Jon Moxley's penchant for violent in-ring encounters reached a new apex on a recent episode of AEW Dynamite, sparking a wave of diverse reactions from viewers. The pivotal moment involved Adam Copeland suplexing Moxley onto a spiked bat, which became gruesomely lodged in his back.
This extreme display of violence polarized the audience, with some commending its originality and others deeming it excessively brutal.
Despite the shocking nature of the impalement, Moxley ultimately emerged victorious in the Street Fight against Copeland. This victory has set the stage for his upcoming title defense against Swerve Strickland at AEW Dynasty. However, the controversial spot has also garnered commentary from within the wrestling community.
WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam, during an episode of his podcast "1 Of A Kind," offered his candid perspective on the incident. Van Dam expressed that the level of violence displayed was not to his liking, and went as far as to say that it made him question his association with AEW. This statement highlights the intensity of the moment and the varying degrees of acceptance within the wrestling world regarding such extreme displays.
“It’s not my thing, not my kind of thing,” Van Dam said. “That’s not wrestling to me. But obviously that is sacrificing a lot for the business, I mean that could be said about it. But the more AEW has been doing stuff like that, the more personally I feel like I would rather be associated with WWE than AEW.
“Like a couple years ago it was like, ‘Man they’re growing, they’re trying things to get up there.’ And then there’s a feel that like the inmates are running the prison. Which there always has been, for better or worse. I mean that was used as a good point at first. ‘Hey, the boys are running it, cool.’ But for me this serves as an example of why that might not be a good idea but it is a style of wrestling I personally look at it as being lower than the standard, substandard because it’s going to draw only a certain niche crowd that’s into that kind of stuff.”
“Congratulations to pulling off a crazy stunt, death defying stunt for better or worse, you know?” Van Dam said.
