Jon Moxley is one of the biggest stars in AEW. He is a former AEW World Champion and now defends his newly won IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in Tony Khan’s promotion. Before AEW could put the company on his back, Dean Ambrose had to leave WWE for that to happen. He was one of the biggest stars in WWE as well, thanks to his days with The Shield, before becoming a World Champion as a singles star, but his run never quite went the way he or fans wanted it to.
Jon Moxley Loves Deathmatch Wrestling
Jon Moxley Made A Name For Himself In CZW
- Jon Moxley made his professional debut in 2004.
- Jon Moxley was a death match specialist in companies like CZW.
- Jon Moxley’s style got him noticed by WWE.
It’s important to know who Mox was before he was taken into the WWE machine. From his debut in 2004 through 2011, Moxley was working on the independent circuit. He was training with wrestling legend Les Thatcher. Early in his training, Moxley would trade ring time and training for selling popcorn or being on the ring crew.
By 2010, Jon Moxley had established himself as a death match specialist. Having matches in CZW and Full Impact Pro, we saw Moxley take other stars to the limit, like Roderick Strong and Nick Gage. During this time, he would start to push the limits of what could happen in a wrestling match. This brash and real version of pro wrestling garnered attention from executives in WWE.
Jon Moxley Becomes Dean Ambrose In WWE
Dean Ambrose Debuted Alongside Seth Rollins And Roman Reigns In The SHIELD
| Major Accomplishments Of The Shield In WWE |
|---|
| Intercontinental Championship Held By Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns, Once Each |
| 3 Raw Tag Team Championships (Rollins & Reigns x1, Rollins & Ambrose x2) |
| WWE Championship Held By Roman Reigns (x4) Seth Rollins (x2) & Dean Ambrose (x1) |
| Universal Championship Held By Roman Reigns (x2) & Seth Rollins (x2) |
| World Heavyweight Championship Held By Seth Rollins (x1) |
Once Moxley landed in WWE he was rebranded as Dean Ambrose. He would be signed to a developmental contract for their FCW brand in Florida. During this time, he worked with other future stars like Xavier Woods, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and even William Regal.
In 2012, Ambrose found himself in a feud with hardcore legend Mick Foley. The odd thing about the rivalry was that Ambrose was accusing Foley of building a generation of imitators that were taking away from what wrestling was. This was in reference to Foley and his hardcore style made famous in the 90s. Ambrose would say that this was an angle hopefully building to the two having a match in the WWE.
Late in 2012, Ambrose made his long-awaited main roster debut. This was as a member of The Shield, which would turn into one of the most dominant factions in WWE history. During this time, we saw each member of the team hold gold. Originally hired hands for CM Punk, The Shield took over the WWE Universe. In 2014, Seth Rollins turned his back on Reigns and Ambrose, bringing an end to The Shield.
Dean Ambrose Leaves WWE To Become Jon Moxley Again In AEW
Jon Moxley Explained Why He Left WWE To Chris Jericho
- The latter part of Jon Moxley’s WWE career saw him very unhappy.
- Dean Ambrose was not involved in notable feuds when compared to Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.
- Jon Moxley left WWE in 2019.
From 2014-2018, Ambrose had a run that was rivaled by very few. He would go on to win and hold the US title for over a year, win the world title, and the Money in the Bank briefcase. At the height of his popularity, however, Dean Ambrose chose to leave WWE.
Jon Moxley joined fellow AEW star Chris Jericho on “Talk is Jericho” in 2019. He gave a candid interview regarding his departure from the company. Moxley said:
“I got in my little beater car drove 24 hours nonstop, to Tampa and now 8 years later I get to live my dream… I met my wife in WWE, and if we got nothing else out of this run, I got her… Now that we got that out of the way, let’s bury the company for the next 2 hours.”
It was apparent that Moxley was very unhappy with the “prop comedy” that had been part of his story for the last year with the company. Jon Moxley felt he was outgrowing some childish slapstick comedy they wanted him to do and say. He said:
“Writer is going to be a keyword in this podcast… it was me describing the things I did on the way to the arena that day, I can’t remember exactly what they were but they were ridiculous… it wasn’t two to three things that things a guy you would root for does, these are the things an idiot would do… Vince says, this is you, this is such good shit, and I said ‘so I’m an idiot’… that kind of sums up the battle I had been fighting for 6 years… If you want someone to read your stupid lines, hire an actor… He gives you the Vince Jedi mindtrick, and I was pretty immune to it, but I got mind tricked.”
Moxley said in the interview that he knew in July 2018 he was done.
“I was going to ride it out to the very end… My wife works there , it would be unfair to put her in a situation to cause her any uncomfortableness.”
The scripts and the creative stranglehold from the company was too much, and Dean Ambrose wanted to be more Jon Moxley again. It was hard to say things about “crushing skulls” but also being told you can’t bleed during a match. Mox didn’t want “to lie to the fans anymore.” He said:
“I didn’t ask them to put out a weird press release or bring it up on commentary… I only said one thing during an interview with Cole… I walked in this casino 8 years ago, and now I’m cashing in my chips… It was about self-preservation… I thought it was some setup like ‘breaking news Moxley couldn’t cut in WWE’… We are diet coke and mentos, Vince and I, and it was ever apparent.”
Jon Moxley Finds Immense Success In AEW
Jon Moxley Is A Multi-Time Champion And Puts On Classic Matches In AEW
| AEW Debut | Double Or Nothing 2019 |
| Notable Accomplishments | AEW World Champion, AEW International Champion, WWE Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, GCW World Champion |
| Notable Rivals | Seth Rollins, Triple H, MJF, Orange Cassidy, Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega |
Since joining AEW in 2019, Moxley has gone on to be one of the most successful wrestlers in the company’s history. He has faced the likes of MJF, Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Eddie Kingston, and more. He is highly decorated as well, having held the AEW World Championship three times and the International Championship once. He is one of the biggest faces of the promotion and has helped to guide the company through some of it’s most chaotic and trying times. The Blackpool Combat Club member will certainly be one of the biggest names in the company for the foreseeable future. Although ever going back to WWE doesn’t seem likely, that didn’t stop fans from thinking for a moment that he had returned at WrestleMania 40 when The SHIELD’s music hit during the end of the main event between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns. What a sight that would have been.
