7 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW Dynamite: Quake By The Lake (10 Aug)

2. Hearts On Fire

The ceiling was high for Jon Moxley vs. Chris Jericho, as the 2022 wrestler of the year faced a resurgent veteran whose body might not be as willing as it once was, but is in fantastic, revitalising form himself, having reinvented his career once more.

It hit that ceiling. This was an Interim AEW World Title match fitting the billing, with Moxley tapping his Revolution 2020 opponent out via Bulldog Choke after a long, bloody battle.

Jericho's reprised 'Lionheart' persona meant White Zombie, black and yellow trunks, and diving deep into his bag of tricks with a handful of llave submission holds that Mox didn't know how to deal with. When this gameplan started slipping, Jericho took the more textbook approach of destroying Moxley's knee on the ring post and keeping his target locked on it thereafter. This made Mox particularly susceptible to the Walls of Jericho and Liontamer, both of which came into play.

This was a giving performance from the challenger, too. Moxley got a Judas Effect kickout. A countered Codebreaker from the top rope (made extra impactful for the simple fact that Mox never goes to the top rope, showing his desperation) drew a 2.999-count. The veteran tapped, too, rather than passing out. He more than earned his pay - and justified his position in the match - with a performance on par with his showing opposite Eddie Kingston at Revolution.

Moxley vs. Jericho II was better than the first. Unhindered by the eyeball storyline, it was a gritty struggle of a hard-as-nails babyface gutting it out against a hypocritical opponent more than willing to take shortcuts despite name-dropping Stu Hart.