25 Worst Wrestling Moments Of 2021
5. AEW's Only Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match
Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley's feud was one of the major reasons that AEW felt like a viable alternative to WWE in their first few years. Taking one of the members of The Shield and putting him against arguably the greatest wrestler to never sign with WWE proved to be a masterstroke, and the two were locked in a bitter rivalry over the AEW World Championship. It was an intense rivalry that lasted for months and demanded an unforgettable finale.
Exploding Barbed Wire Death Matches are not commonplace in mainstream American wrestling. Barbaric in nature and popularized in Japan, ring ropes are replaced with barbed wire, and C4 explosives are also strapped to the barbed wire to add even more violence. This stipulation was added to the blow-off match between Kenny and Moxley at Revolution 2021, making this encounter even more exciting.
The match itself sold the vicious nature of the environment pretty well, as Mox and Omega wrestled in a cagey manner that increased the match's overall intensity. Kenny eventually got the win to set up a grand finale. The Elite handcuffed Moxley, as a countdown appeared on the big screen to warn everyone that the ring was about to explode like the bomb in Oppenheimer. Mox's long-term friend/enemy Eddie Kingston ran to his aid, sacrificing his own safety to save Moxley from a grizzly demise. The reality was a pitiful "explosion" that made the whole spectacle a laughing stock. This farcical misfire remains a stick that AEW is beaten with to this day.