10 Awesome AEW Booking Moments Nobody Ever Talks About

9. Santana Makes It Personal

Jon Moxley
AEW

Jon Moxley Vs. Chris Jericho waged war at Revolution - in a cracking, all-frills brawl - after an epic saga so detailed and inspired that Mox stole a Ford GT on an outrun-themed show and wore an eyepatch at sea.

Marrying story beats to locales, this was as cute as it was traditional at its core. Jericho, pissed that Mox refused to join the Inner Circle (and had to fight him), damaged his eyeball. It was a very wrestling angle that perhaps didn't resonate as this serious transgression. If not cartoonish, it didn't carry the same heft it might have decades prior. It's hard to convince when executing a heavy heat angle in 2020. There's an entire article in that.

In a fabulous subplot, Mox returned the favour. Illuminating Santana's enormous babyface potential, he revealed in a candid sitdown interview with Jim Ross that his father had suffered the same fate. This pathos added immensely to the tone of a programme that Moxley Vs. Santana, a television match, was promoted to enrich. Between this, and his idea to destroy Sue's van for the heat, Santana is going to make for a tremendous booker one day.

When people rave about AEW, it's because the company applies more loving detail to a one-and-done TV match than most companies bother to do ahead of a pay-per-view.

 
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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!