Mick Foley Gives His Thoughts On AEW's Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch

There are few people in wrestling that understand blood, barbed wire, and ultraviolence quite like the "Hardcore Legend himself, Mick Foley. The WWE Hall of Famer recently discussed his famous King of the Deathmatch victory in the mid-90s on the latest episode of "Foley Is Pod" and, in doing so, also touched on another infamous deathmatch: AEW's Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch from AEW Revolution 2021 between then-AEW Champion Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley.

"I'm not sure barbed wire is the best way to take advantage of Kenny's huge gifts," Foley confessed. "They had a little trouble with the stipulations." AEW opted for a safe and visually underwhelming final explosion for the match; Eddie Kingston used his own body as a human shield to protect Moxley only for a pathetic spurt of sparks to rain down on him. 

The match was not well-received, and Foley thought that AEW didn't deliver on the promise that deathmatch wrestling makes with its audience. "You either stay on one side of the road or the other," Foley said, paraphrasing Mr. Miyagi from "The Karate Kid." "If you design it to be in the middle, it gets squashed like a grape, even if that's just emotionally."

Foley said that he doesn't condone the sick thrills of ultraviolent wrestling and understands that its "not everyone's cup of tea," comparing fans of hardcore violence to horror fans. "The people that watch it are good people," Foley added, "who like to see consenting adults do weird stuff. I don't condone it, but I understand it. But I feel like the people that take that step and do it for more than the money are worthy of our admiration, even if it's not your thing."