Jon Moxley delivered a deeply personal tribute to Pac after AEW Dynamite went off the air in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sharing a memory from their time together that he believes captures exactly what Pac stood for.
The Dynamite broadcast was dedicated to Pac, who died on Sunday at the age of 40, less than a day after competing in a singles match at AEW All Out near Chicago, Illinois. The show featured live and pre-recorded remembrances of “The Man That Gravity Forgot,” while Moxley’s post-show remarks gave the Pittsburgh audience another intimate moment of reflection following an emotional night for AEW.
Moxley, Pac’s Death Riders stablemate, acknowledged from the outset that the loss was beyond simple explanation. He said there were no words capable of doing justice to Pac or the enormity of the moment. Still, Moxley found a way to speak about his friend through a story that was distinctly rooted in their shared sense of humor, their bond, and their view of professional wrestling.
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A sauna promo and a lasting line
Recalling a time when the two were filming a promo in Moxley’s basement sauna, Moxley described the amusing visual of Pac sitting in the heat, sweating and miserable while still embodying the severe, uncompromising attitude that made him such a singular presence on screen.
For more background on this topic, read Finn Bálor and Drew McIntyre Join Wrestling World in Honoring PAC as AEW Dynamite Closes With Tribute.
“[We were] sitting in a sauna in my basement doing a promo,” Moxley said. “Just ’cause we thought it was funny for him to be sitting in a sauna, sweating, being the B*****d, miserable in a sauna.”
The anecdote was more than a humorous backstage recollection. Moxley explained that they were discussing their identities, the purpose of their team, and the standards they sought to live up to every day. During that conversation, Pac offered a short statement that stayed with Moxley.
“We are professionals who give a s***.”
Moxley said it was probably his favorite thing anyone had ever said. The comment, as blunt as it was direct, reflected Pac’s reputation as a wrestler who brought intensity, precision, pride, and purpose to his work. Moxley indicated that the phrase represented something he and Pac aspired to embody each day.
Dominic DeAngelo captured Moxley’s post-show comments from Pittsburgh. In the setting of a tribute night, the line carried added meaning: it was not presented merely as a description of a wrestling team, but as a philosophy Moxley believes can reach beyond the ring.
Moxley broadens Pac’s message beyond wrestling
While Pac’s original thought was specifically about professional wrestling, Moxley urged those listening to apply it to their own lives. His point was simple but powerful. Whatever a person’s role may be, it should be approached with intent and care.
“Whatever it is you do, do it with purpose, and give a s***,” Moxley said.
Moxley did not frame the statement as a polished lesson or claim to have all the answers. Instead, he spoke with the uncertainty that naturally accompanies grief, saying he did not know anything for certain. But he suggested that Pac’s words could be the “key to life.”
That idea gave Moxley’s tribute its emotional center. Pac’s legacy, in Moxley’s telling, was not only connected to spectacular matches, memorable entrances, or the persona that made him one of the most distinctive figures in modern wrestling. It was also connected to commitment. The message Moxley took from Pac was to care about the work, care about the purpose behind it, and refuse to move through life without giving one’s full effort.
For a performer often associated with an unflinching, hard-edged style, Pac’s words were equally unsentimental. They were not elaborate, and they did not need to be. Moxley’s retelling showed why they resonated: the phrase was direct, honest, and demanding. It spoke to the standards Pac placed on himself and, in Moxley’s view, the standard that people can set for themselves in any pursuit.
An emotional Dynamite in Pittsburgh
The September 30 episode of AEW Dynamite was built around remembering Pac. The broadcast combined tributes from the wrestlers and presentation pieces prepared for the show, creating a night in which the company and its audience could acknowledge the loss together.
Moxley was also part of the in-ring portion of the episode, wrestling Orange Cassidy. The placement of that match helped frame the show from its opening stretch, while the closing moments brought another major development as Bryan Danielson returned to the ring alongside the Death Riders.
Danielson’s involvement alongside Moxley and the group ensured that the episode ended with the Death Riders at the forefront, making Moxley’s remarks after the cameras stopped rolling especially fitting. Pac was a stablemate, but Moxley’s memory made clear that their connection went beyond simply sharing a group name on AEW television.
The show’s tributes carried a different weight because of the immediacy of the loss. Pac had wrestled at AEW All Out near Chicago on Saturday, then died the following day. At 40 years old, his passing left colleagues, fans, and the wider wrestling world confronting a sudden and painful absence.
In that context, Moxley did not try to summarize Pac’s entire career or reduce him to a few broad descriptions. He focused on a moment between friends. A sauna, a promo, an intentionally funny situation, and a phrase that remained with him. That specificity made the tribute especially affecting.
Remembering “The Man That Gravity Forgot”
Pac was known in AEW as “The Man That Gravity Forgot,” a nickname that reflected the athletic style and remarkable physicality that defined his performances. Yet Dynamite’s tribute episode, and Moxley’s words afterward, emphasized that a wrestler’s impact is not limited to what takes place under the lights.
Professional wrestling is built on physical performance, character work, preparation, travel, trust, and the relationships formed in the process. Moxley’s recollection of creating a promo with Pac offered a glimpse into one of those quieter creative moments. It was an instance of two performers thinking through what their partnership represented and how to communicate it, while also finding humor in the process.
The story also underscored why Pac’s statement resonated so strongly with Moxley. “Professionals who give a s***” is a phrase that rejects complacency. It demands investment in the task at hand. In wrestling, that can mean the work done in front of an audience, but it can also mean the unseen effort behind every appearance and every story. Moxley’s decision to share the line on a tribute night gave it the force of a personal credo.
His extension of that credo to everyone in the building was significant. Moxley did not present Pac’s viewpoint as something reserved for wrestlers. He addressed the crowd as people with their own work, responsibilities, ambitions, and struggles. The message was to bring purpose to all of it.
There is no easy language for a loss of this nature, and Moxley said as much. But the story gave the crowd something tangible to hold onto. Rather than attempting to explain the unexplainable, he preserved a piece of Pac’s voice: a sentence that was sharp, memorable, and meaningful precisely because it sounded like it came from someone who believed in it.
A message that will remain
AEW Dynamite’s tribute broadcast gave its wrestlers and viewers space to mourn Pac, celebrate him, and reflect on what he meant to those around him. Moxley’s comments after the program added another layer to that remembrance, turning a private memory into a public call for purpose.
Pac’s words were originally spoken in the context of describing a wrestling team. Moxley now sees them as something larger. He believes they may be a key to life: take whatever it is that matters to you, approach it seriously, and care enough to give it everything you have.
For Moxley, that was the best way to express what Pac represented. And for those in Pittsburgh after Dynamite, it was a moving final thought to carry home from a night dedicated to remembering “The Man That Gravity Forgot.”
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.