AEW Five Fingers of Death (and Friends) 6/22 - 6/28

AEW Forbidden Door 6/28/26

Jon Moxley vs Bandido

MD: I want to be clear about something before we dive in. I don't actually think this is the story they're telling. I don't think they're telling any story at all, not really. I think TK is making matches. I think Moxley is flexing, enjoying himself, proving he can do whatever he wants and make it "work." They're slotting the Death Riders in wherever it makes sense. Can they do something down the line with Ospreay one way or the other? Sure. But the point is "one way or the other." It's the flexibility, the ability to make whatever matches make sense. 

Maybe one day that means putting the Death Riders against STP, United Empire, or the Don Callis Family as de facto babyfaces. Maybe another day it means Mox defending the Continental Title against Bandido as a de facto heel. It's exactly how they used the BCC for long stretches and while it's a matchmaker's dream, it's a booker's nightmare, because nothing resonates nearly as much as it ought to. Everything is ultimately wishy washy. There's no moral truth to the universe. There are never any real consequences. Jon Moxley didn't get turned on by the Death Riders because it would have been "predictable." 

Yes, Jon. It was predictable because it was good fiction, because your character committed unforgivable transgressions and then never fully paid for them. It was predictable because the appeal of a fictional world of pro wrestling is to get to live out and experience all of those moral consequences that don't really exist in the real life. We're dealing with this bullshit day in and day out in everyday life. We don't need you wrestling through it.

Yet here we are. And the fans are more or less going along with it (though far, far less than if there had been clean lines and true consequence, which is the true crime of it all). 

I should just accept it, should just move on.

But the text is the text regardless of whether it's truly going anywhere or whether there's true intention behind it. 

And I will call the text as I see it.

Which is to say...

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Jon Moxley sits on a throne of lies. He rules over a kingdom of dust. He is full of shit. Maybe he can back that shit up, but it doesn't make it smell any better.

He talks a good game. He tears down institutions not with anarchy or revolution but with nihilism. Then he builds himself up in their stead. 

Against most wrestlers, that's fine. Maybe they're not much better.

Bandido is not most wrestlers. Bandido stands for something. He wears a white hat and a white mask. He fights for justice. He never gives up. 

Jon Moxley doesn't even believe justice exists, not anymore, maybe never. And he succeeds, triumphs, gets away with it all, so long as he makes sure everyone else believes the same. That's the only way he escapes with his head held high.

Bandido has a good heart, sees the best in people, wants to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, even Moxley. The fans seem to want to give him that benefit and Bandido listens to the fans.

So he thinks this is going to be a title match like those he grew up on, a lucha title match fought within the rules. Matwork to start, escalation, two men pitting skill against one another, not an apuestas match, not even a heated trios. 

He starts it with swagger, winning an exchange and pointing the finger gun right at Moxley.

This isn't a game Moxley can play. This isn't a game Moxley can win. He knows there's no solid footing underneath him. He knows that his actions won't stand up to scrutiny. He needs the crowd to buy into what he's selling. He can't have Bandido outdoing him, outflashing him, out shining him. 

He tries to shoot it down, to put his middle fingers up instead. He refuses to play along with the Yay - Boo dynamic. He has to take the air out of the room. He tries to draw a line in the sand instead, tries to intimidate Bandido. 

Bandido does not back down.

Moxley tries to outquick him, to beat him at his own game, slipping his way back into the ring to hit a dive. Bandido hits a far more spectacular one.

So he gets his feet up as Bandido charges in and drops him skull first onto the ring stairs. This isn't a game. It's not a clean, honorable title match. Maybe Mox could win that. Maybe he couldn't. But he's too much the coward to take the chance. He can't afford to lose. He can't afford to look weak. He can't afford to let anyone, the wrestlers in the back, the Death Riders, the fans, doubt him for a second.

He tears at the mask. He makes that "white hat," and the white mask, and the white gear, turn red.

Yet Bandido does not give up, for Bandido does not give up. He bounds back at Moxley with superior athleticism. Despite the size difference, he presses him over his head with superior strength. He survives the Death Rider and then manages an astounding feat, taking Moxley over in a fall away slam from the top.

But while Bandido stands for something, Moxley knows the price of his own potential fall. If Bandido fully fathomed the filthy rancor delving underneath in the wretched heart of Jon Moxley, maybe he'd have risen to the occasion, maybe he would found a strength greater even than his own, but on this night, Moxley's eyes were the ones that were open, and he simply needed it more.

He caught Bandido on a 21-Plex attempt and pulled him back into a choke. Bandido's courage drove him to lift Moxley up and drive him down, but Moxley's fear meant that he hung on for dear life and won the day.

And post-match? Bolstered by the fans (and Bandido listened to the fans) and entirely despite the depths he dragged himself, the match, and the title, Moxley dared to hold his hand out as a sign of respect. He was wrestling through it again. And Bandido, with his good, forgiving heart, a heart better than any that we possess, expressed admiration and respect.

The King with No Clothes pulled the wool over everyone's eyes once again. Evil triumphed over good once more because evil believes in nothing and good cares far, far too much. 

So is there a payoff coming? Is there comeuppance? Is he just going to get away with this again and again and again and we are just to accept it as the new face of valor? 

I don't know. It's all sure convenient and easy isn't it? Maybe in 2026, that's all that matters.