{"id":149387,"date":"2025-12-29T06:00:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=149387"},"modified":"2025-12-28T18:21:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T23:21:05","slug":"how-aew-and-the-2025-continental-classic-saved-jon-moxley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/29\/how-aew-and-the-2025-continental-classic-saved-jon-moxley\/","title":{"rendered":"How AEW and the 2025 Continental Classic Saved Jon Moxley"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, 27th<\/sup> December 2025, Jon Moxley told a story at AEW Worlds End through physicality and struggle that went beyond winning the Continental Classic. It’s a full circle moment for a character arc that\u2019s seen Moxley and the Death Riders in an opposite, 180-degree position to last year\u2019s Worlds End in terms of fan interest and investment.<\/p>\n

Beyond proving doubters wrong and reaffirming to believers why you never give up on the four-time AEW Men\u2019s World champion\u2019s ability to make you feel something primal and authentic, both Moxley and AEW have healed.<\/p>\n

For the first time since the Death Riders began, Moxley is not fighting against AEW. Moxley is once again fighting for and because of AEW. The character has come full circle, as you could feel from his hoarse, post-match promo.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cEverybody in AEW who shows up every single f****** day and gives everything they have. I will continue, we will continue to give every single bit of effort we have in our bones every single day because there is no other organization in professional wrestling like All Elite Wrestling. And we want to be the elite of the elite in All Elite Wrestling, so we give 100 goddamn every single time because that is what my teammates, what the fans, and what this job deserves<\/em>.\u201d Jon Moxley, AEW Worlds End 2025.<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Few perhaps expected Moxley to win the 2025 AEW Continental Classic. Fewer possibly saw this payoff for the Death Riders leader\u2019s character arc, instead expecting a betrayal that could still come. What we got, besides a new AEW Continental champion and Continental Classic winner, is the return of a flagbearer. A man who, in seeking to save AEW, has been saved from his own ignorance by the company and ethos he fought to restore.<\/p>\n

Who Saved Who?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s a strong case to be made that the Death Riders achieved their goal of making the roster step up. My colleague Corey Michaels discussed how, as a by-product of the Death Riders’ tactics, the AEW environment in kayfabe shifted<\/a>. Ultimately, it resulted in Moxley\u2019s dethroning, preceded by an incredible buildup before All In Texas\u2019 main event.<\/p>\n

Yet despite the end justifying the means, where we were with the Death Riders at Worlds End 2024 and before Revolution 2025 was, for some fans, far from perfect. I wrote a what-if article for Moxley\u2019s four-way title defence<\/a> last year, inspired by online fans\u2019 desires to see anyone else but Moxley hold the belt.<\/p>\n

Although we knew the story would end in Texas in July, patience for some was thin. Justifiably so. Yes, the outcome was what we expected, but the road was hellish and repetitive.<\/p>\n

Some fans wanted the unexpected because subversion means moving past the underlying problem with the Death Riders in early 2025. Beyond the boring, plodding matches, the rinse and repeat finishes that felt WWE-ish, and the empty hollow verbiage, I articulated that fans were fed up with this third attempt (after the Blackpool Combat Club vs. The Elite, The Corporate Elite vs. AEW) of pretending AEW was battling for its heart and soul<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ultimate irony of Moxley preaching about AEW needing to change already existed in AEW or occurred organically around the Death Riders in other storylines. The things Moxley said were wrong with AEW echoed AEW\u2019s inability to move on from PPSTD: Post Punk Traumatic Stress Disorder. AEW did not need saving from anyone. Except for AEW\u2019s failure to move beyond this wound!<\/p>\n

If someone needed saving, it was Moxley from delusion. The only thing more dangerous than a deluded person is one with power.<\/p>\n

Spirit of Competition <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Consistently, Moxley\u2019s character throughout his AEW run has been shaped by wins and losses. Like Hangman Page during his dark relapse,<\/a> the ends justified the means. As AEW Men\u2019s World Champion, cheating\/interference to retain wasn\u2019t a moral issue; it was a twisted principle justified by Moxley\u2019s rhetoric that if you don\u2019t like it, do something about it.<\/p>\n

Results ground Moxley in truth. When at All In Texas, Page won. Then Page won again, and Moxley did what he always did. Instead of taking Renee on holiday, Moxley returned to the grind. Picked another fight and adapted his philosophy. Even though Moxley won more than he lost, the losses changed the shape of the Death Riders.<\/p>\n

Moxley can\u2019t be accused of weakness or being a hypocrite when his language changes to reflect each new reality. Verbiage changed from discussing opponents as competition and nearer equals than wannabes. Self-control and self-discipline, rather than control of AEW, were communicated by all members of the faction.<\/p>\n

If Moxley continued with the same hollow platitudes and empty cultish rhetoric he used earlier this year, discussing strength and dominance, it would be a lie. Moxley, as a character, is not a liar. Always, the standards and expectations, even of himself, have shifted because Moxley was challenged.<\/p>\n

The spirit of competition destroyed Moxley’s delusions and beliefs about what AEW needs to save. Early this year, AEW\u2019s philosophical framework exposed Moxley, but also invigorated him. Moxley\u2019s stops on commentary have strategically shown Moxley\u2019s passion and love of the game and AEW’s return.<\/p>\n

Two losses to Page, the Lights Out Steel Cage, Blood and Guts, and Kyle O\u2019Reilly, softened Moxley up for the Continental Classic.<\/p>\n

Embodiment of AEW Once Again<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As a storytelling device, the round robin tournament represents, at its purest, the core values and principles of All Elite Wrestling. Each wrestling match tells multiple interconnected stories. Not just between the two competitions, but also connects to their performances across and beyond their league.<\/p>\n

Each result shapes their character. Like a ripple in a pond, results impact the entire field. Stories that connect to history, or that will make and break competitors.<\/p>\n

It was the perfect testing ground not only for Moxley, but also for Claudio Castagnoli and PAC. Whilst many of us expected Moxley to be betrayed, we can\u2019t forget that the two men who might usurp him failed too. Castagnoli, for the third year, could not break out of the group stages. PAC could not overcome Kevin Knight or Jack Perry. All three took losses to young wrestlers in fair, equal conditions.<\/p>\n

Although Moxley won, it wasn\u2019t a cakewalk. It required sacrifice. Mentally acknowledging limitations, recognizing and adapting the strengths of others, and realizing this was what Moxley was fighting to experience. This level of competition has always been there. Yet removed from the rest of the noise, distilled at its purest, no wonder in kayfabe Moxley saw the light.<\/p>\n

Betrayal is still possible with the Death Rider \u201cbecause it\u2019s wrestling\u201d. They might usurp Moxley. Like Romper Stomper, the Aussie film that inspired the angle, things may end with tragedy. Collectively, they have been humbled by a locker room they previously viewed as soft and amateur.<\/p>\n

\"An
Photo Credit: AEW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Regardless, it doesn\u2019t alter how Moxley, a man who has always embodied the alternative in wrestling<\/a>, is once again waving the AEW flag with pride. Moxley is once again a standard-bearer.<\/p>\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n

Header photo \u2013 WikiMedia Creative Commons<\/a> \u2013 Stay tun<\/em>ed to the\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> for more on the AEW Continental Classic, Jon Moxley, and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. <\/em>You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0 You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8 pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their\u00a0YouTube<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, 27th December 2025, Jon Moxley told a story at AEW Worlds End through physicality and struggle that went beyond winning the Continental Classic. It’s a full circle moment for a character arc that\u2019s seen Moxley and the Death Riders in an opposite, 180-degree position to last year\u2019s Worlds End in terms of fan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4960,"featured_media":145409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,6],"tags":[9052,4395],"class_list":["post-149387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-north-america","tag-continental-classic","tag-jon-moxley"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149387"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149402,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149387\/revisions\/149402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}