There’s a phrase that you hear a lot in wrestling that goes along the lines of “they [fans] only remember the finish.” When you look at something like the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch at AEW Revolution 2021, you can forgive quite a few old heads in the industry for thinking that way.
Despite going 25 minutes, in what was actually a really decent introduction to a style that is traditionally a Japanese match, everyone remembers the ending of Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley more than anything. Admittedly, the pyro wasn’t phenomenal during the match, but what happened after made both Moxley and the man who was covering him to protect him, Eddie Kingston, look like morons.
So what will usually happen at the end of an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch is that the entire ring will ‘explode,’ giving the crowd something visually spectacular and ending a show on a wild moment. What happened at the end of Revolution 2021 is that the pyro that went off looked more like a small back garden fireworks show, with Mox and Kingston laying in the ring as if they had died from the blast. It looked silly, it looked daft, so why not do it again properly?
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Why Tony Khan should bring back the AEW Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch
Conventional thinking would dictate that if you make a mistake that big that you probably shouldn’t try it again. But, this is pro wrestling and nothing about the competitors in that match nor AEW itself can be considered overly ‘conventional.’ What I believe Tony Khan needs to do is run back the gimmick match, but this time with the knowledge that they need to use 1. A different pyro team and 2. More impressive pyro.
There is a very real opportunity here to right the wrongs of the original ending, but this time you can do the match with Moxley taking on the man who protected him before: Kingston.
Kingston is of course currently out injured, but the current overarching storyline with Moxley right now is the “this isn’t your company” beat, with Bryan Danielson getting unceremoniously thrown out of the Blackpool Combat Club and his head trapped in a plastic bag by Mox. Kingston and Danielson have had a chequered past, but over recent times the company have been producing backstage segments showing that the level of respect is there and Kingston is warming up to his former nemesis.
The natural build here is for Moxley to continue running rampant on the AEW roster until Kingston returns as the conquering hero, being the man to represent the “true” AEW and drag a level of violence out of Mox that would fit for a main event of a PPV.
Will AEW bring back the Barbed Wire Deathmatch?
As much as I want to see it, I don’t believe that there is much of an opportunity that the company will actually bring back the gimmick. Having said that, I sincerely hope that it is something that would be considered, because the company has the chance to turn the mockery of an ending to that original match into something really special.
Having a main event at Revolution 2025 of Mox vs Kingston in the Exploding Barbed Wire would give enough time for Eddie to return from injury, Mox to establish his new character (which granted has some bizarre far right overtones) and for a match or two in the feud to have already taken place before AEW can escalate it to the EBW.
Tony Khan Admits he “Will” do it again…but that was four years ago
Khan did reveal after the original match that he was considering doing it again and that the expenses for the original were refunded after the complete dud of an ending. Speaking to the Dan Le Batard Show (via Fightful) back in July 2021, he said “I was trying to be too safe and I let the professionals handle the stuff and they are guys who don’t understand wrestling. A professional pyrotechnic guy. They totally shit the bed. I ended up not paying them. It was like $100,000 they ended up refunding for all the expenses of the match. I ended up not paying for the (exploding) barbed wire deathmatch, which I shouldn’t have.
“They screwed up royally. We put together something great. Kenny and Jon worked their asses off and all they had to do was set up the final explosion. This is because we used professional pyrotechnic people who are supposed to know. The next time we do this, and I will do it again because the match drew. Everything Jon and Kenny did up until that point was outstanding, it wasn’t their fault it didn’t go off. Long story short, it was a long time ago and we’ve bounced back since then. That was three months ago and everything has been pretty perfect and couldn’t have gone much better. I was really grateful that the next pay-per-view was up and did a big number.”
Run it back with Mox and Eddie. Tony, I dare you.
