It was an emotional time for John Moxley and his Death Riders, but he was stuck there. AEW WrestleDream 2026 retain his AEW Continental Championship in a bloody battle against “Dunkzilla” Mark Davis.
Moxley was thrown around by Davis’ power early in the bout, but continued to press forward with a flurry of punches and kicks regardless. Davis wore Moxley down in the corner with a series of sliding elbows, the last of which left the champion open above the left eye. The challenger took the action to the outside, hanging Moxley upside down, allowing the blood to drain from his head, and when the action returned to the ring, Davis continued to press Moxley to encourage more blood flow.
The champion would continue to push forward despite the blood loss, but was cut at every turn and Davis even bit into the open wound to the point that Davis was covered in Moxley’s blood. While taunting the crowd, Davis kicked out to allow Moxley to hit the Tope Suicida despite being unsteady on his feet. It was Moxley’s turn, landing punches in the corner before returning and biting Davies’ forehead. A series of lariats didn’t send Davis out, but a Cutter did, and Moxley moved into an Armbar, which Davis was able to escape.
Davis went for a Powerbomb, but Moxley countered it, only for him to hit a Spinning Side Slam and a diving slam for two nearfalls. However, Davis nearly ended the match with a full-on-the-apron Piledriver, with Moxley nearly getting the count. Moxley was sent to the outside again, but was encouraged back into the ring by the Death Riders, and when he returned, he fired in a Stomp. Moxley weathered a flurry of strikes from Davis and landed a King Kong Lariat for a double pinfall.
Moxley encouraged Davis to land some strikes, but it came back to haunt him as Moxley got caught in a back-bare choke. However, he caught Davis in one of his own, leading to a bulldog choke that Davis only got out of with a run to the corner. The action once again spilled to the outside where Moxley dominated and hit another Top Suicide but took a Lariat to the back of the head and a German Suplex from the now bloody Davis. The challenger went for a Lariat of his own, but was caught in a Death Rider, which he was able to kick out of. In the end, Moxley nearly finished with the Brutalizer, but got the job done with another Rear Naked Choke to retain his title.
