Jon Moxley tells all about why he departed from WWE.
Jon Moxley, formerly known in WWE as Dean Ambrose made his debut for All Elite Wrestling at Double Or Nothing and it was shortly announced after the show that Moxley signed a multi-year deal with AEW and he will be in action at Fyter Fest next month against Joey Janela. Moxley also has a date with Juice Robinson and the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship will be on the line on the final day of the Best Of The Super Juniors tournament. Moxley spent a total of eight years in WWE and after WrestleMania 35, he let his contract expire. Moxley recently sat down with former IWGP Intercontinental Champion and AEW star Chris Jericho for a tell-all interview about why he left WWE.
Moxley shared that he knew he was leaving the company in July of 2018 which was one month before he was brought back to TV after being out of action for months with a triceps injury. He reiterated that it was a miserable time in his life and added that the recovery process took longer than expected.
“I knew, pretty much, knew I was gone in July of 2018, and at that point, I was out with an injury." He recalled. "I tore my triceps and normally that would only be like a four month thing but it was so banged up and bruised because I’d been working on it hurt for a long time and it was just -- the tendon was all mangled and everything so it was a minimum six months then I got a staph infection then I had to go into surgery again then it turned into nine months. It was a mess. Very miserable time in my life. Very challenging. In July is when I knew.”
The former WWE Champion said there was almost a point where he walked out of the company but had to be smart about that decision because of the legal troubles that could've arisen along with the fact that his wife, Renee Young is a commentator on RAW. He said he was counting down the days until his contract expired and left the company with all his royalties.
“The first one I’m gonna tell ya, is the day that I physically looked at the calender and started counting down the days. The other one will be the day that I absolutely knew 100 percent, no turning back, I am gone. The day I almost walked out, even though I knew in July, I knew the whole time that I wasn’t gonna quit. I wasn’t gonna ask for my release, I wasn’t gonna try to get fired, anything like that. I was just gonna ride it out to the very end for a couple reasons: one, I’d just rather not do business like that if I don’t have to. My wife works there. It would’ve been unfair to put her in a position of any awkwardness, and we get all the way to April 30th, the clock strikes midnight, I’m just free and I get all my royalties." He said. "So if they’re gonna sell a Shield DVD in Cambodia two years from now, I’m getting my two cents.”
Moxley particularly recalled the episode of RAW where he was given inoculation shots by a doctor to prevent himself from developing a sickness via the fans which was the basis of his promos for weeks. He explained how frustrating this time period was because he went to Vince McMahon numerous times to try and alter the promo to come to an agreement that was best for both parties. He went in-depth about the entire day leading up to that segment and closed with saying that he left the venue immediately after and felt sick that he went through with what he did and knew he had to get out.
“This is the day I knew I 100 percent knew I was gone and there was no turning back." He continued, "I actually almost walked out, not really. I’m glad I didn’t because I could’ve ended up in some legal stuff, whatever. I mean I knew I was gone in July but I’m thinking, why rush it? It’s only eight more months or whatever from September to April, what’s eight months? And who knows, maybe everything will change. So, this day, Monday Night RAW takes place in Milwaukee. I wake up in the morning and I get a text from a writer, Icepick, my man, good guy, explaining to me what I’m gonna do that day and it says, ‘So you have a backstage where you’ll be with your own personal doctor who’ll be injecting you with rabies shots and all types of inoculations….’ however he explained it. To inoculate yourself against the disgusting fans and I replied, ‘I fu*king hate that’ and he replied, ‘Yeah, I know’. So I get to the building, and I’m like, you can imagine the mood I’m in when I get to the building. Now the word just from my response is already circulating that I might not be very excited about this so [I got] Michael Hayes coming up to me, ‘How ya doing Dean? Heard you might not very excited about your promo?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’ve been talking about this for months. Why am I always doing this goofy crap?' This has been me and Vince butting heads on this since February." Moxley said. "So they hand me this sheet, and it gets as bad as you can imagine, and then I remember I got hurdled into some sexual assault-harassment meeting that we all had to do or whatever so I’m just sitting in this meeting while they’re talking and I’m just staring at this promo and just seething, and I’m like, ‘Soon as this meeting is over, I’m gonna bolt right to Vince’s office. So, soon as I get out of the door of the meeting, the writer is already in front of me and he’s like, ‘Hey, Vince wants to talk to you about this promo. He wants to make sure you know it’s not comedy.’ So Vince anticipated that I was gonna come storming in there and go, ‘Why am I always doing this prop comedy all the time?’ Because I’d been having the same argument with him for like a year now. So anyway, I go into Vince’s office and he’s like, ‘Hey pal! Anyway, so this promo. I want you to know this is not comedy.’ He’s got the promo in his hand and he’s pointing at it and he’s like, ‘This, is such good stuff. It’s so well written. It’s gonna get you a ton of heat.’ That’s exactly what he said, and he’s explaining it to me -- you’re gonna get rabies, of course, distemper, which of course people don’t know it’s for dogs, and he’s laughing and I’m thinking, and I just remember saying something like it’s just more of this carrot top prop comedy and he’s like, ‘There’s no props’, and I’m like, ‘Then what is the actor we hired to play the doctor and the giant syringe. Is that not a prop?’ And I had the feeling in my head that this was gonna be the last time I was gonna say this to him and I had to say this to him a bunch of times. I went, ‘If this is what you want, on your show, I am the best man for the job’, because like I always do, when you throw me this crazy curve ball, I pull this stuff off, if I can. So I’m gonna do what I always do, and I’m gonna give this my absolute best effort to make this good. If anybody can, it’s me', and I kinda had the feeling like, ‘This is the last time I’m gonna have to say this to him’ and he’s like, ‘I know you will. Get out here you skamp. Get to work!’ or whatever.”
Moxley gave Chris Jericho a "Dirty Deeds" at Double Or Nothing but prior to that, Jericho defeated Kenny Omega to earn a spot in the AEW World Championship match against Adam "Hangman" Page.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.
