Josh Barnett Outraged at Referee Rick Knox for Continuing Match After Jon Moxley’s Concussion

Jon Moxley is one of the toughest pro wrestlers on the planet right now and there is very little that can stop him from competing in the ring, even if he is injured. That said, Moxley suffered a concussion during AEW Grand Slam last night. Now it appears his friend Josh Barnett went off on referee Rick Knox for continuing the match after Moxley got concussed.

Jon Moxley lost the AEW International Title to Rey Fenix at Arthur Ashe Stadium during AEW Grand Slam, which came as a huge shock to fans. It turned out Moxley was actually hurt after being nailed with a botched Black Fire Driver.

Bloodsport owner and Jon Moxley’s friend Josh Barnett took to Twitter and commented on Rick Knox’s poor referee work, as he criticized Knox for allowing the match to continue after the first time Moxley got planted on his head.

I really, really hope Jon is OK. That is number one over anything else here.

Advertising

Advertising

However this ref completely blew the one job he had. Even worse is that this sort of thing from modern Pro Wrestling refs isn’t new or that uncommon.

The match is underway. The move has been hit. If the down wrestler is injured/unable to kick out for whatever reason then you count them pinned. Period. End of story. Stopping on the 3 with clearly flat shoulder can’t be gimmicked or b********- you just f******* up the whole point of these men having a match and for us to watch it. Also add in if a wrestler was injured and unable to kick out you also just made everything doubly worse because the injury cannot be undone and that is already and issue moving forward, but now you’ve MF’d a clean finish, the match they spent all that time crafting, and tainted every bit of rub the winner would have got – which can at least be one small benefit in a bad situation. Hell, might as well use the injury to make the move seen as even MORE powerful and DEADLY and use what cache can come from it.

Nobody pays to see the referee and unless it’s a very specific circumstance – refs should not really be seen or heard other than as a part of the background like the ring itself. The more unnoticed the better so when a ref needs to do something it isn’t seen or picked up on.

And when there is calamity in the ring, if it just come about through the act of wrestling itself then at least take what you can from it to build whatever useful and positive you can from it because the bad has already happened and that can be undone. Best to move forward in the cameras and take care of the rest of it in kayfabe behind the curtain.

Jon Moxley was also diagnosed with minor concussion following his AEW Grand Slam match. Josh Barnett certainly made a lot of good points and Rick Knox continues to be criticized online for his work. Regardless, we certainly hope Moxley will make a full recovery as soon as possible.

What’s your opinion on what Josh Barnett said? Do you believe Rick Knox should have stopped the match after Moxley got injured? Let us know in the comments!