major opportunities and even slapping him. This would result in the undoing of MJF's ties to the stable.
At the Revolution PPV in March 2022, Wardlow turned on MJF and cost him the match with Punk, soon announcing he had left The Pinnacle. Shortly thereafter, FTR fired Blanchard as manager, while MJF and Spears feuded with Wardlow while attempting to freeze his contract as MJF's bodyguard. When Wardlow attempted to enter the arena during an FTR match, the duo questioned MJF and subsequently turned face, though without attacking him or officially exiting the group. After Wardlow squashed MJF and won his freedom to work for AEW directly at June's Double or Nothing PPV, MJF ranted on company president Tony Khan in a Worked Shoot "nuke" promo the following Dynamite and subsequently disappeared from television.
As of the summer 2022, FTR has reestablished ties with Wardlow, with their occasional alliance being the last remaining vestige of The Pinnacle. The three won their first matches as a trio leading up to, and eventually at, All Out, ironically the same night MJF finally re-emerged as the leader of a new group. The group briefly reformed in October 2022, now joined by a newly face Shawn Spears.
When you've climbed the mountain and there is no place, you're at these tropes!:
- Arch-Enemy: The Inner Circle, Darby Allin and Sting
- Badass in a Nice Suit: The group's visual motif, as seen in the page image.
- Big Bad: Violently took this role from the Inner Circle as their debut.
- Evil Counterpart: The original incarnation was this to the Inner Circle.
- Eviler than Thou: To the Inner Circle and turned them Face as a result, who MJF called out for engaging in "comedy bullshit" since their foundation.
- Expy: Let's see, FTR = the Andersons, Wardlow = Lex Luger, Shawn Spears = Tully Blanchard, and MJF = Ric Flair. And don't forget the aforementioned Horsemen OG Tully Blanchard, who filled the James J. Dillon role. Bonus points for having Sting as an enemy.
- Foreshadowing: Anyone remember the time that MJF and Shawn Spears were playing some card games in the crowd during the pandemic era in 2020? Little do we know that little moment turn out to be very important later on....
- Heel–Face Turn:
- After months of mistreatment, Wardlow betrayed MJF at Revolution 2022 when he handed the Dynamite Diamond Ring to CM Punk, allowing him to defeat MJF in a dog collar match.
- FTR would quietly sever ties with the group due to their friendship with Wardlow, quietly turning face in the process. They also fired Tully Blanchard as their manager.
- After being missing for several months following a steel cage match against Wardlow, Shawn Spears would return on the 10/12/22 episode of Dynamite, reverting to his Perfect 10 gimmick and re-aligning with the reformed (and now face) Pinnacle.
- Make Way for the New Villains: The Pinnacle made their debut by beating down the Inner Circle.
- Power Stable: The original incarnation of the group fit this to a T:
- The Centerpiece: MJF
- The Heir Apparent: Shawn Spears
- The Enforcer: FTR
- The Muscle: Wardlow
- The Manager: Tully Blanchard
