Backstage Details On Jon Moxley Changing Finish During Title Match At AEW Grand Slam

AEW Grand Slam aired live from Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday and Jon Moxley put his AEW International Championship on the line in a match against Rey Fenix. In the end it was Fenix who walked out with the gold, but it was later reported that Moxley suffered an injury during the show and an audible was called.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Jon Moxley suffered a mild concussion when Rey Fenix did the flip dive onto him before the match even started. Moxley was able to shake it off at first, but as the match went on he started to get lost then realized he was messed up.

Since Jon Moxley didn’t know how bad he was hurt he told Fenix he was changing the finish to put him over. It was noted that this is something wrestlers do when they’re hurt and think they may miss time. The idea is that it’s better for the title to be passed to the challenger through a loss rather than keeping it on a hurt champion.

Jon Moxley could have just told Fenix he was hurt and continue to go on with the win as planned, but Moxley apparently didn’t think it was the right thing to do, and he has enough star power to call an audible.

It was also noted that it wasn’t the Fenix driver at the end of the match that injured Moxley as it was totally safe. Moxley was reportedly feeling better when he got to the back and the concussion is said to be minor. It’s unclear how long he’ll be out for.