14 Ups & 4 Downs For AEW In 2020

6. Booking The Best North American Babyface Since Steve Austin

Jon Moxley Brodie Lee
AEW

Jon Moxley made grown adults feel things they hadn't felt since their formative years. He did this in 2020, for f*ck's sake. He made you believe in a hero in a world that went to hell.

Moxley made promises and kept them. He told you the finishes of his matches and he executed them in plain sight at the apex of his awesome, physical brawls, the best of which saw him blast Brodie Lee through the stage and choke out the vacant monster that emerged from the wreckage.

Jon Moxley was an invincible ass-kicker smarter than the legion of baddies who tried to take him down, but nobody ever called him "Super Mox" because he owned the living sh*t out wrestling's most challenging role. He subverted the myth of the chase with his brilliance because watching a good man hold it down was more life-affirming than watching him get there. He told you to call your grandma and he does all of this so that his mother can live comfortably. He came off as the coolest and hardest motherf*cker in the land. He was the best man.

All of this was fiction, and his character was booked on a format sheet, but it never once felt like that.

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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!