Jon Moxley vs. Rey Fenix didn’t go as planned on Wednesday night at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam, as not only did Moxley suffer an injury, but he also changed the finish on the fly.
Fenix won the AEW International Championship in the match after Moxley was rocked after Fenix hit a dive. Moments later, referee Rick Knox made the count as Fenix covered Moxley. However, he held up at two and a half. Fenix hit another move with the referee counting fast, making it even more clear this was not supposed to be the finish.
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez talked about the injury, where it was confirmed that Moxley suffered a mild concussion.
Alvarez: “So Jon Moxley was facing Rey Fenix for the international title, and the plan was that he was going to win. He was going to retain the title. And like the very first spot they did, they were brawling on the ramp. And Fenix went running and he did a flip dive off the ramp and he essentially landed right on Jon Moxley’s head. His whole body landed on his head. I mean, he just pretty much crushed the guy. And Moxley was rocked. And, you know, he comes up, and he’s got the glassy eyes. And the announcers, I think, thought it was a work because they’re like, man, look at the glassy eyes on Jon Moxley. Those are the eyes of a man that’s been rocked. And in fact, those were the eyes of a man who had been rocked. And so if you watch it like he stumbles around, he can’t get to his feet at first. Yeah, he he got back into the ring and he kind of started to get his bearings and then, like, they had a match and it was Moxley’s in there. He’s doing a couple of lucha spots. He’s beating on the guy. And apparently what happened was the match went on. He just started not feeling good, and he realized he was not in good shape. And so, he told Fenix, you’re going to you’re going to beat me. And so Fenix hit his pile driver. His driver. Yep. And you could see like you could see Moxley telling the ref to count, and the ref counts one, two. And then he just and he doesn’t count. And, first, you hear the crowd start just booing. Like they’re furious. They start getting on their feet for this, this, this call. And you could see Moxley on his back, looking at the ref, and goes, F**k you. And so the referee is like, Yeah. And so Fenix picks him up and he gives him another piledriver. And this time, the ref counted the pin quickly. And that was the end of that. But the word was seemed to be a mild concussion. And, and I guess he was, doing a lot better later in the evening.”
Meltzer: “He was okay backstage. It was diagnosed as a mild concussion. And he was not hurt by either piledriver. He got dropped on his head twice, and he got a concussion. And he did get a concussion. But it was early on. And, it’s not a good thing to work a match after a concussion, that’s for sure. But neither of those piledrivers hurt him at all. So he was as far as that aspect goes, that wasn’t that wasn’t the dangerous spot working. The match was dangerous, though, there’s no doubt.”
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