The Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch between World Champion Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley in the main event of this year’s AEW Revolution pay-per-view event didn’t go according to plan.
There was supposed to be a big explosion when the clock counted down to zero, but that didn’t happen as it was a botched explosion or as some have stated, a “dud.”
AEW President Tony Khan talked about the situation in February during an appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show.
“I’ll never let the non-wrestling people…I was trying to be too safe and I let the professionals handle the stuff and they are guys who don’t understand wrestling. A professional pyrotechnic guy. They totally shit the bed. I ended up not paying them. It was like $100,000 they ended up refunding for all the expenses of the match. I ended up not paying for the (exploding) barbed wire deathmatch, which I shouldn’t have. They screwed up royally.”
Khan stated that they put together something great and Omega and Moxley worked hard, but it was forgotten due to the final explosion.
“This is because we used professional pyrotechnic people who are supposed to know. The next time we do this, and I will do it again because the match drew. Everything Jon and Kenny did up until that point was outstanding, it wasn’t their fault it didn’t go off.”
Khan stated that it was a long time ago and they’ve bounced back since then. He pointed out how the next pay-per-view [Double or Nothing] was up and did a big number.