AEW Booms/Duds: The gritty brutality of Moxley vs. Hager

Boom: a predictably brutal and gritty World Championship match

Dud: too much hype weakened by a tepid start

I think the hype for Khan unnecessarily raised my expectations for the match. Was it the greatest empty-arena match ever? No. Was it a good, perfectly serviceable match? Yes.

What threw me off was that the match started with grappling exchanges. I understand this makes sense considering Hager’s amateur background and both Hager and Moxley being trained in professional wrestling.

However, the utter disdain these two have portrayed for each other through their physical interactions (powerbomb off the stage, being choked out with the arm triangle, etc.) and their incredible video packages last week had me expecting them to try and bruatlize each other right away.

Instead, the match took a bit to build and intensify. The pace only started picking up once Hager decided to eschew the grappling, drove Moxley into the corner, and began kneeing him on the left side of his abdomen. To Hager’s credit, Hager continually worked that area throughout the match.

Walking brawls aren’t necessarily my cup of tea, but this was fine. I was shocked that more weapons didn’t come into play, but also pleasantly surprised that the chair was really the only “foreign object” utilized.

It also played a role in the finish as Moxley hit his double-arm DDT onto the chair for the win (it looked like Hager actually hit the edge of the chair).

Remember, the Paradigm Shift is the lifting, angular DDT he hit on Omega through the glass table and on Darby Allin off the middle rope.

I think Hager did come off as dangerous, but also with a “glass jaw” so to speak. After all that damage he inflicted on Moxley, he falls to a single non-finisher DDT on a steel chair. This is even more concerning considering he no-sold the same DDT (sans chair) a few weeks ago and locked in the ankle lock on Moxley.

Also, was I the only one concerned about Hager’s stamina? He seemed like he was breathing rather heavily; then again, when was the last time Hager was in a 30-minute match?

On the other hand, this continues to build Moxley as the veritable indefatigable and uber-resilient champion that may reign for a long, long time. The question now is where does Moxley go from here, and who will be the next to challenge for his title?

The obvious choices are involved in other angles (Chris Jericho with Matt Hardy; Cody, Allin, and Lance Archer in the TNT Championship Tournament; Omega with “Hangman,” The Bucks, The Inner Circle, and now Michael Nakazawa again), so is this where someone like “The Exalted One” Mr. Brodie stakes his claim?