Felix Upton on November 7, 2020
Jon Moxley is set to defend the AEW World Title against Eddie Kingston at Full Gear. Those two are going to have a war because it will take a lot to make either of them say “I Quit.”
Moxley understands what it’s like to be a pro wrestling fan, because he grew up watching the sport. He sees how intelligent fans are now and he doesn’t appreciate it when others call them names like “marks.”
During an interview with Sporting News, Jon Moxley commented on wrestling fans’ intelligence and how he gets upset when he hears other wrestlers talk down about them, even in private.
“To me, wrestling in 2020, the fans are smarter and more educated. I don’t like when I’m in the locker room and some guy’s going, ‘Oh the marks on Twitter are saying this, bunch of stupid marks’ or whatever and treating fans like they’re idiots. That pisses me off. The old-school wrestling mentality was that this is a work, and we’re carnies and we’re trying to cheat people out of money — we’re trying to present this thing, tricking them into thinking it’s real, and taking their money from them. That’s the origins of carny wrestling a century ago. That’s not what it is today.”
“Wrestling fans, to me, are the most passionate, educated, some of the smartest fans in the world. And they really appreciate, not only the effort, they appreciate the passion of the wrestlers for their craft, they appreciate the effort, they appreciate how we’re putting our bodies on the line. Especially AEW fans, appreciate little details and storytelling and long-term storytelling. The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega are very big into small, little details in their work — they’ll drop little thing on BTE that won’t come into play for months and months later, but at the end it all ties together and makes sense.”
“I think we have some of the sharpest, most studious fans in the game, and actually pushes us up to where we have to put on better stories and more authentic stories and add more detail. It’s a much more discerning audience than it’s ever been before. And it’s great for us.”
‘I think we’re kind of on the cusp of where wrestling is in 2020. We’re at the forefront of how to engage with our fans, how to tell stories, even the matches in the ring. And we try a lot of different stuff out there, different types of matches. I don’t know if we’ll stay in a smorgasbord kind of variety forever. Maybe over time we’ll evolve into more of a singular identity. I don’t know. But I think we’re right on the forefront of where pro wrestling is in 2020 and beyond, whereas other companies might be stuck in their own little world.”
2020 has been a very interesting year. Jon Moxley became AEW World Champion during that year, and he had carried that title through the pandemic so far. He’ll have quite a task against Eddie Kingston, but it sounds like Mox is ready for anything.
November 7, 2020 9:00 am
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