We keep hearing that AEW’s current locker room is a pretty chill place. But because that wasn’t always the case, there’s probably always going to be interest in any hint of drama surrounding the promotion
— whether you chalk it up to human nature, tribalism, and/or the hot take-driven podcasting industrial complex*.
There are a couple of examples circulating around the wrestleweb surrounding AEW’s WrestleDream PPV this past weekend. One was Ace Steel, who came into the company with CM Punk, fought by Punk’s side during Brawl Out in 2022, and was fired along with his friend and former student. Steel got wind of Tony Khan’s calling Jon Moxley’s “AEW’s Harley Race” during Jeff Jarrett’s WrestleDream preview show on YouTube with Conrad Thompson and AEW’s president and head of creative.
When Thompson asked who AEW’s version of the legendary Race would be, TK replied (h/t Fightful):
“[Mox has] won the most championships. He’s traveled the world. He’s a hardened veteran. He’s from the Midwest, and he’s a straight shooter, and he’s a great person who’s respected by his peers, who takes no gruff and is so respected as a pro wrestling veteran.
”Actually, many times in Jon Moxley’s matches, I’ve observed, it was like watching a great Harley Race match, or even someone like Harley Race’s great matches in Japan, reminds me of some of the great Jon Moxley matches.
“So there’s a lot of great influences and a lot of great wrestlers that contribute to Jon Moxley. But Jon Moxley is also an incredible, very unique personality in the world of pro wrestling, who I think it’s really cool that he draws comparisons to such a great champion like Harley Race.”
For an education on Steel’s ties to Race, head over to his Instagram. Ace has his birthday post for his mentor, full of pictures of himself with the Greatest on God’s Green Earth, pinned. And his Instagram Story is this narrated video of WWE Raw General Manager Adam Pearce promoting Steel’s gym and its ties to the nine-time World champ who’s been inducted into five different pro wrestling Halls of Fame.
Steel knew wrestling fans would be hitting his page and Story, because it’s from the latter that he posted his very strong feelings bout the Mox/Race comparison.
While you weigh your own take on that, we’ll catch you up on item #2, which is from former AEW coach Sarah Stock. It’s not know why she and AEW parted ways this past April. We do know that Stock is worried about the impact on kids of WrestleDream’s the closing scene on Saturday night (Oct. 18), involved Mox attempting to drown Darby Allin in an aquarium tank.
If your response to that is that it’s an unfair or bad take from Stock, you may want to check what AEW’s Amanda Huber wrote over a series of responses. She may have already made your arguments, complete with an example of her own experience raising an impressionable young AEW fan, a callback to an extreme spot from Stock’s days as CMLL and TNA’s Dark Angel Sarita, and closing with a Simpsons GIF:
This was midnight on a ppv.
Meanwhile when you were working you choked another woman out with a belt. Where was the outrage over kids trying that?
And you wanna quote tweet a video of me talking about kids grief to defend you being a hypocrite?!
Fuck all the way off.
Want to know what my kids (because I have kids) were doing at midnight last night?
Sleeping.
Want to know why?
Because they’re kids.
My wrestling loving kids.
Want to know what they weren’t watching? A match between 2 performers who are known for taking things to an extreme.
Want to know why?
Because it’s my responsibility as a parent to know what’s they’re consuming.It’s cool tho, I’ll let them watch some old TNA stuff and they can learn to choke each other out with a belt since that’s cool because checks notes “tits look great”
Alright, your turn.
* I and pretty much every blogger, and internet writer or content creator are guilty of being remoras on the sides of that particular great white.
