10 Times AEW Took It Too Far
4. AEW Goes Carny
Disclaimer: Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley are close, and if Mox didn't want Jericho to bring up his issues with substance abuse, this wouldn't have happened. The segment in which the Anarchy In The Arena match was announced was agreed upon by all parties, was clearly not a reflection of Jericho's real feelings on his storyline rival, and was scripted to heat up a worked professional wrestling match.
On May 18 of this year, in an inspired tease, Jericho threatened to challenge Eddie Kingston et al. to a Stadium Stampede match; AEW, knowing that the second wasn't anywhere near as charming as the first, had a bit of self-awareness here. "I'm not doing that sh*t," Mox said. It was a great deadpan line. Jericho's cheap heat?
Not so much.
He called Danielson a "nerd," which while lame worked, because that's the exact attitude the sports entertainment juggernaut extended to him in 2010. Jericho then said that Danielson should live a little, but not too much. He doesn't want to end up in the "clinic like Mox". Yes, Jericho is a heel, but it was genuinely lovely to see Punk empathise with Moxley when the news first broke. It felt, naively, like wrestling had moved on from its bullsh*t. It hadn't.
Wrestling, even at the Elite level, just can't help but expose itself as an unpleasant and cheap carny racket.