Last week on AEW: Dynamite, Jon Moxley was scheduled to appear for the contract signing for his match against Kenny Omega on the December 2 episode of Dynamite for the AEW World Championship. However, things didn’t go as planned. After Omega made his way to the ring, the camera cut backstage to an unconscious Jon Moxley bleeding from his nose minutes after he casually dropped the news of his wife being pregnant (Congrats Renee). Since then, people have stormed the internet with various theories of who it could possibly be that attacked Mox. I have gathered theories from around the wrestling internet and I will see how plausible those theories are giving credit where it’s due. Without any further ado, let’s get into these theories.
Kenny Omega
This is the most obvious one that came to the mind of the viewers and it makes a lot of sense from both kayfabe and a booking standpoint. We have been seeing for quite a while now that Omega is bringing back his Cleaner persona from New Japan and is embracing his “dark side”. Him having very showboat-y entrances recently and the arrogant attitude all are signals of him becoming his brutal self that had thought to have been buried deep below. Doing something like attacking Moxley would be very characteristic of the new Kenny Omega because he just wants to get his hands on the belt to be the face of the company. Omega would do whatever is in his reach to abuse the power he has to get to the top and if that means injuring his opponent weeks before his match, so be it. Even earlier that night, Mox talked about how he was “the good guy” so this could very well be a way of drawing the line between good and bad with Omega going full heel. However, I don’t think that AEW would go for such an obvious path because there are a lot of factors contributing to it. If they had to do this, why create such an aura of mystery around it and if Omega had done it, why wouldn’t he take responsibility for it given he’s the EVP? The Cleaner isn’t someone who’s afraid to take accountability for his dirty deeds. Yet, even with all these circumstances, this theory still is a very strong one and cannot be discarded.
Lance Archer
We haven’t seen Archer since Full Gear when he and Jake Roberts cut a promo in a dark alley putting the entire AEW roster on warning. The last time we saw Archer in the ring was Jon Moxley conceding yet another defeat against the AEW World Champion making his overall record against Moxley 0-2. We know that Archer is famous for unleashing hell backstage on the AEW Wrestlers. Given that track record, it should not come as a surprise that Archer could have beaten the hell out of Moxley thus prompting many people on the internet to introduce the idea that it could be the work of The Murder Hawk Monster maybe as an animal to feed to Moxley before his match against Omega to make the champion look even stronger. However, I am inclined towards disagreeing with the possibility of the attacker being Lance Archer. Archer has just recently had a match with Moxley, and it is very rare for AEW to do main event level rematches with such a short duration between them. Moreover, Archer is in a position where he can’t suffer another loss; therefore, it would be illogical for him to go after Mox again, so it’s very unlikely that he’s the attacker.
PAC
This theory is a relatively less popular one on the internet but it holds some ground if you look at it from a broader perspective. Before PAC had to go off T.V because of the pandemic, he was red hot. He had constantly been circling the main event scene, and with his return, he has been placed in an angle with Eddie Kingston, another really over wrestler right now. Now after the feud with Kingston, PAC would have to move to something even bigger and given the very high possibility that Moxley is dropping the belt, he would need a very strong competitor who can hang in the main event scene, and I think rekindling PAC vs Moxley might be a safe option. This theory seems to fit in great but I don’t think AEW would go the route of waiting for a whole feud to blow off before revealing who attacked Moxley. Although it is possible that it could be PAC, certain indicators narrate a different story. This seems like a mystery AEW could play big into and can capitalize upon hugely from storyline perspective because PAC would be not that HUGE of a reveal.
KENTA
Possibly the most exciting theory circulating around the internet is that KENTA is the one who attacked Mox and everything fits in perfectly. KENTA won the right to challenge for the IWGP United States Championship (which Mox currently holds) in August when he won the inaugural New Japan Cup USA. Ever since then, KENTA has been on a hot run even tapping out the Ace of New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi at New Japan Power Struggle. On the other end of the world, Mox has been busy defending the other belt not knowing how big of a target still exists behind his back. The theory that KENTA attacked Mox makes perfect sense because they don’t have to actually get KENTA over in the USA. It can be revealed through a promo on a titantron or something of sorts.
Moreover, Moxley hasn’t defended the belt in over nine months and given that WrestleKingdom is just around the corner, New Japan has to do something for the build. AEW and New Japan wrestlers have also been teasing a collaboration including Kenny Omega’s website having a countdown which is set to go off at the time Dynamite airs on November 23, 2020, with the title: History will be made. Is he referring to a New Japan collaboration, or is it just something for his game? As for Moxley himself, his current situation casts a shadow over the possibility of the attacker being KENTA. Moxley could have quarantined and gone to Japan in time but now that Renee is pregnant, I don’t think that Mox might be willing to take the risk of travelling now. I guess only time will tell.
Hangman Adam Page
This theory is the most intriguing one for me and this theory comes from the wrestling subreddit r/squaredcircle and this was posted by u/wgsmeister2002 who made an acute observation when Moxley was laying flat on his back. Moxley was laying with his right leg bent at a ninety-degree angle resting below his left leg. This is an oddly similar position to that of a figure on a Tarot Card.
The card reads as you can see, “The Hanged Man”. This could very clearly be a sign directed towards the Sad Yeehaw Man Adam Page. Hangman hasn’t been seen on T.V since his loss to Omega at Full Gear and later that night shouting “Fuck Hangman” along with the Dark Order as seen on Being The Elite. It was very clear that Hangman had been completely broken and had hit rock bottom. By having Hangman attack Moxley, AEW might have opened a sea of avenues for compelling storylines. Hangman might have done it to gain back the friendship he had for Omega or he might have done it and has completely gone rogue starting his heel run. There is also the possibility of Mr Brodie Lee having made Hangman do it since at the end of BTE Episode 229 it was implied that Evil Uno went to talk with Hangman to recruit him. As I said, there are multiple ways this story could be made gripping if Hangman was the one who attacked Moxley.
These are some of the theories found on the internet surrounding who attacked Jon Moxley. Who do you think attacked Moxley? Let us know by tweeting at us @TWMWrestle.