Compared to the unsanctioned “Lights Out” match that Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley had at Full Gear 2019, the much hyped “Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match” for AEW Revolution 2021 between the current AEW Champion and his predecessor ended with a dud, literally speaking.
I was not expecting the ring to literally explode. As ‘callous’ Don Callis came off when the commentators mentioned Moxley was expecting his first child, no wrestling company or any organization that makes their living in any kind of entertainment would put someone at so much risk that he would not be able to care for an incoming newborn.
But considering that the ring ropes were rigged to pop with credible explosions upon even the slightest contact, I was expecting whatever explosives remained in those ropes to all go off when that ominous countdown reached to zero. Instead, with Eddie Kingston lying on top of him, Moxley was left with some backyard fireworks going off from the ring posts followed by some puffs of smoke to close out the pay per view.
Even Moxley’s post match promo, which was not televised in which he made fun of Omega not knowing how to properly build an exploding ring, didn’t help to quell the disappointment of the match’s ending. Nor did Tony Khan’s assertive reaction if fans were actually expecting AEW to blow the ring up. That is sad, because the entire match lived up to the hype of the violent expectations we came to expect.
At least two interesting storyline developments emerged: a possible Kingston-Moxley alliance and Omega’s potential future challengers. The “Mad King” and Moxley had been fighting each other for months before, culminating in Mox choking out Kingston in a championship match. Could this rekindling of a friendship, as JR put it, portend to a future tag team run?
The result for Kingston’s other allies, the Butcher and the Blade, would be a possible babyface turn or breaking away from Kingston to do their own thing. Butcher and Blade as a tag team have the whole “hired gun” motif all around them, like the APA of old, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they went that route.
I believe Omega’s championship run will continue for the rest of 2021, as AEW’s pattern seems to be lengthy title reigns for their world champions. What makes Omega’s title run unique is that 2021 has seen the opening of the so-called “Forbidden Door” in professional wrestling allowing talent to stream over to other promotions.
With Impact Wrestling’s April 24 “Rebellion” pay per view showing an obvious “Omega” symbol surrounded by a star on their show’s logo, it’s clear to me the AEW Champion would have some involvement again with Impact in the coming months.
The actual explosion this past Sunday may have turned into a dud, but more explosive results may yield themselves down the road.
An average professional doing the 9-5 grind who really loves wrestling across all platforms. Here's hoping wrestlers finally get some basic workers rights in 2021.
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