Jon Moxley explains why he likes using blood in wrestling.
Fans may have noticed that Jon Moxley has a tendency to bleed in his matches. At this stage, many fans don't consider it to be a Jon Moxley match unless Jon Moxley bleeds.
There's a reason for that.
Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Moxley gave his dissertation on why he likes blood in wrestling.
“This is a combat sport,” said Moxley. “College wrestling is a combat sport, too. They have blood timeouts to patch it up. The lowest prelim bout of a UFC card or a boxing card, somebody might have a little blood on their eyebrow or blood coming out of their nose. But they’re not selling a blood sport. It’s not, ‘Tune in for the blood! Tune in for the gore!’ It’s part of the aesthetic. It adds realism. Sometimes when I don’t even want it to. But I only know one speed. That’s with my foot to the gas pedal. If we’re going to do something, let's f---ing do it. That can be detrimental when it comes to negative things, like drugs or alcohol. But that’s my mindset. If I’m doing it, I’m doing it. When it comes to blood, it’s just going to happen sometimes. Like I said, it’s foot to the gas pedal. Some people say, ‘This is just a random match. Why is there blood?’ I heard that last week vs. Tomohiro Ishii. He’s one of the greatest of all time. I’m not going to let that moment slip by. I’m going foot-to-the-f---ing-gas-pedal. How can I not? Then I hear that I can’t have a good match without blood. O.K., then, you made my argument for me. I’ll do it every time.”
He continued, “The point of the dissertation is that this is a combat sport. But we’re not allowed to have blood in a match unless it’s a personal grudge? We’re only allowed to have blood after a five-month grudge after someone slept with somebody’s wife or somebody ran over someone with a car? And then—and only then—are we allowed to have this dramatic crimson mask that looks the exact same every single time? For me, realism-wise, since this is a combat sport, that means there is the potential for blood in every match. Everything in wrestling is preposterous to some degree, but this helps with the suspension of disbelief. I’m actually for less blood but more often. If every single match on the card had a busted eyebrow or bloody nose, it would just be part of the sport. But some gory spectacle with blood shooting like a hose is pretty unnecessary. We’re elbowing each other in the face every single match. We’re kicking each other in the face every single match. What are these people made of if they’re not bleeding? People ask why there is blood in the ring every time I leave it. It feels unnatural to go out of my way to make sure no one is bleeding. That feels like I’m taking my foot off the gas pedal. That doesn’t interest me.”
Moxley spilled plenty of blood in Japan as he faced El Desperado in a Final Death match at NJPW Strong Independence Day. He also competed in a No DQ tag bout on July 4, teaming with Homicide against Desperado & Jun Kasai.
Moxley is set to compete in Blood & Guts alongside his Blackpool Combat Club running mates Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, & Konosuke Takeshita against The Elite (The Young Bucks, Hangman Page, & Kenny Omega). Both teams will have a mystery partner.
Fans can find results from NJPW Strong Independence Day at Fightful's results section.
