Jon Moxley is set to defend the AEW World Championship against Brodie Lee at AEW Double or Nothing 2020 on May 23.
Back at Revolution in February, Jon Moxley defeated “Le Champion” Chris Jericho to become the second AEW World Champion. He also became #JonnyTwoBelts as he is also NJPW’s IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.
I argued that Mox should become champion for a multitude of reasons: he’s over AF, he’s a wrestler you strap a rocket to in order to lead your company forward and he can bridge companies together (looking at you, ROH).
Nearly three months later, I feel the same way. The “Purveyor of Violence” is still one of the most over wrestlers in the business. He’s a good face for a growing company, especially when he’s the successor of a legendary wrestler in Jericho.
In the time that Moxley has become World Champion, the wrestling world and the world in general has changed. At the time, Mox was flying between countries to wrestle. He was scheduled to go to Tampa to face Josh Barnett at Bloodsport during Mania Week.
Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, it has kept from the champion from defending his title. He has wrestled just three times since February and only one of those matches was for the World Championship.
Since his last title defense, a new challenger for the title emerged on Dynamite.
Possession is 9/10ths of the law
Following his match with Frankie Kazarian, Mox was attacked by seven members of Dark Order at the behest of Brodie Lee. SCU attempted to help the champ, but were beaten for their attempts. Lee finally made his way down to the ring and connected with a discus lariat before telling Mox he was answering the bounty he put on himself a week prior.
With a beaten down champion before his feet, Lee told him that he’s only coming for “Mr. Moxley” because he has the “crown jewel of professional wrestling” – the AEW World Championship. He demanded that Mox answer his challenge or “we will make you.” Moxley replied, “Dude, all you had to do was ask” with a laugh. Lee responded by kicking him in the face before his minions attack Moxley once again.
Lee continued to taunt the champion online by tweeting a picture of the World Championship with the caption “9/10ths.” He’s also proclaimed himself the AEW World Champion. On Dynamite, 10 brought out the World Championship to Lee. Mox showed up through the venue and beat up several members of Dark Order. Lee and 10 left with the title. Mox will face 10 on the go home episode of Dynamite.
Moxley feels disrespected by Lee and has promised a “hailstorm of violence”.
Moxley needs more opportunities
As I mentioned before, Moxley has only wrestled three times since February. He wrestled Faboo Andre on Dark and beat him in 61 seconds. He faced Kazarian in a non-title match. Mox did defend his title in a No Holds Barred match against Jake Hager.
The match was underwhelming for many fans. It’s hard to have a match like that in front of no crowd. The match also seemed random and thrown together. Hager was an odd choice for Moxley’s first title defense. However, given the availability of talent due to the pandemic, AEW was limited on who could face the champion.
His title run thus far hasn’t been great, but it’s not his fault. These are not normal times we’re living in and it’s affecting everything. Moxley needs the opportunity to be a fighting champion. With the combination of live and taped shows, there will be more opportunities to defend his title.
Moxley can be a great champion and retaining at Double or Nothing is the first step at getting back on track. After defeating Lee, Moxley can face a host of wrestlers such as Scorpio Sky and Jimmy Havoc. Once travel restrictions are lifted, we could get a rematch against PAC. Fingers crossed we finally get the dream match against Orange Cassidy.
No one could have predicted that Moxley would have such an odd title run thus far, but he shouldn’t be punished for it by losing to Lee when he’s barely defended it.
The face that runs the place
Moxley brings a certain swagger to AEW. It translates well as champion. He’s proven that he’s a legitimate badass. He wrestled with a freaking eye patch and looked cool as hell.
For a company that’s been on primetime TV for less than a year, AEW needs a champion like him. Jericho brought familiarity, longevity and name recognition. These are all qualities that help bring in casual fans or fans that stopped watching years ago.
Yes, Moxley was part of one of WWE’s biggest factions with The Shield as Dean Ambrose. Outside of WWE, not many people know who he is. Ambrose is a lot different from Jon Moxley. Being a champion in NJPW brings another form of credibility to him. He also has an awesome nickname there in “Death Rider.”
It also helps that Moxley is expanding his reach. He is currently starring in Cagefighter: Worlds Collide. He plays a wrestler that crosses over into mixed martial arts. The move just premiered on FITE Pay-Per-View outside of the US. It’s scheduled for a domestic release later this year.
Moxley the perfect person to be AEW’s World Champion right now. Given the extenuating circumstances, he should be given the opportunity to show what he can do as champion instead of just being a footnote as AEW’s second world champion.