On one side of the ring the current AEW World Champion and former WWE Champion, a man that has longed for the ability to showcase his creative side free from the shackles that once bound him. On the other side, a man that embodies independent wrestling is the anthesis of counter-mainstream. While in some ways, both men are similar, but in others, they couldn’t be more different. Last month, David Starr threw down a challenge towards Jon Moxley. The challenge was directed to someone that has said he won’t settle. That he won’t compromise who he is and what he believes in.
Saturday, March 14th, Over The Top Wrestling presents Scrappermania VI. This event will showcase some of the best talents in the world. However, one match stands out because both of their desires define themselves creatively and how they do it is quite different. Below is a video promoting the said match and the ammunition Starr has set aim and fired at Jon Moxley.
Over The Top, Wrestling put out a promotional video that highlights both men. It shares what they bring to this matchup. There are several instances that they parallel one another, as mentioned before. Both are world-class athletes that have had to adjust to different styles, skillsets, and challenges set before them.
A paradigm shift. A change in thought process or perception.
Jon Moxley claims to have created a paradigm shift in professional wrestling. I don’t see how that is possible. He went from being owned by one billionaire to being owned by another billionaire. I have actually begun to create a paradigm shift in professional wrestling.
I have embraced the idea and created the idea that workers don’t have to put up with the bu***hit that you allow for your co-workers, Jon Moxley. He still instills that most important moments in professional wrestling happen on the television set.
Jon Moxley is coming in for a payday. I’ve gone through other invaders before. And their importance. I have gone through the capitalist pigs like Jordan Devlin. People like Mike Bailey. I have gone through mercenaries like Jeff Cobb.
He doesn’t value OTT, the most important independent wrestling promotion in the world today. So Jon, when you come into the National Stadium, you may think that you are going to come into a nice reception.
But you are walking into the home of independent professional wrestling. Something you’ve abandoned a long time ago. Something you’ve gone soft on. When you are across the ring from a real-world champion, holding a real-world championship, unlike that prop that you’ve held up in front of 10s of thousands of people on television. You’ll know that you don’t belong here.
Jon Moxley is a fraud.
The comments listed above are from David Starr. What he says and what he does is for the betterment of independent wrestling. It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with pride. Despite taking independent bookings, Jon Moxley still faces criticism from David Starr.
Jon Moxley is arguably the most popular wrestler today outside the WWE. With his growth, so both a performer and a professional, Moxley moved around the world redefining who he is. His time in New Japan Pro Wrestling has shown that expression and the art form that is wrestling will not bind him to one continent.
For the Product, David Starr, the same could also be said. David Starr has competed all over the world, as has Jon Moxley. That competition has seen him faced some of the toughest wrestlers in the world. However, his creativity is not defined by culture or geography as well.
The Line In The Sand
The difference here is that while Moxley’s popularity was partly achieved by his time in arguably the top promotion in the world, Starr’s was not.
Starr has moved around from continent to continent seamlessly, building a reputation for himself as both an elite performer and a self-made star. As this match has been built up recently, Starr has not shied away from saying that moving away from the one-billion-dollar company to another billion-dollar company is hardly a paradigm shift. He doesn’t pull any punches with that comment as it cuts straight to the heart of Moxley’s decision-making.
Are fundamental beliefs at the core of this match, or could there be something greater? Starr has called Moxley corporate. While Starr will not settle on his morals or values, the argument he is putting forth is that Moxley has. Moxley doesn’t care about the rest of the wrestlers seeking to achieve equality.
For talent seeking to accepted and granted an opportunity. An argument that could circulate is that Moxley is not what he once was. That in all his time competing for a major corporation that he has forgotten who he was. That in some way, although he claims that is the creative freedom that he wanted, he was simply able to have his cake and eat it too.
As ScrapperMania VI is nearly upon us, the question of how much Moxley ‘cares’ has come into question. Moxley has acknowledged that there is a match taking place in Dublin. The story being told is compelling. It pulls at the very fabric of one’s belief system. Is a person defined by what they say, or are they defined by what they do? This is the impression that this match creates.
