I'm overly critical of Moxley these days but I will always admit how incredible of a wrestler he is. For all my gripes with AEW booking, that'll never diminish his sheer consistency.
Jon Moxley is really good at professional wrestling. He’s one of my top 2 favorites in the world alongside Fletcher, and I randomly felt the urge to talk shortly about why that is.
Without recalling his career as a whole, I really wanted to focus on this pocket of his career from 05/14/2025 (The Joe match) to now, because it’s the run that’s solidified him *even more* in my eyes. I talk a lot about how much I value authenticity in pro wrestling. I don’t need every story to be this extremely emotional, profound narrative. But I also would like to see a sense of sincerity in the performance. For every individual performer, this can be showcased in their own unique ways.
To me, Jon Moxley is up there with the current best in the world at making those performances feel authentic. I usually ramble on these posts without preparation, but off the top of my head I think of names like Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, CM Punk, Yuya Uemura, (Daniel Garcia), Samoa Joe, so on and so forth. PAC was also fucking unbelievable at this.
A handful of people who treat this beautiful medium with the level of passion I feel it deserves. Not every wrestler needs to do that though. You have your pure entertainers, you have those who are great combinations of multiple things, and it still works for them. It’s all about what you personally value in your pro wrestling, and I’m of the belief that there’s nothing wrong with preferring one over the other.
Whenever I watch Jon Moxley operate, whether it’s in-ring or on the microphone, I just feel a level of immersion that I rarely find anywhere else. In *most* of Moxley’s matches, you will find little to zero wasted movement. Everything is intentional, to the point where you forget there’s a man behind this persona. A lot of the real life issues he decides to tackle through his performances resonate with me heavily. I think it’s really awesome to use pro wrestling as a tool to express real life themes that aren’t addressed enough, while simultaneously being badass as hell.
He leads my favorite faction of all time into battle week-in, week out. Moxley is a guy you can rely on to have a solid to great match on a weekly basis, and a good to all time classic match in a PPV setting. Now that’s not to say Mox is without flaw, or that there aren’t any stinkers sprinkled in between. There are very few wrestlers throughout all of history that are perfect. Although I think some of the critiques about Moxley are disingenuous or objectively false, I have seen tons of valid cticisms that I agree with as well.
But, man. I just value those highs so much. They’re nearly untouchable in modern wrestling imo. The Davis match just proves this even more. I think when we talk about Moxley’s overall career, he’s just one of the best wrestlers I’ve ever seen. Now I’m not this great wrestling historian, so take that with a grain of salt. Seeing this guy inspire so many people not just in the industry, but as an entire worldwide community through his art is just a blessing to witness in my opinion.
I’m not really here for the comparisons, I just wanted to speak a little about why I love this particular wrestler so much.
@nocommentnumb I'm sure the dual contract plays some part in it, but a lot of guys in AEW grow stagnant because the company has no direction for them *after* their big moments. They constantly fail to commit and end up wasting momentum.
@FranixTwitch@khaliltooshort I emulate just as much as anyone else.
Can you explain any logical reasoning for how the industry crashing will see a return in "passion"?
The talent and passion of the creators won't matter if their studios still get screwed over by Activision or EA.
because for some reason people decided that "BLOOD & GUTS" should be used to BUILD storylines, not end them. funny thing is Andrade and Speedball would both have story reasons to be in this match!
@ElHijoDelSimon true. what made Danielson's send-off memorable was him Fucking Dying, not the fact he was defending the title. "one last world title" run won't be good if the reign itself is booked poorly, anyhow.
What's weird is that I still enjoy this episode. I think these angles could go in an interesting direction.
But a lot of it is building on stuff I was cold on for a while. So I can't quite say I'm feeling anything just yet.
i will 100% admit that i've been overly negative towards AEW lately, but i'm personally not interested in almost any major AEW storyline.
i don't think it's necvesarily bad. i'm just completely cold on almost everything beyond Swerve/New Level and Hangman/Brodido.
@MALICE_VTRIGGER it's kind of crazy how many title reigns were kind of just Bad. either from going on too long or from being given the worst feuds possible. malpractice at times.
fun matchup but i wish they'd make it less obvious when they're building to Blood & Guts (or at least more intense).
we've had a chain match, a tailgate brawl, a mixed tag in France, a bunch of trios matches. i wonder which stipulation could possibly be next.
fun matchup but i wish they'd make it less obvious when they're building to Blood & Guts (or at least more intense).
we've had a chain match, a tailgate brawl, a mixed tag in France, a bunch of trios matches. i wonder which stipulation could possibly be next.
#AEWDynamite Tonight, 8/7c on TBS & HBO Max
@orangecassidy/@JayWhiteNZ vs Daniel Garcia/@WheelerYuta
Jay White returned at the Tailgate Brawl teaming with The Conglomeration, but the Death Riders left with the win! Now White & OC look for payback vs The Death Riders, TONIGHT!
@EliteMerchant_ Women's tag titles will always be a bad idea in American wrestling companies, because the women's division will never have the focus neccesary to execute multiple divisions.
A women's singles and tag division can't work if you book, at most, 2-3 women's matches per show.
@wrestlingleb It felt like they just gave up on it abruptly, which encapsulates how Statlander's entire title reign was treated.
Big issue with doing a Death Riders feud is that AEW doesn't do full intergender stuff, but they also weren't running Stat vs. Marina. so. kinda pointless.
@nocommentnumb people will tell you you're wrong because nobody actually cares about their own personal enjoyment.
"it makes sense for him to get one last shot!" "he's a proven draw!" "he was my favorite wrestler 17 years ago!"
doesn't matter. i just don't want to watch that match right now.
i think this is why i've never been high on most of the Death Riders run.
Moxley plays a phenomenal babyface. He CAN play a good heel (Hangman matches, Darby, Danielson, Perry), but mainly when he's a bruising bully, not a generic faction heel.
Davis match was otherwordly.
Between the C2 last year and this angle with Mark Davis, Jon Moxley is at his best as a heart-on-his-sleeve babyface with his back against the wall. A vulnerable, wounded warrior fighting for his life and surviving situations he has no business getting past.
It results in really moving, emotional pro wrestling. It’s very human, it’s very real, and it’s great every time he taps into that mode. I much prefer that over heel obstacle shooter man.