Tony Khan Still Wants To Do Another Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch In AEW
The first one went very well… until the final moments
In a year of great strides and triumphs for AEW, one of the few mis-steps the company has made in 2021 was the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch between AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley at Revolution back in March.
The match was a good blood spattered affair, until the final explosion, where dud explosives turned the epic finale into a sparkler covered farce.
However, with the recent Atsushi Onita vs. Matt Tremont exploding barbed wire deathmatch seen as a hit, The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer claims that Tony Khan still wants to do the stipulation in AEW, and hopes that it’s a hit second time round, following comments from Khan on the matter over the Summer:
“As far as the production went, it was notable Tremont’s H2O Wrestling pulled this off where AEW and ECW and so many others in the U.S. couldn’t make it work as a similar spectacle," said Meltzer "Although AEW will at some point try it again as the PPV did so well Tony Khan feels they have to do it when right and make it work. Because it’s so rarely done in the U.S., the special effects and explosions in the match were an amazing spectacle in the ballpark setting. The other big negative is that there were only 300 fans at the 6,150 capacity stadium.
“Onita attacked Tremont with a barbed wire bat to draw blood early. Onita also threw a fireball at Tremont and Tremont was exploded a few times including one massive fireworks display, which was the spectacular spot of the night. Onita won after a body slam onto a flaming barbed wire board, and Tremont’s tights were briefly caught on fire. After the adrenaline had worn off, Tremont was in severe pain and ended up in the hospital that night in the burn unit. They hugged after the match and Onita vowed to bring another explosive barbed wire match back to the stadium.”
Onita himself was asked to appear at Revolution to endorse the match, but had to decline due to prior bookings in Japan. Since then, Onita launched FMW-E, and with the rise of GCW in the USA, it seems there’s still an audience for ultra violent deathmatch wrestling.
