Jon Moxley continues to make an impact since leaving WWE and arriving in both All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). Competing recently for the first time in NJPW, he defeated Juice Robinson and became the new IWGP United States Champion.
A number of key interviews with Moxley have been released in recent weeks, including one with the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast, and another with Talk Is Jericho. His interview with Jericho, in particular, has caught the attention of many within the industry—with people comparing it to CM Punk’s insider interview with Colt Cabana.
Speaking with 25 Years Later, Moxley discussed this comparison to Punk and also touched on WWE buying the indie scene, folding it into their corporate machine.
“The Sum Of Wrestling Outside Of WWE Is Bigger Than WWE”
It was highlighted that, whereas Punk’s interview with Cabana burned bridges, Moxley’s instead simply told the truth. This acted as a key difference between the two former WWE Superstars mindsets.
“A bridge is never burnt in WWE,” Moxley said.”Vince [McMahon] would have me back tomorrow and would love it if I came crawling back to him. I think Punk had a lot more personal animosity towards WWE and specific people. I don’t know every detail of his story, and I haven’t spoken to him since he left WWE. His experience drove him to not like wrestling anymore, I think. For me, I wanted the exact opposite. I just got pro wrestling back after losing it years ago. I’m like “Whoa, I’m back in the game, here we go!’”
Moxley later added, “That’s probably the biggest difference between my interview and the Punk interview. He was basically saying f*** pro wrestling, and I was saying that I got my love of pro wrestling back. I want to wrestle everyone. Let’s drop all the bridges, get all the companies together and have a super show that sells out a stadium right now. Fuck it. The sum of wrestling outside of WWE is bigger than WWE.”
“Buying The Indys”
Looking back at his time on the independent circuit, Moxley expresses that he feels it’s a bad idea that Triple H and WWE are simply “buying the indys.”
“He [Triple H] basically started buying the indys. I remember thinking that it might not be a good idea. Then where are all of these good ideas going to come from? If they signed Daniel Bryan at 21, he never would’ve become Bryan Danielson, and you never would’ve had WrestleMania 30. If they signed Punk before he really became CM Punk, he never would’ve done what he did. If they signed me at 21, I never would’ve become anything good. I had to develop first before getting brought in. Buying up all of the indy scene was the same as Vince buying up all the territories back in the day. There’s nobody left to cherry pick for talent.”
Despite this, Moxley commented on the indie scenes resurgence in popularity, stating that the strength of independent wrestling makes him optimistic about the future of pro wrestling as a whole.
Jon Moxley recently defeated Shota Umino at NJPW’s Dominion event. It was during this show that he declared his intentions to compete in this year’s G1 Climax tournament, which gets started on July 6th from Dallas, Texas.
