Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki: A Fun Homecoming Battle on Dynamite
Sometimes professional wrestling just clicks. Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki on the September 8, 2021, edition of AEW Dynamite was an instance of pro wrestling making the most sense in the world and sending the crowd home happy.
AEW Dynamite took place in Jon Moxley’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. As such, the hometown anti-hero got the main event spot against Japanese wrestling legend and MMA pioneer Minoru Suzuki of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, who surfaced at All Out to set up a program with Mox. There was no title on the line, and this wasn’t a setup for a future championship match — it was just two tough dudes ready to fight.
Typically, you’d expect a feud like this to get built up and drawn out over several weeks, maybe even months, in the lead-up to a pay-per-view or television special. That wasn’t the case here — instead, Suzuki showed up at All Out on Sunday and the match with Moxley was set up three days later at Dynamite on Wednesday. The lack of buildup fine, though, because the bout created instant intrigue for fans of both Moxley and Suzuki, as it was expected the two would very likely destroy each other in the ring.
And destroy each other they did. The match went for about eight minutes which were, unfortunately for most viewers, interrupted by a three-minute picture-in-picture commercial break. Even though the match was shorter than a lot of folks may have liked — and here’s hoping Mox and Suzuki lock up again someday soon — it was still a violent showcase. Suzuki delivered hard elbows and strikes with his Japanese strong style while Moxley reciprocated with intense street fight-style shots of his own.
The match ended with a bloodied Suzuki being on the receiving end of two Paradigm Shifts, the latter of which was the elevated Death Rider version that Mox started using in Japan. It was brief but exciting wrestling match in front of a raucous crowd that was super into the whole thing. It all culminated with Jon Moxley getting the three-count and being declared the winner as he celebrated with his hometown.
Obviously, it would’ve been great to see Mox and Suzuki go for 20 or 30 minutes. But the match definitely had a “first of many” feel to it. And if Minoru Suzuki has anything to say about it, there’s definitely unfinished business with Jon Moxley. It’ll be exciting to see where this angle goes next, that’s for sure.
Jon Moxley vs. Minoru Suzuki was a great example of straight-to-the-point wrestling. Fans don’t always need a huge buildup or extravagant storyline to be into something. Sometimes we just want a fun match, and Moxley vs. Suzuki was exactly that. It was fast-paced and brutal, it got to the point, and it just made sense.
