On Saturday, November 9th, AEW’s first PPV since going to TV with Dynamite, and there are two huge matches which deserve to close the show as the main event. Those two matches are the AEW Championship match between Chris Jericho & Cody Rhodes, and the grudge match between Kenny Omega & Jon Moxley. Both can stake a claim to close the show, but only one can send the fans home.
The Importance Of A Title
Many fans will forever insist that the top belt of a company should always close out a show if it is being defended, and Chris Jericho vs. Cody Rhodes is a huge championship match. It’s Jerichos second defense, having won the belt at AEW All Out against Adam Page, and defended against Darby Allin on an episode of Dynamite in a Philly Street Fight. Cody has stated in a passionate promo that he won’t challenge for the title again if he can’t win at Full Gear. The stakes are high, and the prestiege of a title is built on amazing main event matches.
Unsactioned Wrestling Violence
The match between Jon Moxley & Kenny Omega won’t be pretty, they’ve been wanting a pound of their opponents flesh since Moxley made his debut for AEW at Omegas expense at AEW Double Or Nothing, beating him down after Omega failed to defeat Chris Jericho in the main event. They were slated to face off at AEW All Out, but an injury prevented Moxley from making the match, leading to PAC replacing him in a winning effort. The match won’t be sanactioned by AEW, and will be a Lights Out match. It is by far the best built match on the card, and is deserving of the main event slot, even with no title stakes on the line.
Should A Title Always Main Event
I can personally understand the thought that title should main event, but it isn’t always the case. I know two examples where the title match shouldn’t have closed out the show, one is Wrestlemania 18. On that show, there was a clash of two larger than life icons, Hulk Hogan & The Rock. They gave a classic match which people still praise to this day for the sheer presensce and electricity that match contained. They had the crowd in the palms of their hands, and frankly drained them out. After the match, Chris Jericho defended the Undisputed Championship against Triple H to close the show, a match which was completed with nearly dead crowd. They burnt themselves out before the match, because The Rock & Hulk Hogan should have main evented that card, it was the biggest match.
The other example is WWE NXT TakeOver: New Orleans where the right call was made. The NXT Championship was defended by Andrade Almas against Aleister Black, which was a fine match that saw Aleister win the title, but it was rightfully overshadowed and followed by the Unsactioned match between Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa. The biggest feud on the brand closed out the show to an electric crowd as former best friends brutalized each other. If you put them on before Almas vs. Black, they would have gotten the same reception, but the NXT Championship match would have suffered the same fate as Triple H vs. Chris Jericho.
At the end of the day, either match would send the AEW faithful home very happy, I have no doubts both matches will be contenders for AEW’s match of the year, but in this one writers opinion, the choice is obvious. The show should end with some beautiful, glorious wrestling violence with Kenny Omega & Jon Moxley.
