10 Things That Would Happen If WWE Put An End To Scripted Promos
7. Stars Would Actually Get Over...
Jon Moxley's first AEW promo ran for one minute and nine seconds.
In it, he resembled a human being, in that he did not pose on a stage, walk to the ring, welcome us to a show, list off some exposition, and nearly put a new point across only to be interrupted, complete with convenient entrance music, by his storyline rival, the sight of whom proved quite a shock.
Exhaling, because he had just engaged in a physical activity that is ideally sold to put it over as something that can meaningfully affect the performer, even if it isn't glossy and perfect and well-lit, Moxley was defiant. He wasn't dead, despite WWE's attempt to kill his soul. He was on a mission to reclaim it, so high on the atmosphere of freedom that he lunged wildly at every pocket of air just to breathe everything in.
Furious in his conviction, and succinct in an ever-distracting world, Moxley unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of a character-driven mission statement. He arrived in AEW to knock the pillars of the industry on their ass. "This is what you call a paradigm shift," he concluded, printing a t-shirt, money, and a new language with which to connect to a fandom that had, as of a fortnight ago, received him as a botched, goofy heel.
Moxley, in one minute and nine seconds, indicted an entire company as a joke - and shifted from his perception as a punchline.