AEW Match Review No.7: Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley – Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match @Revolution 2021
Jacksonville, Florida – March 7, 2021
There are bad wrestling matches, and then there are wrestling disasters that become cultural phenomena for all the wrong reasons. The exploding barbed wire death match between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega belongs in a category all its own—a match so spectacular in its failure that it transcended wrestling and became a legitimate internet meme that wrestling fans are still laughing about years later.
A Decent Match?
Let’s be clear about one thing: the first 25 minutes were actually excellent. This wasn’t a case of two wrestlers phoning it in or failing to understand the assignment. Moxley and Omega worked their asses off, “the match won’t be remembered for its incredible spots over the first 25 minutes” because of what came after. That’s the real tragedy here—two elite performers delivered a genuinely great deathmatch that will forever be overshadowed by pyrotechnic incompetence.
Kenny Omega, to his credit, understood the stakes. “The idea itself is incredible,” Omega says. “You touch the ropes and they explode.” The concept was sound—bring FMW’s legendary exploding barbed wire matches to American television with AEW production values. What could go wrong?
Everything, as it turns out.
The backstage story reveals just how much this meant to everyone involved. Kenny Omega “went about constructing the elaborate rig himself” because he wanted it done right. The match structure was perfect wrestling psychology: “after 30 minutes, regardless of whether the match is over or not, one final explosion would blow up the ring and anyone left in it.” Omega won after an excellent back-and-forth battle, leaving Moxley handcuffed in the ring as the timer counted down to the big finale.
The Big Moment
And then came the most anticlimactic moment in modern wrestling history.
“Everyone was expecting to see a grand and large explosion take place at the end of the match. However, this is not what happened. Instead, once the timer hit one, fans witnessed one brief pop of explosion.” What was supposed to be a spectacular pyrothechnic climax turned into what looked like someone lighting a bunch of sparklers. “The ‘exploding’ part turned out to be a total dud. Nothing exploded.”
But the real comedy—and tragedy—was still to come.
Eddie Kingston, being the loyal friend and professional wrestler he is, ran to the ring to protect Moxley from the “explosion.” The problem was that there was no explosion to protect him from, which meant Kingston had to sell absolutely nothing like it was a massive blast. The visual of Kingston dramatically collapsing from sparklers is the kind of unintentional comedy that wrestling fans treasure forever.
The Reaction
Kingston himself was brutally honest about his reaction: “What went through my head was, ‘What the **** was that?’ That’s what went through my head. Then, I was calm in the back. I won’t give you inside baseball, that’s not my style, but I was real mad and people knew”
Even worse, “What got me mad was I saw disappointment in Tony Khan’s face” Kingston revealed later. Imagine being Eddie Kingston in that moment—you’re trying to be a good friend and a professional, but you’re stuck selling the wrestling equivalent of a wet firecracker while your boss looks like someone just kicked his dog.
The industry reaction was swift and merciless. Booker T summed it up perfectly: “It bombed miserably in front of the world.” When Booker T is laughing at your match finish, you know you’ve got problems.
Kenny Omega, reflecting on the disaster, showed genuine vulnerability: “The big one that always comes to my mind, the forefront of my brain is the exploding barbed wire deathmatch. I was so proud of the match, I was so worried about the match because I’m not really a hardcore guy.” You can hear the disappointment in those words—a perfectionist watching months of preparation turn into a punchline.
To AEW’s credit, they tried to do damage control. “AEW had to do damage control, saying Kenny Omega rigged it poorly and joking that IMPACT help set it up.” Tony Khan even promised to refund expenses and do the match again, which is either admirable transparency or the wrestling equivalent of “my bad, we’ll fix it in post.”
Frustration All Round
The really frustrating part is that this match had everything going for it. Great workers, compelling story, unique stipulation, and 25 minutes of genuinely excellent wrestling. But wrestling is a live performance art, and sometimes the magic just doesn’t happen. Sometimes your elaborate pyrotechnic rig turns into expensive confetti, and you’re left with Eddie Kingston dramatically selling sparklers like they’re dynamite.
Looking back, this match represents both AEW’s ambition and its growing pains. They were willing to try something genuinely different and spectacular, which is admirable. They just forgot to make sure the spectacular part would actually work, which is less admirable.
Everyone deserved Better
The exploding barbed wire death match didn’t ruin AEW Revolution, but it did create one of wrestling’s most enduring memes. And sometimes, being memorably bad is worse than being forgettably mediocre. At least when you’re boring, people forget about it. When you fail this spectacularly, it becomes part of your company’s mythology forever.
Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley deserved better. Eddie Kingston definitely deserved better. And wrestling fans deserved the explosion they were promised, not the sad pop they got. Sometimes the best intentions and the hardest work still aren’t enough to overcome basic technical failure, and that’s the most depressing lesson of all.
REWATCH VALUE: 18/25 The first 25 minutes are genuinely great and hold up well. The disaster ending is worth watching once for historical purposes, but it’s painful knowing how good this could have been. You’ll skip to the “explosion” when showing friends, guaranteed.
STORYLINE: 20/25 Perfect setup, excellent execution through 99% of the match, then complete disaster. The story was compelling—Omega’s hubris, Moxley’s redemption attempt, Kingston’s loyalty. The ending didn’t ruin the story, but it definitely didn’t help it either.
MATCH QUALITY: 17/25 Genuinely excellent deathmatch wrestling ruined by technical failure. Both men worked incredibly hard and delivered great violence and psychology. The barbed wire spots were brutal and effective. But you can’t separate the match from its catastrophic ending.
FAN REACTION: 13/25 Initial reaction was excitement that turned to confusion, then embarrassment, then mocking laughter. The internet immediately turned this into a meme. It became a punchline rather than a classic, which is the worst possible outcome for any wrestling match.
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