AEW’s Jon Moxley Makes a Strong Argument for Blood in Pro Wrestling

AEW’s Jon Moxley has become synonymous with bleeding. While his pre-WWE days were rooted in ultra-violent promotions like CZW, he began to fully embrace a more violent style of pro wrestling once he arrived in AEW in 2019. Now it seems that a Moxley match can’t happen in an AEW, New Japan or GCW ring can’t happen without the former world champion getting busted open, even if he typically still wins the match. The latest example came this past week when Moxley was back in Japan for the two-night NJPW Strong Independence Day event, which saw him get stabbed with a handful of chopsticks in a “Doomsday No Disqualification” tag match before beating El Desperado in a “Final Death” match the following night. 

But while Moxley’s bleeding has nearly reached meme status among AEW fans, he’s still a strong supporter of blood in modern pro wrestling. He explained his theory on the matter in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.

Why Jon Moxley Supports Blood in Wrestling

“The point of the dissertation is that this is a combat sport,” Moxley said. “But we’re not allowed to have blood in a match unless it’s a personal grudge? We’re only allowed to have blood after a five-month grudge after someone slept with somebody’s wife or somebody ran over someone with a car? And then — and only then — are we allowed to have this dramatic crimson mask that looks the exact same every single time? For me, realism-wise, since this is a combat sport, that means there is the potential for blood in every match. Everything in wrestling is preposterous to some degree, but this helps with the suspension of disbelief.

“I’m actually for less blood but more often. If every single match on the card had a busted eyebrow or bloody nose, it would just be part of the sport. But some gory spectacle with blood shooting like a hose is pretty unnecessary. We’re elbowing each other in the face every single match. We’re kicking each other in the face every single match. What are these people made of if they’re not bleeding? People ask why there is blood in the ring every time I leave it. It feels unnatural to go out of my way to make sure no one is bleeding. That feels like I’m taking my foot off the gas pedal. That doesn’t interest me,” he continued.

AEW Dynamite Card (July 12, 2023)

• Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament: MJF & Adam Cole vs. Brian Cage & Big Bill
• Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament: Orange Cassidy & Darby Allin vs. Daniel Garcia & Sammy Guevara
• Owen Hart Cup Tournament: Ruby Soho vs. Skye Blue
• Chris Jericho vs. Komander
• Swerve Strickland vs. Nick Wayne