5 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite (April 17 - Results & Review)

3. Jon Moxley Reminds Everybody Who He Is

Jon Moxley IWGP
AEW

Jon Moxley cut a rousing babyface promo to begin Dynamite, in which be ultimately challenged Powerhouse Hobbs to a match on Dynamite next week.

This felt restorative.

Mox has spent much too long barrelling between midcard programmes and character alignments as an almost drab tweener. Here, he tapped into his best role. Mox is the babyface on which you can rely, the lead with an awesome grasp of the badass one-liner, the guy who actually endorses AEW when he puts it over. It was another smallish crowd lurking quietly behind that eyesore of an LED barricade. The aesthetic and the atmosphere really isn't what it once was, but when the new IWGP World champion raised the temperature in the building and put over his graft and determination and the scope of his accomplishment, the fans chanted AE-dub so loudly that it almost felt like 2021 again.

The content wasn't outstanding - if anything, his talk of dragging Hobbs into "deep waters" was an echo of every other wrestling promo cut over the last however many years - but the belief and star aura that powered it was strong.

Mox should be doing something like this every week.

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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!