Former WWE & ECW Star On Jon Moxley Spiked Bat AEW Spot: 'That's Not Wrestling To Me'

AEW star Jon Moxley's recent spiked bat spot has received a mixed response, with some squirming at the sight of the AEW star having nails on his back, while others have praised how the AEW World Champion sold the spot. 

A surprising critic is WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam, who some would've assumed is accustomed to watching gory spots like that due to his time in ECW. RVD stated in a recent edition of his "1 Of A Kind" podcast that he's veering towards supporting WWE because of the grisly content that AEW has put out.

"I thought, you know, it's not my thing, not my kind of thing. That's not wrestling to me," declared the legendary star. "But, obviously, it's sacrificing a lot for the business. I mean, that could be said about it. But the more AEW has been doing stuff like that, the more, personally, I feel like I would rather be associated with WWE than AEW. You know, a couple of years ago, it was like, 'Man, they're growing, they're trying things to get up there.' And then there's a feeling that the inmates are running the prison, which there always has been, for better or worse. I mean, that was used as a good point at first, you know, like, 'Hey, the boys are running it. Cool.' But for me, this serves as an example of why that might not be a good idea."

TNA star Nic Nemeth applauded Moxley for sacrificing his body for the benefit of AEW, which is RVD's one positive takeaway from the spot.

RVD expressed how he's not a fan of death matches or light bulb matches, claiming that style of wrestling is "substandard" to him. 

"But it is a style of wrestling. I mean, I put that with the light bulb matches, the death matches, where two people grab each other, jump off the back of a semi truck, and land on a pile of light bulbs. That's not my kind of wrestling, and it's something that I personally look at as being lower than the standard — substandard — because it's going to draw only a certain niche crowd that's into that kind of stuff," he said. "So what Jon Moxley did having the spikes stuck in his back — which could have paralyzed him so easily — that is the kind of stuff ... they put something through Swerve's cheek, even the staples and all of that stuff, personally, is just a turnoff for me."

RVD added that AEW going the more hardcore route helps in differentiating them from their primary competitor, WWE. He reiterated how he didn't like the spot and believes it was too dangerous, although he said he would not challenge their freedom of expression to perform it. The former ECW star congratulated the two stars for pulling off what he deems a "crazy stunt, a death-defying stunt." 

While RVD was unconvinced with the spiked bat impaling Moxley's back, fellow Hall of Famer Kevin Nash was unimpressed with the run-ins during the match and the psychology involved in it.