10 Amazing Wrestling Callbacks You Totally Missed

1. Jon Moxley Tells Kenny Omega Who He Is

MJF Samoa Joe
AEW/TNT

The chaotic ending of the first edition of AEW Dynamite was one plot hole away from perfection: a narrative big bang in which a stable was formed and half a pay-per-view card was built in one awesome brawl, if only the Elite Vs. Chris Jericho, Santana and Ortiz main event as advertised as a no holds barred match.

It made no sense that the match wasn't thrown out when Jon Moxley blasted Kenny Omega through a glass table, but still: what an incredible spot amid incredible scenes that instantly elevated Dynamite as the energetic new home of pro wrestling.

Mox did that in 2019 to send a message, and Omega tried, foolishly, to answer it. Death match wrestling was Mox's domain. Omega wasn't built for it. They resumed their rivalry a year later, and, in a cracking angle ahead of Winter Is Coming, Mox again executed the Paradigm Shift - this time, onto the AEW World title.

This symbolised two things: Mox was far more than a Death match wrestler, he was the best wrestler period, the World champion - and Omega couldn’t match him one on one, either.

This callback foreshadowed the Omega turn: he could not solve the Moxley puzzle in neither a lawless realm nor a "gentleman's contest", and had to take a shortcut to wrest that title away from him.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!