8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (November 29 - Results & Review)

5. That's More Like It

Jon Moxley Vs. Jay Lethal was not a hugely exciting prospect.

Lethal exists to eat pins, Mox after four outstanding years is starting to wear a look of familiarity, and they wrestled more than once last year. The match promised "good" at a time when fans are questioning if AEW can ever again become hot, must-see, great.

This match wasn't blow-away great, but the key story thread was welcome and worked twofold. Mox tweaked his knee early in the match in a gnarly, believable looking spot when he crashed from the apron to the floor, still trapped in a figure-four leg lock. This ugly, awkward clash of limbs informed the most basic but in this case necessary story. Mox, invincible and double tough, has felt less human than ever in 2023 (in AEW, anyway). Through the trappings of the charmless Blackpool Combat Club, his toughness has become his defining characteristic. Here, he was vulnerable and sympathetic. His selling was authentic. It was easy and rewarding to actually feel something for him again.

He got over so much in AEW originally because he was a charming man smarter than the rest. He twice outwitted Lethal by baiting the leg, and glimpsing the Mox of old elevated the easiest story in wrestling.

Secondly, the idea that injuries can be used as stakes in a sporting context should add some much-needed, tournament-specific heft to the Continental Classic. Can Mox make it to the final?

That felt like a formality last week. Now, perhaps, it's not so obvious.

The finish brought that all into question - that was some recovery from Mox, worryingly - but this, in every which way, was a lot more like it.