I really thought with Jon Moxley’s submission loss to Kyle O’Reilly at Full Gear over the weekend, and with a subsequent video promo that was released on social media following the match, that the storyline dissension between Moxley and the rest of the Death Riders would be furthered, even the slightest bit, tonight. That wasn’t the case, and Moxley, who was at one point close to tapping out to his first-round Continental Classic opponent, Mascara Dorada, got the “W” tonight.
In that video promo where an incensed Moxley is speaking, the one that also aired tonight on the show in addition to its social media release, it’s easy to tell that the rest of the group are losing faith in their formerly fearless leader. It’s written all over their faces, especially Marina Shafir‘s, but no one says anything. I guess we all just need to keep that promo in the back of our minds for awhile, because Moxley is already three points up in the “C2,” and there was no dissension teased between himself and the rest of the faction tonight.
I personally thought Moxley would lose tonight, furthering his descent into madness. It was also a bummer, as this was Dorada’s first-ever match in the tournament. He looked good in defeat, however, as Moxley made him pass out rather than tap out in the middle of the ring. I suppose a win over Dorada is better storytelling than Moxley straight up going 0-5 in the tournament, but I was convinced he’d tap out here.
I didn’t initially think it would undermine O’Reilly’s two submission victories over Moxley, as he isn’t in the tournament due to injury, but after some thought, I could see how it might. If O’Reilly isn’t actually injured and that was just an angle to get him out of the “C2,” I really don’t know where the story is going from here. I’m also unsure if AEW would run that angle, as O’Reilly has a history of neck issues, and it would feel kind of icky. But, if he’s really on the shelf, I don’t think continuing Moxley’s streak of losses is a bad thing at all if they’re going toward a Death Riders breakup.
Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli are set to face-off in their match next week on “Dynamite” already, so something very well could happen there, but I’m just not entirely sure what, as either way, one of the Death Riders wins and gets three points, or more likely, they go to a 20-minute time limit draw and both receive a single point on the board. While I’m still interested in all of this, I really thought AEW was going to further things tonight.
Written by Daisy Ruth