Let’s start with Jon Moxley, as that seems most critical with Mox being the hive that the bees fly around, and considering Ospreay’s the latest member of the Death Riders. As you’ll be able to tell as we go along, Moxley being the glue is going to bring every single name into this.
Moxley’s arc over this period of time includes a significant heel run that became clearer as it went along. Hiding the most coveted prize in the industry in a briefcase over a prolonged period because nobody in the company is worthy of seeing it is one thing, but Moxley’s entire angle with the Blackpool Combat Club was about respect.
If you bleed with Jon Moxley, you’re in the Blackpool Combat Club.
The idea for Moxley with his group is to train them to be the best professional wrestlers they can be, and over time we’ve seen him go against his group and aid his group depending on what he thought was best for the people in his circle.
A good example of this is the Wheeler Yuta head shave where Moxley went against Yuta for going against his word, forcing him to have honor. While this may seem uncharacteristic of a heel, especially when he’s still allied with Yuta, it’s not about the traditional heel vs. babyface structure that pro wrestling is very much behind the times as a whole in deviating from as much as it is the character, in theory, is about respecting the industry, and going against his team forces them to learn respect in new way.
Will Ospreay wanted his chance to kick the ball because after three years of saying he will be AEW’s ace, he is ready to become the ace.
For those uncultured wrestling fans who refuse to watch anything outside of the Western Culture ‘sports entertainment bubble,’ is a term that originates from the Japanese tradition of professional wrestling as the guy that weather any storm for a company if he’s the focal point, and AEW’s undisputed ace to this point? The guy training him.
Jon Moxley’s entire arc the last couple of years? Finding AEW’s ace to replace him.
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