When Dean Ambrose left WWE in 2019 to once again become Jon Moxley on the independent scene, his third match out of Vince McMahon’s company was against Darby Allin at Northeast Wrestling’s Brass City Brawl in June. Moxley had just debuted on AEW at Double or Nothing, but wouldn’t get in the ring for the company until Fyter Fest the following month. In between his debut and first match, however, he wrestled another AEW star in Allin in front of a very small crowd at a rec center gym in Connecticut.

The match was a very important one in the grand scheme of Allin and Moxley’s feud. The bout was the first in the United States that Moxley would fight after leaving WWE. While it was nothing, in terms of brutality, compared to what fans can expect during their “I Quit” match at WrestleDream, as well as what we saw in their coffin match at All Out, you can see the beginnings of Moxley once again transitioning into his former self after spending years in WWE. Allin was the perfect opponent for him to help shake the Ambrose and WWE off, for lack of a better term, before he officially started wrestling in AEW. NEW’s commentary explained Moxley well when they said, “He’s a guy who left most people’s dream jobs to do things his way.”

The crowd may have been tiny, maybe about 100 or so people, at the center in Waterbury, the environment for the match was fun. The fans were loud and excited and showed their appreciation for Moxley by throwing streamers into the ring during his entrance and you could tell the magnitude of getting to see him in his first US match post-WWE wasn’t lost on them.

Allin and Moxley had a good almost-20 minute match and from the start of it, you wouldn’t expect it to get a little more rowdy in the second half. There are a lot of fast-paced sequences throughout and they kept the fans interested, not straying too long in holds. Things really start to kick off, however, after Allin bit Moxley while both men were up on the top rope. Allin hit a coffin drop and Moxley kicked out, and about 15 minutes in, the former Ambrose was out of the ring looking for weapons.

He set up a table in the corner, which both he and Allin would go through later, and introduced chairs to the bout. Moxley taped Allin’s wrists behind his back, leading to some excellent work on Allin’s behalf when it came to dives, but he would end up dropped on his head when Moxley hit him with a big Paradigm Shift for the victory.

After the match, Moxley cut his first promo and commended Allin. He said crazy can equal money, and Allin would be a big star. The pair’s first match, despite being for a small promotion, is a fun and exciting watch, and definitely a must-see if you’re interested in their history.

Written by Daisy Ruth