Actor Paul Walter Hauser Talks Controversial Kenny Omega Vs. Jon Moxley Match, MJF Heel Turn
At AEW Full Gear, Chris Jericho defeated Cody to retain the AEW World Championship. The match had a unique setup with three judges to determine a winner in the event of a time limit draw and The Great Muta was one of the judges.
Actor and wrestling fan Paul Walter Hauser talked about that match when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.
"I love The Great Muta and I grew up on him. It was awesome to see that dude show up. I used to watch him wrestle Sting and tag with Sting back in the day," Hauser said before sending his best to Sonny Onoo who recently had a heart attack.
"That match had a cool setup with the judges and it had a big-fight feel. I didn't love that it took 7-9 minutes to get into the match and thought it should have been more bell-to-bell with the way it ended. Overall, I enjoyed it and they told an amazing story. I think Cody, across the board, is the best storyteller in the ring right now."
He added that Jericho worked around Cody's injury well while also noting that Cody probably has an "out" for his stipulation because he never really lost.
"The ending surprised me because I thought Cody was gonna turn on him," Hauser said of MJF who was in Cody's corner and ended up turning on Cody. "Brandi took a harsh right turn around heelville and I thought Cody would mirror that and have his own run at something dark. I didn't expect what happened.
"By the way, that fan got in trouble for throwing that drink but I have to give props because it made that moment. It was like Bash at the Beach '96 and I was totally fine with that."
Hauser said that outside of Jericho there is a cozy spot for someone else to be a real heel who can talk. He says it's a good spot for MJF as long as they can follow this up with good storylines.
"I think a guy like PAC ? I love that guy. He has a great look and looks like a character from a Star Wars movie but he's not a mic guy. I think this is the moment for MJF to take a step up and have that moment," said Hauser.
"I haven't been that impressed with MJF's physicality yet. He's top three on the mic. His work on AEW Dark was some of the most entertaining stuff I've seen from the entire company. But I can't tell you one MJF match that I like and I'm like, 'Oh, you've gotta watch this MJF match.'"
The main event of Full Gear saw Jon Moxley defeat Kenny Omega in an unsanctioned match and while Hauser enjoyed it, he doesn't want to see it again.
"I feel the way about this match how I feel about The Joker ? I think it's a masterpiece but I don't want to see it very often. I enjoyed the match but I don't think they should have them more than once every 18 months," stated Hauser.
He then talked about raising the level too high to the point that someone really gets hurt in a match. He noted that Owen Hart passed doing something that had become common place at the time.
"If people can die from practical things, think of the impractical, stupid things we're putting them through that they could have horrible reactions with?
I don't go into a Moxley match waiting for [a technical classic]. I go into those matches expecting DDTs and bulldogs and punches and tables," said Hauser. "He's got his own style and he's starting to refine it where we can say, 'This is a Jon Moxley match.'
"I thought the match was great and I a guy shouldn't take a devastating DDT onto wood twice and not get pinned. I love Gargano and NXT but those matches where he's taking seven finishers and still kicking out, those get a little stupid after a while."
Hauser portrays Richard Jewell in the upcoming film The Ballad Of Richard Jewell and he spoke about why this movie and role is so important to him.
"The movie means a lot me. It's a true story and I play the guy who was blamed for the bombing of the '96 Olympics, but he was the guy who actually saved a bunch of lives," Hauser said of Jewell. "It's an important film and I'm really proud of the work everybody did. And I got to work with one of my heroes, Sam Rockwell, so if you guys could check that out it would mean the world to me."
Paul Walter Hauser stars as Richard Jewell in the upcoming film "The Ballad Of Richard Jewell", directed by Clint Eastwood. It will be released in United States' theaters on December 13th. Hauser's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In the full interview Hauser discusses working with director Clint Eastwood on The Ballad of Richard Jewell, his upcoming role as Horace in Disney's Cruella, the Excalibur – Jimmy Havoc skirmish before Full Gear, WWE's Saudi Arabia travel issues, his thoughts on every match from AEW Full Gear and more.
You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.