AEW Fight Forever has made it easier for wrestling fans to experience AEW's exciting matches. What sets Fight Forever apart from the WWE 2K series is that players feel like they're playing an arcade game because it doesn't look too realistic, which proved to be a good thing based on some initial impressions. It also has unique stipulations that avid fans normally wouldn't find in mainstream wrestling games, like the 30-man Stadium Stampede.
One notable feature in AEW Fight Forever is the deathmatch stipulation. Players can choose from a variety of weapons to use in matches, including a skateboard that wrestlers can ride going to the ring. But the most attention-grabbing type of deathmatch in Fight Forever would be the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match.
The Origins of The Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match
In an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match, wrestlers participate in a no-disqualification, hardcore match with the ring's ropes covered in barbed wire that would trigger an explosion or spark when touched. After a certain time period (usually around 30 minutes), regardless if the match is done or not, a final explosion will blow up the ring and the wrestlers in it. The ring will be covered in smoke as the wrestlers lay unconscious.
The match originated in Japan's Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in 1990, where Atsushi Onita defended his championship title against Tarzan Goto. Back then, the ropes were replaced with barbed wires, which bruised many wrestlers' backs. A small charge of C4 explosive was also used to create the explosions.
Despite how gruesome it was, many fans loved watching it. Onita would later face other wrestlers in the death match. This also inspired other wrestling promotions to adopt the stipulation. Notable wrestlers, like Cactus Jack (aka Mick Foley), Terry Funk, and more recently, Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega, would later participate in an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match in the following years.
Moxley and Omega's Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match at 2021's AEW Revolution was highly anticipated. The stipulation itself wasn't common in North America, and it had been years since wrestling fans saw a death match like this. However, the ending of the match wasn't as explosive as expected. Instead of a huge blast that after the timer ran out, only four sparklers went off as Eddie Kingston tried to protect a handcuffed Moxley in the ring. The disappointing moment instantly became a meme within the wrestling community and was later added to AEW Fight Forever as an Easter egg.
How to Trigger the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match Bad Ending in AEW Fight Forever
AEW Fight Forever players need to accomplish a few things in the Road to Elite Career Mode to unlock the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match. The game mode has four story paths, or Blocks, that players could take depending on the wrestlers they're using and the results of their matches. The main goal is to reach Block 3A by losing the Casino Battle Royale and winning the succeeding matches, including the final pay-per-view (PPV). So far, some players managed to reach Block 3A using Malakai Black and Wardlow.
Once players reach Block 3A, they can finally unlock the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match in AEW Fight Forever's store, which can be purchased for 30,000 AEW credits. When they've acquired it, they have to change the Explosion Type in the settings to "Historic" in order to trigger the anticlimactic ending with the sparklers. To make it more comedic, the wrestlers' default reaction would be to fall unconscious as if an actual loud explosion had happened.
The Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match bad ending could simply be AEW's way of laughing with its fans over what happened in Revolution. After all, it's no secret that AEW President Tony Khan was equally disappointed by it, and promised to do it again in the future with a proper explosion. For now, fans could experience it anytime, along with other AEW Fight Forever match types.
AEW Fight Forever launches June 29 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.