Considering the mildly vanilla nature of AEW: Fight Forever's match types, the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match certainly grabs the attention.
You wouldn't know it, but the accompanying image features Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. and Thunder Rosa caught in the explosive action of this most unique of match types. And that's just a mild example of just how explosive these bouts get.
Once an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match starts, you'll see a two-minute clock start counting down. Once that clock hits zero, the ring explodes in magnificent fashion, with a wrestler receiving more damage if they happen to be close to the ropes.
Even before this big bang, though, you can inflict colossal carnage on your opponent by whipping them into the sparking, barbed wire ring ropes, and there are also some similarly sparking, barbed wire-covered tables propped up in each corner of the ring. Throwing someone into these will cause a mild explosion and draw some major blood drops on the mat.
AEW: Fight Forever may have skimped on the sheer number of match types available, but it certainly delivers brilliantly with its Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match.
Also, while your writer has yet to experience it, there is rumoured to be an Easter egg in Fight Forever where the massive explosion of the match will be replaced by a mere whimper, ala Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega at AEW Revolution 2021.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.
