Dutch Mantell questions Jon Moxley's actions after squashing CM Punk for the AEW Championship (Exclusive)
Wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell was left perplexed by Jon Moxley's decision to celebrate with only one belt following his win over CM Punk on the August 24 episode of Dynamite for the AEW World Championship.
The match itself was surprisingly short, going less than three minutes. Moxley, the then Interim World Champion, defeated CM Punk to unify his title with the official world title. Mox then proceeded to celebrate and left with only one of the belts, much to Mantell's confusion.
Speaking to Rick Ucchino and Sid Pullar III of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, Dirty Dutch said the following:
“I’m watching the match, right. Moxley left with one belt. Does that mean anything? The other belt, he left it in the ring. Why would you leave a belt that you just won?” [13:05 – 13:17]
As the storyline goes, Mox detested the interim belt. The Blue-Eyed Bandit was only interested in being the undisputed champion. Although the interviewers attempted to explain this point to Mantell, the legend maintained that Moxley should have left with both belts.
“It just looked odd to me. If I was going to win, even though I didn’t like the belt, I’d have taken the belt with me anyway. That’s what I would have done.” [13:45 – 13:55]
Jon Moxley allegedly refused to lose to CM Punk initially
Two weeks after the shocking squash match on Dynamite, Moxley and Punk met again at All Out 2022. This time, The Voice of the Voiceless emerged victorious after a competitive match.
However, this all could have turned out very differently. In a now-deleted Instagram story, Punk expressed that Moxley said he wouldn't lose to The Best in the World prior to the pay-per-view. This occurrence was a first in CM Punk's career, he claimed.
CM Punk decided to let loose in a now-deleted IG Live story about Dave Meltzer, Chris Jericho and AEW wanting him to lose a squash match to Jon Moxley.
Thoughts? https://t.co/6H0BkxLRcd
In the social media post, the former AEW World Champion also fired shots at Dave Meltzer, Chris Jericho, and AEW as a whole. Just as the situation seemed to be calming down, the entire wrestling world is once again talking about CM Punk.
Please embed the YouTube video and credit Sportskeeda Wrestling when you use any quotes from the article.