AEW’s Grand Slam event featured a genuinely unexpected end to one of its matches, but it’s allegedly not because of anything Tony Khan or other decision-makers had planned behind the scenes. Rey Fenix stunned attendees by defeating Jon Moxley for the Intercontinental Championship, though it was later revealed that Fenix had few other options after Moxley was knocked out due to a botched piledriver. The latter reportedly ended up with a minor concussion following the event, and the scary moment in the ring has opened the debate amongst fans regarding whether the company should continue to allow piledrivers.
The WWE banned piledrivers in matches back in 2000, only granting exceptions to a select few wrestlers over the years to use them sparingly. Piledrivers are still frequently used in other promotions, however, and for a competitor like AEW, it’s a major way to distinguish its style from the leading brand in pro wrestling. But considering the move is one known to cause serious injuries, the debate on how valuable they are has reopened after wrestling journalist Ryan Satin shared the below GIF of the brutal piledriver that caused Moxley to hit the mat head-first.
The slo-mo of that Moxley/Fenix finish looks like Mox may have hit his head on the way down. Hope he’s alright. pic.twitter.com/UmjFvOzlgWSeptember 21, 2023
The botched piledriver was bad enough, but what made the situation worse was how it was handled in the ring. Because referee Rick Knox knew that Jon Moxley was supposed to win, he refused to end the match with a three count following the initial cover-up. Fenix, needing to end the match and possibly without being fully aware of the situation, delivered a second piledriver to an already injured Moxley. It feels like a bad situation made worse by a lack of awareness, and fans like Jay Henry aren’t happy about how it was handled:
I hate to keep throwing ⛽️ on the 🔥 bashing Rick Knox for being a shit ref after jeopardizing wrestler safety……But is it just me?…..or did that second piledriver impact he allowed to happen on Moxley look worse than the first? #AEWGrandSlam
Following CM Punk’s firing, Jon Moxley is as marquee of an athlete as AEW has right now. Concussions are never great for any athlete, and for a 37-year-old who already has a lot of miles going into his decade-plus professional wrestling career, even a minor concussion can pile up against other possible health issues. It is also worth noting that moments like how AEW mishandled Moxley’s injury have happened before with other wrestlers, as one user pointed out:
Welcome to AEW they don’t care about the wrestlers safety all they care about is money and ratings. https://t.co/cX0nYeq4HVSeptember 21, 2023
Complaints about officiating aside, the moment has some AEW viewers wondering if the company should at the very least dial back the amount of piledrivers happening at their shows.
Maybe AEW should chill on the Piledrivers and dropping people on their heads overallSeptember 21, 2023
Despite the injury to Jon Moxley, AEW Grand Slam continued to use piledrivers in the next two matches that followed. This included a match with Saraya, formerly Paige in the WWE, who was sidelined with injury troubles until she came to AEW. The other was done by Samoa Joe to MJF, who is without question the biggest star in the AEW. Of course, for all the criticism of what happened with Moxley, plenty were happy to see Joe execute the move on MJF:
woohoo 🥳 Samoa joe with the piledriver onto the solid floor. #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/c0JApby2IjSeptember 21, 2023
The AEW hasn’t commented one way or another on its stance on piledrivers in the future. It seems like the company’s execs will continue to sit between a rock and a hard place with fans, with some not wanting to see the wrestling change, as they believe what AEW is doing is better than WWE and then others not wanting to see superstars injured. In short, the debate rages on, and I’m sure this won’t be the last discussion on or off of the internet about it anytime soon.
AEW Dynamite airs on TBS on Wednesdays starting at 8:00 p.m. ET. The company is doing its best to keep pace with the number of upcoming WWE events on the horizon, but here’s hoping it can continue to do so without injuring any more of its top talent.