AEW star Jon Moxley recently spoke about his decision to leave WWE for AEW back in 2019 during a recent interview with Justin Kinner. At the time, Moxley was about his decision.
When Jon Moxley left WWE, he was one of the top stars of the company as Dean Ambrose prior to leaving. He was involved in top storylines and was a former WWE, Intercontinental, Tag Team, and United States champion. His most memorable moment in WWE was without a doubt being part of the hottest wrestling faction since nWo, The Shield.
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However, in 2019, Moxley decided to leave the relative safety of WWE and join a very new and untested wrestling promotion called AEW. Upon signing with AEW, he was one of the few household names for US audiences along with Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, and Dustin Rhodes.
During a recent interview on The Justin Kinner Show podcast, Jon Moxley talked about what a risk it was leaving WWE and joining AEW so early on in AEW’s life. He stated the following:
“It was a risk for everybody. Me and Chris [Jericho] always joked that we were getting in the raft and going down the river. We had no idea what was going to come. It was all just a shot in the dark, but we all had faith.”
H/T To Wrestling Inc. For Transcription.
AEW AND JON MOXLEY HAVE THRIVED TOGETHER
Luckily for Moxley and Jericho, AEW has survived the last several years In fact, AEW hasn’t just survived but has thrived and become a major contender to the stranglehold WWE has on United States wrestling. There is even talk about AEW President Tony Khan being very interested in purchasing WWE.
Perhaps no other individual has thrived in AEW as much as Moxley. He went from one of the many top guys in WWE to becoming the top guy in AEW. AEW gave him an opportunity to wrestle a hardcore style and bleed during matches. Since joining AEW he has become a three-time AEW World champion and has the longest total days as champion at 406 days.
Jon Moxley shared how proud he is that he was able to help build AEW and that he will always work hard to make sure AEW stays as strong as it has been over the last few years. He continued:
“If I have a lasting impact on the business, it would probably be that I helped AEW get off the ground, and I absolutely refuse to let this place ever go to hell. I will ride or die with this place. I won’t ever let it go downhill or suck or anything like that.”
MOXLEY IS GIVING IT HIS ALL FOR AEW
Jon Moxley has literally bled for AEW to benefit the overall product. Recently, he became a member of the faction of absolute in-ring killers called the Blackpool Combat Club. The faction consists of Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, and Claudio Castagnoli. When the group was formed, they were managed by William Regal. In November 2022 Moxley lost his AEW World Championship to MJF after Regal betrayed him and Regal left for WWE.
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Moxley talked about why he thinks AEW has continued to be successful and what other US promotions have done wrong which AEW has not. He added:
“I think the thing that sets it apart, and what we always have to remember, is that it’s an alternative,” Moxley said. “I think the other promotions in the past, that have tried to be the standard, kind of the WWE formula that people in North America think of as major league wrestling, and it comes off as ‘WWE Lite.’ I don’t think we should ever be that.”
MOXLEY EXPLAINS WHY AEW IS NOT JUST WWE JUNIOR
Some of the most popular US promotions of the last 20 years have broken away from just being another WWE clone. TNA/Impact Wrestling allowed Matt Hardy to create his Broken Matt Hardy gimmick, Lucha Underground had a cinematic style that leaned into the entertainment side of sports entertainment, and Ring of Honor focused on the in-ring action.Â
AEW has combined some of what has worked for these other promotions and brought in some other top wrestling talents. Now, AEW is the second-biggest US-based wrestling promotion.
What did you think of Moxley’s decision to leave WWE at the time? Do you think it was the right choice now? Would you like to see him come back to WWE with Triple H taking over? Do you think he is the top guy in AEW? If not, who is? What would you like to see next from Jon Moxley in AEW? Let us know what you think is the number one thing that sets AEW apart from WWE on The Illuminerdi Twitter account.
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Sources: The Justin Kinner Show, Wrestling Inc.
