Darby Allin’s fall through glass; Jon Moxley’s murder attempt? - AEW's top 7 most disturbing moments in 2024

AEW has built a reputation for itself over the last five years of presenting some of the world's best in-ring wrestling product. The Tony Khan-led promotion is also notorious for producing matches featuring varying degrees of violence, across several match types and stipulations.

All Elite Wrestling will close out another eventful year of programming, which has staged numerous indelible moments on television and on pay-per-view. Several of these moments were notably quite violent and shocking, bordering on disturbing, and paid tribute to the sport's hardcore tradition while also adding to the intensity of the respective programs.

On that note, let us look at seven of the most gruesome moments from All Elite Wrestling in 2024.

---

#1: Darby Allin goes through a glass pane

At Revolution 2024, wrestling legend Sting had his final match in the Greensboro Coliseum, defending the AEW World Tag Team Championship alongside Darby Allin against The Young Bucks. Contested under Tornado Tag rules, the bout started off in chaotic fashion, and did not take long to turn violent.

In a shocking moment during the match, Allin, who had laid Nicholas Jackson on a glass pane supported on multiple steel chairs, executed a dive off of a ladder inside the ring to take out the EVP. However, Matthew Jackson moved his brother out of the way, leading to the former TNT Champion crashing through the glass. Darby's back started bleeding immediately, and he was taken out of the match temporarily.

Darby Allin right before his stunning stunt at Revolution [Image Credits: AEW's X profile]

Allin would rejoin the fray later, and help Sting submit Matthew to retain the tag titles.

#2: Darby Allin sets Jack Perry on fire

Months after Revolution, Allin returned to make headlines when he joined the ranks of Team AEW to battle Jack Perry, Kazuchika Okada, and The Young Bucks in Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing 2024. The match had momentous buildup heading into the pay-per-view, stemming from The Elite's unexpected ambush on All Elite CEO Tony Khan some time earlier.

Both teams unleashed an extravagant amount of violence on each other as they fought across the venue. Arguably the most unforgettable moment of the bout came when Perry dragged Tony Khan from the backstage area to the entrance ramp presumably to hurt him, only to be set on fire by Darby with a flamethrower.

The rest of the night did not go Allin's way, as he had his nose re-broken, and could not stop The Scapegoat from pinning Bryan Danielson to secure the win for The Elite.

#3: Jack Perry eats a chairshot to the head at Blood and Guts

A new version of Team AEW went to war with The Elite once again at the 2024 edition of Blood and Guts. Besides returning member Darby Allin, the group comprised of The Acclaimed, Mark Briscoe and Swerve Strickland.

The double-steel cage match carried on its yearly tradition of violence, with all the players involved bringing their A-game. While the most compelling subplot that unfolded during the bout was Hangman Page's blood feud with Swerve, it also continued Darby's rivalry with fellow "pillar" Jack Perry. The latter ended up handcuffed to the cage, and was asked to surrender on behalf of his team. Perry refused, however, and would receive a brutal chair shot to the head for his trouble from Briscoe.

Check out a clip of the chair shot HERE.

Eventually, Matthew Jackson surrendered on behalf of The Elite, saving Perry from being lit on fire by Allin once again.

#4: Hangman Page takes his revenge against Swerve Strickland

Hostilities between Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland culminated in the two men agreeing to face each other in a Steel Cage match at All Out 2024. After The Cowboy burnt down The New Flavor's childhood home on live television, the bout was modified to an Unsanctioned Lights Out match.

Expanding on the brutality of their 2023 Texas Death Match, both Page and Strickland subjected each other to uncomfortable levels of savagery. In an especially visually sickening spot towards the end of the bout, The Hangman injected a needle into the mouth of The Realest, and then knocked him unconscious with an unprotected chair shot to the head.

While Swerve is feuding with Bobby Lashley at the moment, he will no doubt want payback against Hangman somewhere down the line.

#5: Bryan Danielson is suffocated by Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta

Bryan Danielson had a remarkable 2024, peaking with his AEW World Title win at All In 2024, which unfortunately led to the dissolution of The BCC after Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley viciously turned on their former teammate, and the latter choked him out with a plastic bag at All Out.

Former and current AEW World Champs Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley [Image Credits: AEW's YouTube channel]

The One True King later dethroned Danielson for his belt at WrestleDream 2024, following which the 43-year-old would be betrayed by his once-loyal BCC protege, Wheeler Yuta. The latter himself coldly asphyxiated Bryan with a bag on this occasion, following which Castagnoli destroyed Danielson's neck with a steel chair, bringing The American Dragon's full-time career to a grim end.

#6: Kyle Fletcher decimates Will Ospreay with a Piledriver

AEW may have a promising long-term rivalry in its hands with Will Ospreay and his former United Empire ally, Kyle Fletcher. The Protostar turned his back on The Commonwealth Kingpin by costing the latter his International Championship against Konosuke Takeshita at WrestleDream 2024.

Kyle Fletcher (left)/Will Ospreay (right) [Image Credits: AEW's YouTube channel]

Determined to prove himself better than The Billy Goat, Fletcher took on Ospreay at Full Gear 2024. The hard-hitting singles match featured a devastating move which saw The Aussie Arrow deliver a Tombstone Piledriver on The Aerial Assassin off of the apron onto the steel steps. Fletcher later scored the upset victory over Ospreay with a turnbuckle brainbuster.

#7: Jon Moxley draws blood against Orange Cassidy during AEW World Title bout

The carnage of The Death Riders over the last few months drove Orange Cassidy to step up and lead the locker-room against the heel faction, especially after they incapacitated a retired Chuck Taylor on Dynamite. The Freshly Squeezed star vowed to repeat history at Full Gear 2024 by beating Jon Moxley and taking his AEW World Title.

Cassidy tapped into his own vicious side and put up a brave fight against Moxley last month. Unfortunately, The Purveyor of Violence lived up to his moniker by directing a barrage of hurtful offense on OC - as testified by him drawing blood while scratching Cassidy's back with his nails at one point in the matchup.

Check out the spot in question HERE.

The King of Sloth Style will have another chance to take out Moxley at Worlds End 2024.