10 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Jan 22)
2. Moxley Beats The Bastard
The night's main event saw Chris Jericho join the announce booth. He was typically good here, mostly taking PAC's side as he wrestled Jon Moxley, but not without making enough pointed comments to establish a starting point for a potential match with 'The Bastard.' He played his role perfectly.
Moxley came out sporting an eyepatch after last week's assault. PAC, of course, exploited this. The gritty, grinding Brit worked the injury throughout, to the point that fake blood started seeping through the bandages. Great, grisly stuff, and PAC was thuggish and clubbing as he wore Moxley down, restructuring 'The Purveyor of Violence' to comeback spots early on.
A crowd brawl brought them up a set of stairs that PAC was eventually bundled down. This was just one of many ways in which the match felt like a gritty, attritional struggle, and a real fight.
Mox's bandage was eventually torn away, but he scored the win regardless. PAC was put away by a Paradigm Shift. After fighting 'The Bastard' to a draw early in Dynamite's run, Moxley shook the monkey from his back, scored his number one contendership, and stared Jericho down as Dynamite went off the air. The right winner, the right match, and the right tone.