CM Punk and Jon Moxley go to war tonight on AEW Dynamite to determine the Undisputed AEW World Champion.
This will not be the first time the Chicago Savior and the Purveyor of Violence have clashed inside the squared circle. They worked together extensively on WWE television, but many fans may not be aware that they once wrestled in WWE’s former developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling.
This match in FCW convinced him that Moxley was no ordinary talent. Punk saw something very familiar in Mox. He saw himself.
“I hate saying that anybody is the next CM Punk. I don’t wish that upon anybody, but I think if anybody was, it’s this guy. He’s got it.”
– CM Punk on Jon Moxley (2012)
The Next CM Punk
CM Punk spoke about Jon Moxley’s potential in a resurfaced video from 2012’s Wizard World Comic Con event. Punk raves that the Cincinnati fighter has all the tools to make it to the top of the industry, including just the right amount of crazy.
“[Moxley] is special. I say that and I mean it both ways,” said Punk. “He’s a little touched up here (points to head), but I think you have to be to do what we do. I hate saying that anybody is the next CM Punk. I don’t wish that upon anybody, but I think if anybody was it’s this guy. He’s got it.”
Punk continued, “Something about him. He can talk, he can work. I’m fortunate that I got a chance to work with him. I actually got in trouble for wrestling him. I wasn’t suppose to.”
“I went down to FCW to do an autograph signing and it was just an opportunity, and when opportunity strikes I always take a hold of it. I was like, ‘I’m gonna work the kid.’ It was fun, and now we got him on television.”
Moxley’s WWE main roster debut came in 2012, when The Shield arrived on the scene as mercenaries for none other than CM Punk. Fast forward a decade, Punk and Moxley have crossed paths once again in AEW.
Punk captured the AEW World title back in May from Adam “Hangman” Page at Double or Nothing. The following week, he’d be sidelined with a foot injury. During his absence, Moxley was crowned Interim champion, his second AEW World reign since the promotion launched back in 2019.
Seth Rollins doesn’t expect The Shield to reunite with one another until they’re eventually inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Rollins was recently interviewed by Stephanie Chase with Digital Spy, where he was asked about a potential reunion between the trio. “The Architect” admits that he doesn’t expect a true Shield reunion could ever take place again given the star power of the three as individuals.
“It wouldn’t look the way you want it to look. It wouldn’t be like the old days in The Shield, it would be a different animal. I think we’re all just too big stars with too big personalities at this point.
“We needed each other back then and now none of us need the other one. We’re at a point where we’re all standalone stars on a different level. So to have to kind of minimize that to fit into each other’s molds, I just don’t see it ever happening again. I think it would look a whole lot different than the next time you see us together.
“The next time you see us together it’s going to be when we’re inducted into the Hall of Fame. That’s going to be it.”
When the three do finally reunite together on WWE TV, Rollins expects it will be when they’re inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Currently, both Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns remain as top stars in WWE. Reigns holds the WWE Undisputed Championship over on SmackDown Live. As for Rollins, he’s one of Monday Night RAW’s top stars.
Dean Ambrose, now going by the name Jon Moxley, reigns as the World Champion over at All Elite Wrestling (AEW). If and when the three do finally get together again on professional wrestling programming, it will likely be a very long time from now.
AEW star Jon Moxley recently spoke to Bleacher Report for an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session. During the Q&A a fan would ask Moxley if he could ever consider returning to WWE at one point.
“You gotta say never say never” Moxley stated during the interview. “Because you don’t want to run back what you said years later because you don’t know what’ll happen. Just the creation of AEW was so vital to the wrestling industry, and that’s part of the reason why I’m so proud to be a part of it.”
“I wouldn’t rule out ever doing business with them (WWE) again” Jon Moxley continued. “We had a mutually beneficial relationship for a long time.”
Jon Moxley finished by saying that he would speak to WWE if they called him, but he doubts that he and the company would ever be on the ‘same page.’ “If they called? I would listen, but I highly doubt we would ever be on the same page. I’d be open to an idea. I don’t not like money. I got a kid on the way and gotta put it through college, so ya know? I would take a phone call, but I highly doubt anything would materialize.”
Do you think that Jon Moxley/Dean Ambrose could ever return to WWE? Would you like to see the Lunatic Fringe back in a WWE ring? Let us know in the comments
Steve Austin has opened up about his controversial 2016 ‘Stone Cold Podcast’ interview with the Dean Ambrose, now known as Jon Moxley.
The interview, which aired on the WWE Network, became an awkward, intense exchange between the two after Austin suggested that Moxley wasn’t pushing himself hard enough. He suggested that Moxley needed to find his edge—an issue addressed in his recent interview with Talk Is Jericho.
The discussion arose whilst Austin was interviewing All Elite Wrestling (AEW) President, Tony Khan, for his podcast, The Steve Austin Show.
“We Never Were On Track”
“For whatever reason, we got off on the wrong track,” Austin admitted. “It was a rough podcast. I have been carrying around 1,000 pounds on my back ever since that happened. I felt so bad about that interview, and I was leading the interview. I take the fault of it because I’m there to get people over and make them come off like a million bucks. We just came off on the wrong street and just kept taking left turns and never got back on track, well we never were on track. He had his reasons, and I had mine.”
Following the interview, Austin reached out to Moxley and ended up having a half hour conversation to clear the air.
“There was never any animosity towards us, I didn’t know how he felt about me, and I thought he might hate my guts,” he said. “We got back on the same page, he never hated my guts. I think he’s going to come down to Los Angeles whenever he wants to and we’re going to do the podcast together.”
Jon Moxley has admitted that he wouldn’t have hesitated to have hung up on any other interviewer. But because it was Austin, it gutted it out.
If, and when, the two sit down once more in the future, the end result will probably be dramatically different.
Jon Moxley spoke openly with Chris Jericho during his interview on Talk Is Jericho. One of the things addressed was his hatred of WWE’s scripted promos.
One script, however, was just too much for him, and so he pushed back. This promo, intended for an LA audience, contained the now infamous phrase “pooper scooper.” The note he got back from creative when he questioned them informed him that he needs to “read his promos verbatim and not try to rewrite them.”
It was noted by Dave Meltzer, of Wrestling Observer Radio, that this week’s Monday Night RAW featured the promo that Moxley had issues with.
With WWE returning to LA, Meltzer postulated that either WWE’s creative team or Vince McMahon himself liked the promo and simply wanted to use it.
The Superstar chosen? Elias.
Elias opened the show, insulting the Los Angeles audience with terms and insults seemingly lifted straight from the Moxley script.
A few things were tweaked or changed in order to modernize it—such as a reference to LA Laker, Anthony Davis—but the crux of the piece remained the same, with Elias calling the people “pieces of garbage” and “more toxic than the air.”
Elias was attacked by Seth Rollins before he had the chance to mention a pooper scooper.
Former WWE Superstar Jon Moxley, previously known as Dean Ambrose, recently debuted for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He would make an impact by appearing during the ending of the event, attacking Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega, firmly establishing him as an AEW main event player in the process.
Speaking on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast, Moxley recalled the ending to last year’s SummerSlam event.
According to him, that night was meant to see the return of The Shield, but Brock Lesnar had other plans.
“SummerSlam, the end of the show was supposed to be when the Shield returns,” Moxley revealed. “We were worried about it not being as impactful the next night [on RAW]. It still worked just as good. The end of SummerSlam was Roman vs Brock, Braun comes out, looks like a doofus because he can’t figure out how to cash in.”
“It Made Everyone Else Look Stupid But Brock”
Moxley then divulged that the ending of the main event was changed hours before the show got underway.
“How it went was Brock’s idea. At 6 p.m. before the show, everything was supposed to happen: the Shield coming out, this awesome stuff that the writers have been working on tirelessly to have this perfect ending to SummerSlam that was good,” Moxley said. “Brock comes in at 6 p.m. and changes everything. Vince is like, we are going to go with Brock’s idea. It made everyone else look stupid but Brock.”
He described the shock amongst the writers at that point, stating that they were “just sitting there watching it in the room and they’re like ‘Come on, we had it, we had this great ending.’ Everyone is suffering. Again not my problem, anymore.”
Jon Moxley is scheduled for his first AEW matchup against Joey Janela. The two will face off during AEW’s Fyter Fest event on June 29th from the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.
When Jon Moxley decided he was done being Dean Ambrose and
leaving WWE, there was nothing the company could do to keep him.
In fact, the Ohio native says that when it actually came
time to WWE giving him a new contract, he didn’t even bother looking at the offer
made to him because he knew his time in the promotion was finished.
“I never looked at it. I didn’t look at it. I didn’t want to,” Moxley told Chris Jericho on his podcast when asked about the deal WWE offered him to stay. “I remember thinking at one point earlier on in thinking about the decision, what if they offer me $10 million? Like a Brock [Lesnar] contract. What if they just offer me $10 million?
“What am I going to do with $10 million? My truck is paid
off. My house is paid off. My mother’s house is paid off. I got everything I
need. What am I going to do with $10 million? Am I going to go buy a Maserati?
I don’t live like that. There’s literally no number they could put on a piece
of paper that would get me to stay.”
Moxley says he was itching to tell WWE about his decision to
leave but he had to wait until after a weekend to finally sit down with Vince
McMahon to break the news to him.
According to Moxley, McMahon acted shocked that he was unhappy
with the direction of his character and couldn’t fathom not coming back to WWE
on a new deal.
“He’s got the ‘Million Dollar Man’ complex,” Moxley said
about McMahon. “He has to be able to buy [everything]. That’s why he pays Brock
[Lesnar] billions of dollars to come in and ruin his company.
“Because he wants to own Brock. He wants to be like ‘Brock’s
my attraction!’ and a guy he has no power over — me — he didn’t know how to
handle it.”
Once his deal with WWE was finally up, Moxley says that it
felt like a weight being lifted off his shoulders because his passion for
professional wrestling had largely been drained away from him during his
closing months with the company.
“It’s almost like over the years a physical depression sets
in,” Moxley explained. “Cause they take away the thing that you love. Like I
was saying about being obsessed with wrestling 24/7, they take it away from
you.
“Don’t worry about coming up with promos because we’ve got a
writer. Don’t worry about coming up with cool things for your matches because
we’ve got producers who will tell you exactly what to do in your matches. Don’t
bother thinking of storylines because we’ve already written them for you. It’s kind
of like ‘we’ve taken care of everything, you just show up’.”
In the end, Moxley waited out his contract and then left WWE
free and clear to sign with a new promotion, which is exactly what he did.
Moxley is now performing for All Elite Wrestling with dates
already booked in New Japan Pro Wrestling as well as he looks to get his love
of wrestling back now that he’s gone from WWE.
The former heavyweight champion, who had spent the better
part of eight years as one of the faces of the company while performing as Dean
Ambrose, knew that his time in WWE was coming to an end.
While his contracted expired in April, Moxley explained
during a recent appearance on Chris Jericho’s podcast ‘Talk is Jericho’ that he
knew last July that his time in WWE was finished.
“I knew pretty much knew that I was gone in July of 2018,”
Moxley explained. “At that point, I was out with an injury. I tore my tricep.
Normally that would only be a four-month thing but it was so banged up and
bruised because I had been working on it hurt for a long time and it was just
the tendon was all mangled so it was like a minimum of six months. Then I got a
staph infection and I had to go in for surgery.
“It turned into nine months, it was a mess. A very miserable
time in my life, very challenging.”
When Moxley returned from injury he was transitioned from a
babyface to a heel for the first time since he was a founding member of ‘The
Shield’ alongside his friends Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
Unfortunately, Moxley says the creative direction that WWE
took his character was just abysmal with several promos that eventually sealed
the deal that he wasn’t going to renew his contract with the company.
Moxley points to two specific incidents that burned the
bridge between himself and WWE where he could no longer see himself performing
there after his deal was up.
“The first one I’m going to tell you is the day that I physically
looked at the calendar and started counting down the days,” Moxley explained. “The
other one will be the day that I absolutely knew, no turning back, I am gone. A
day I almost walked out.”
The first incident involved a set of promos that had Moxley
saying things that made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever and it forced him
to go speak to WWE CEO Vince McMahon in hopes of having the scripts rewritten
before saying them on video.
“So one day I come into TV like normal. At this time, I
think I’m on SmackDown, I’m a good guy, a babyface. A pretty major good guy on
the show, basically the lead good guy on the show at this point. I come in and
get a backstage promo handed to me from a writer — writer is going to be a key
word in this podcast you will find and the word script — I get a script handed
to me by a writer, right? And it’s a backstage promo and it’s me describing the
things I did on the way to the arena that day. I can’t remember exactly what
the things were because they were so ridiculous and this isn’t an isolated
incident. There’s hundreds of these promos that have happened over the years.
They all get lost in the shuffle.” Moxley said.
“These are things that an idiot would do. Like things along
the lines of like driving backwards on the street in a unicycle or sharing a
pizza with a homeless man on the street, just weird stuff like that. So I’m
like, ‘I’m not saying any of that.’ So I’m like, ‘Change all that. Rewrite it
just as something normal.’ Go about my business, writer comes back to me later.
Vince redid it, put all that stuff back in, so I’m like, “Uh, now I have to go
in and talk to Vince.
“I’m like, ‘Yo, I can’t say all this stuff, it’s
ridiculous.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, it’s such good shit! Oh, this stuff, this is
the reason people like you. It’s why they connect to you cause you’re different
— this is you!’ And I’ve had a million conversations with him that are almost
this exact same conversation about similar promos or things. ‘This is you! This
is such good s—t. This is what makes you, you!’
“And I said, ‘So I’m an idiot?’ And he goes, ‘No! It’s you!
You’re different.’ And I’m like, ‘OK.’ And I don’t know where we landed on that
particular promo, whatever, but that’s just an example, that kind of sums up the battle I’ve been fighting
for six years.”
The next incident that had Moxley counting down the days
until he could get out of WWE for good was another promo that involved a ‘pooper
scooper’.
“All the things that are on these scripts, it’s a typical
WWE script. It’s a bunch of words, a bunch of big words, a bunch of goofy
words, none of it makes any sense to me. We’re not telling any kind of tangible
story. We’re not doing anything to get any kind of characters over. Nothing
that makes any sense to me,” Moxley stated.
“But the one I’m most concerned with is the in ring promo at
the end of the night. We go into the writer’s room, I start reading this promo
and again not trying to pass judgment, but to my eye in my opinion, this is
absolute hot garbage, awful crap.
“The main gist of it is the people are smelly, disgusting
people and they’re foul, disgusting [people]. You can kind of just see Vince
saying these words ‘oh Liverpool, sounds like a skin disease!’. You can just
picture the Vince face.”
“The thing that catches my eye the most is a joke about a pooper
scooper. Like something along the lines of ‘I wouldn’t come out there without a
pooper scooper’. And I’m like ‘I’m not saying that’.”
While Moxley was able to get rid of the ‘pooper scooper’
line, there was another part of the promo that had him turning Roman Reigns’
real life battle with leukemia into part of his story on television.
That definitely crossed a line in Moxley’s mind but through
some convincing from McMahon, he ended up cutting the promo as written.
“I go off to do another promo and I believe this one was live
and again it doesn’t make any sense to me, I’m just saying stuff and earlier I
had to go into Vince because in this promo there’s a line that’s a very distasteful
line taking a jab at my friend who had leukemia and is now going off to recover
from that, Roman Reigns. I don’t remember what the line was but I went ‘are you
kidding me?’ so I’m going right into Vince on this one. This is clearly a mistake.
“I cut the promo and as soon as that line left my mouth I
went ‘oh my god, I can’t believe I just said that’. “
The last straw was a final promo that Moxley was ordered to
cut where he was going to be backstage with his ‘personal doctor’, who would be
giving him injections to protect him from rabies and other diseases that could
come from the WWE audience in the building.
“Keep in mind during all this, this is a billion-dollar
company run by a man who’s allegedly a genius and keep in mind, we’re all
adults and we’re talking about stuff like this,” Moxley said.
“This is the day I knew 100-percent I was gone and there was
no turning back. I actually almost walked out. Not really, I’m glad I didn’t
cause I could have ended up in some legal stuff or whatever.”
In the end, Moxley did as he was ordered but there was no
turning back and his time with WWE was going to come to an end no matter what.
At the end of his eight year run with WWE, Moxley says the
world’s biggest professional wrestling promotion actually took away his passion
for professional wrestling and that hurt him more than anything else.
“It’s like they take wrestling away from you,” Moxley said
about WWE. “Wrestling is my first love, my only love besides my wife, the thing
I’m most passionate about. I love it. I feel like now I’ve got it back finally.
Since I was a little kid, I was obsessed. Just watching tapes, always watching
tapes, always thinking of promos, watching all the wrestling. I loved pacing
around my house just thinking of promos. Waking up in the middle of the night
cause you just thought of a cool line, a way to tell a story in a match or whatever,
and then I’m just pacing through the house cutting promos to myself in a
mirror.
“Promos used to be my favorite part of wrestling. I loved
it. They ended up becoming my least favorite part. The part I dread.”
As much as his WWE career ended on a sour note, Moxley is
still able to look back with fondness for the good times he had with the
company. In particular, Moxley enjoyed working with the ‘Make-A-Wish’
foundation and WWE also allowed him to meet his wife — on air talent Renee
Young — and that is something he will absolutely never regret.
“If nothing else, over all these past eight years, I met my
wife in WWE, who’s my best friend and my soulmate,” Moxley said. “If we got
nothing else out of this run, I got her. I always tell her, if things get too
weird, we’ll just sell all this stuff, we’ll hop in an RV and we’ll hit the
road babe cause all we need is each other.
“Needless to say the last eight years couldn’t have been any
more successful and full of gratitude for WWE for that.”
Now Moxley is beginning the next chapter of his career after inking a multi-year deal with All-Elite Wrestling and he will also be performing in promotions such as New Japan Pro Wrestling as he moves on without WWE.
Listen to “The Emancipation of Jon Moxley” on Talk Is Jericho:
There have been lots of rumors regarding Hangman Page’s
opponent for Double Or Nothing after Pac pulled out of the event and one of the
most interesting names being thrown around is the former Dean Ambrose of WWE,
Jon Moxley.
During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer talked about Moxley and he also discussed some other possible opponents for Page at the event.
It was previously said that AEW wants to bring Moxley to the promotion and Meltzer stated that the company officials remain interested in the former WWE Champion.
However, Ambrose is not expected to make his wrestling
return before he finishes up his new movie dubbed Cagefighter, which he was
recently signed for.
So while it’s possible that he takes a break from his movie to make a one-off appearance at Double Or Nothing, the former WWE Star making his AEW debut at the event doesn’t appear to be very likely.
Though Meltzer still believes that he will end up working with the company down the line and even though he hasn’t been announced for any show officially, it’s likely that Moxley will start working for them by the end of the year.
Regarding the talks of Joey Ryan or CM Punk showing up at the show to compete with Page, it was noted that both of them are booked elsewhere for the night so they are not expected to show up at the PPV either.
Though the company will still have to bring someone big to fill the gap left by Pac and it would be interesting to see who AEW Officials end up choosing as Hangman Page’s opponent for the show.
Current Impact and Major League Wrestling wrestler, Sami Callihan, has some thoughts on his former partner, ex-WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose (now known once again as Jon Moxley)
The two teamed together as part of “The Crew” in Heartland Wrestling Association, as well as the Switchblade Conspiracy in Combat Zone Wrestling, but despite this history together, Callihan has admitted that even he doesn’t know what Ambrose’s next move will be before calling him “the weirded human being” he’s ever met.
“No One Really Knows What Jon Moxley’s Gonna Do”
Speaking with the WINCLY podcast, Callihan said:
“The thing is with Moxley is that you don’t know what the hell he’s gonna do. He is the weirdest human being I’ve ever met in my life. I wouldn’t past him to do a fight with the UFC at this point. No one really knows what Jon Moxley’s gonna do. But I know if he wants to throw hands or jump into oVe, the door’s always open for him.”
He then commented that if Moxley were to end up with Impact Wrestling, he would be an undeniable asset to the promotion.
“It would be a huge get for Impact Wrestling and I don’t even know if I’d wanna him in oVe as I’d rather go toe-to-toe with him as there’s unfinished business between me and him and I wanna shut his damn mouth,” Callihan declared.
He continued, “It’s a weird relationship of ‘little brother, big brother’ and it’s always the two of us striving to see who’s better. We’re both weird human beings and messed-up individuals. One day we’re gonna get back in the ring together as grown-ass adults and see who’s better.”
With Dean Ambrose now no longer a part of WWE, the possibility of seeing Callihan and Moxley reignite past feuds, partnerships, or rivalries on the independent scene may actually have a chance at happening.
Former WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose has joined the cast of a new MMA-themed action movie, Cagefighter. Deadline was first to break the news.
Cagefighter tells the story of a popular MMA champion who loses a big fight to a pro wrestler who crossed over into the world of mixed martial arts. Shaken by the loss, the MMA fighter must fight his way back to the top and earn a rematch.
Former WWE star Christian (Jason Reso) is the Executive Producer of the film.
Ambrose is billed under his real name, Jonathan Good. The movie also stars real-life MMA fighter and actor Josh Herdman, Michael Jai White, Gina Gershon, Michelle Ryan and Jason Maza. MMA legends Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Alexander Gustafsson will also appear.
Cagefighter is currently in pre-production. No word yet on the targeted release date.
Ambrose made his acting debut in the 2015 WWE Studios action film 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown.
The internet has been buzzing with rumors and speculations about Dean Ambrose’s future since he dropped the Jon Moxley promo video.
People have been wondering where Ambrose will appear next however his first post-WWE public appearance didn’t come at a wrestling related event.
The Lunatic Fringe made an appearance at the Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion Awards in Las Vegas earlier this week, where he gave a small speech before presenting an award to his mentor Cody Hawk.
Ambrose recalled the time Hawk became his mentor. He claimed that his early years are not a time he remembers fondly and Cody took him under his wing when he was a young man with just about every problem and social anxiety one can imagine.
He then told the story of how Hawk worked closely with him and matched whatever amount of work Ambrose was willing to put in. You can check out Dean Ambrose’s full speech in the video below:
As we noted before, Dean confirmed the return of Jon Moxley in a new video he dropped on Wednesday and a lot of people noted that it had signs suggesting that Moxley might be making an appearance for AEW soon.
However, at this point, all we know for sure is that the former WWE Champion is expected to return to the ring in June if not sooner and he will be making an appearance for a number of wrestling promotions.
Dean Ambrose dropped a bombshell early Wednesday with the release of a video confirming the return of his former indie persona, Jon Moxley.
The video, currently sitting at over 2.4 million views on Twitter, went viral instantly (despite the midnight EST release). The name ‘Jon Moxley’ was trending worldwide within an hour, another sign that he struck a nerve with wrestling fans.
However, it wasn’t just a simple post announcing the return of his hardcore persona. There was some obvious symbolism (breaking free from prison) but there was a lot more lurking just beneath the surface.
Inquisitive fans have uncovered what appears to be a myriad of subtle hints and metaphors in the video. If some of these theories are to be believed, then we might have an idea about what the future holds for the former WWE Champion.
Let’s take a look at the symbolism depicted in the Jon Moxley ‘trailer’ video:
The first part of the video is obviously dedicated towards Dean Ambrose’s escape from a setting which looks be a holding cell. The natural implication is that Moxley is breaking free from the restrictions brought upon him by his former employer. Jon Moxley is now free from the ‘Ambrose Asylum and his hokey character which he reportedly hates so much and led to his departure from the company.
On the flip side, Ambrose received a classy sendoff from WWE. The company went above and beyond to ensure his departure was a smooth one with no hard feelings. He might return one day and his wife is still a prominent fixture of WWE television, so why would he knock the company just minutes after becoming a free agent.
So what’s with the prison break? Another theory is a kayfabe storyline explanation – the Jon Moxley character has been imprisoned all these years and is finally free.
Tributes & Metaphors
While a good part of the video is focused on Moxley’s escape and his return to the indie territory, there are some references that can be seen as tributes.
The most interesting one is the ‘big dog’ chasing him in the ‘yard’ and trying to stop the escapee from returning to the free world.
Then there is a vignette on the wall promoting the Viper Room, a nightclub which is located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
The final piece of trivia fans believe has hidden meaning is Ambrose getting out of his cell by breaking down the wall. Many see it as a homage to a well-known wrestler who was the first to ‘break the walls’ of WWE and one who eventually ended up joining an upstart rival promotion.
Jon Moxley’s Future: Where is he Headed Next?
Perhaps the most interesting and most talked about metaphors of the released video are the ones fans believe are clear hints of when and where the Jon Moxley character will make his first appearance.
The first one comes at the starting seconds of the video where
it appears that some hash marks have been stamped in the prison wall.
The marks are not equally visible due to the lighting and if we count the lines of the marks which are in focus then the number you get is 25. There is another mark which has separate focus with a total of 5 lines making it 5/25.
Then there a wall Ambrose wanders by after his escape which features a couple of dice. Generally associated with gambling motifs, the front facing number on the pieces is again a 2 and a 5.
AEW’s first official PPV is set to take place on May 25th. The event’s name has again been taken from a gambling terminology with the promoters promising us to double the fun with Double Or Nothing.
The big question is if all these signs are pointing towards the obvious and can Jon Moxley make his debut for the new promotion at their upcoming PPV?
Conclusion
All of this speculation aside, what do we know for sure? ‘Dean Ambrose’ did not leave WWE so he could take extended time off or embark on an entirely new career. He really was fed up with the confines of the WWE Universe. He’s back back as Jon Moxley and he’s gearing up for a return to pro wrestling. He’s embracing his hardcore roots, which means there’s probably a lot of barbed wire, broken glass and blood in his future. The wrestling landscape is evolving at a staggering pace. Rules are being broken and norms are being upended.
Wherever Jon Moxley pops up next, you can be sure it will be in an environment where he can be true to himself and express his creative vision.
Jon Moxley is back. Dean Ambrose bid his final farewell to WWE just last week. WWE gave him an a warm, gracious sendoff, which played into the notion that Ambrose was simply burnt out and would be taking a break from pro wrestling.
That turned out to not be the case. Ambrose appears to be jumping right back in to the deep end of the wrestling world. Based on the video below, he’s returning to his hardcore roots as Jon Moxley.
The twitter account that was previously associated with the man’s WWE character has now been revamped with his indie persona and the first post it made has raised the expectation of fans.
The post features a video that shows Dean Ambrose breaking free from prison and then he starts training for his return as we get a glimpse of his future.
The video as seen below is full of metaphors. The prison obviously refers to WWE but there are also hints about what is to come as the footage shows that Dean is not afraid to get hurt which means that we’ll be seeing his hardcore side in the future.
The production of this video suggests that Ambrose has put
some serious thoughts on his future and he appears to have a plan. However,
we’ll have to wait and see what that plan is and how successfully he is able to
execute it as the whole thing unfolds in future.
WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins recently spoke with Solo Wrestling where he talked about a wide range of pro wrestling topics.
During the interview, he talked about Dean Ambrose departing from the WWE as his contract expired this month. This is where he made it known that only his former Shield brother knows what he’ll do next whether that’s signing with another promotion or returning to the WWE down the line.
“The only one who knows where Dean Ambrose is going now is Dean Ambrose,” Rollins said. “Maybe he’s working for another wrestling company, maybe he’s going back to WWE, maybe he’s going into another activity in the entertainment world, or maybe only take his dog for a walk in the company of his wife.”
Rollins is slated to make his next title defense against AJ Styles at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view event. This is where he promised to have a really special match with the former WWE Champion.
“I hope fans are as excited as AJ and me, because it’s going to be something really special. AJ Styles and me are the best wrestlers in the world right now. The match will be one of the most special this year.”
WWE presents the Money In The Bank pay-per-view event on Sunday, May 19, 2019 in Hartford, CT at the XL Center that will air on the WWE Network.
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Chris Jericho recently spoke with the UK’s Express newspaper to promote his appearance at this weekend’s For the Love of Wrestling convention from Liverpool, England. Other wrestling legends appearing include Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Kevin Nash and The Undertaker.
During the discussion, Jericho spoke extensively about Dean Ambrose leaving WWE and the possibility of Ambrose joining AEW later this year.
Jericho said he hasn’t tried to convince Ambrose to join AEW, but thinks the former WWE champion would have no problem joining the roster if that’s what he wants.
“Only Dean knows what Dean wants,” Jericho said. “It’s a grind, and not just the physical aspect of it but there’s a mental standpoint. It’s hard to work matches sometimes four days a week, five days a week. Sometimes you need a break from the business. I’m sure if he wants to come to AEW he’d be more than welcome.”
In addition to greater creative freedom, AEW is also offering wrestlers a chance to make great money without having to work the rigorous WWE road schedule. AEW President Tony Khan spoke about this earlier this week.
Dean Ambrose wrapped up with WWE this week. His ‘Superstar bio’ was moved to the Alumni section of WWE.com, a practice that typically coincides with talent no longer being under contract.
Jericho had great things to say about Ambrose as a performer and feels he will be successful wherever he lands next.
“He’s a star, he’s a great performer, he’s a great character,” Jericho said of Ambrose. “I think he would mix right in with [AEW’s top stars]. When you get a great performer, it doesn’t matter what company they were before because they’re in a top level.”
Former WWE Champion Dean Ambrose has been moved to the Alumni section of WWE.com.
His profile on WWE’s official website recently was moved, which is an indication that he’s officially done with the company. It should also be noted that the profiles of the B-Team (Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas) were moved to SmackDown roster page.
Ambrose finished up his contract with the company this past Sunday night when he wrestled at The Shield: Final Chapter event that aired on the WWE Network from a live event at the Tax Slayer Center in Moline, Illinois.
For months now, it’s been known that Ambrose would be departing from the WWE at the end of April as he has decided not to sign a new contract with the company.
At this show, he teamed with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to defeat Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and Baron Corbin in a six-man tag team match that served as the headliner show.
Before this show, the group was in action together when they beat McIntyre, Corbin, and Lashley in a match at the Fastlane pay-per-view event.
Ambrose’s last appearance on WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night RAW, was on the April 8th episode where Lashley attacked him.
This week’s episode of Raw was live from Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and it saw Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns teaming up with AJ Styles for a 6 men tag match in the main event of the show.
After their match, the cameras stopped rolling and AJ went backstage but the Shield Members remained in the ring for an ending segment. Seth took the mic and called out Dean Ambrose by referring to the fact that his wife Renee Young is also Canadian.
Dean Ambrose then came out to a huge pop and he cut a babyface promo to send the crowd home happy. You can check out some videos and photos of the angle below:
This week’s episode of Raw served as the first part of the
Superstar Shakeup and it saw stars such as Rey Mysterio and the Miz switching
brands and joining the Red Roster.
However, the brand’s biggest acquisition for the night has
to be the former WWE Champion AJ Styles who made his return to the show during
the main event.
After the show went off air, the Phenomenal One was interviewed backstage and commenting on this brand switch, Styles claimed that just like SmackDown Live, he is going to make Raw his house too:
While speaking with Inside The Ropes over WrestleMania weekend, former WWE RAW Women’s Champion Nia Jax talked about the reason that a match against Dean Ambrose never took place.
Earlier this year starting at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, WWE had Jax mix it up with male superstars in a physical way when she took R-Truth’s #30 spot in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match. As a result, she received some finishers from top stars including Randy Orton’s RKO and Rey Mysterio’s 619.
Moving along to an episode of Raw in Phoenix, AZ the next night, Jax hit Ambrose with a forearm that sent through the ropes as he was about to leave.
This led to a video advertisement surfacing online that promoted a match between the two stars at a live event on February 22nd in Jonesboro, Arkansas that ran locally.
Jax was asked about the match never taking place in this interview, which she revealed to be an issue with her schedule that prevented the match from happening.
“Unfortunately, my schedule was messed [up], they didn’t have my schedule right. I had Total Divas work that I had to go to, so it was more like the scheduling was off and we couldn’t make it work.”
“I don’t want to say 100% because his wife is around here somewhere, but he was scared of me. He’s the one that asked for it to be scrapped. Just saying.”
Dean Ambrose was written off the WWE TV with the Bobby Lashley segment on this weeks’ episode of Raw, though it wasn’t the last time he entered the WWE ring before leaving.
After Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston defeated The Bar in the main event and the cameras stopped rolling, Rollins called out both his Shield Brothers in Ambrose and Roman Reigns to the ring for a final goodbye.
Seth talked about how Dean Ambrose helped him prepare for
his fight against Brock Lesnar and after telling him thank you, he gave the mic
to the Lunatic Fringe so he can bid his farewell to the WWE Universe.
Dean took the mic and remembered how Barclays Center was the
arena where the Shield had their first PPV match in 2012 and how Arn Anderson
called them ‘two indie schmucks and a football player’.
He then proceeded to claim that the building is just brick and mortar without the fans and Amborse ended his farewell speech saying thank you to the WWE Universe:
“A building is just a building. It’s just brick and mortar. It’s just wood and nails. What makes the building are the fans. And there are no fans in the world like you, the fans who come from all over the world to be here all WrestleMania week, to come to Axxess, to come to all the different shows.
Without you, there isn’t any us. Screw this building, the important thing is the people who fill it, and that’s you. So we want to thank you once again.”
There is no word yet on what Dean Ambrose will be doing after his departure from the company but we’ll keep you posted on his future plans.
Roman Reigns spoke about his friendship with Dean Ambrose while doing an interview with The Gorilla Position to promote WrestleMania 35 and his match against Drew McIntyre.
Reigns and Ambrose built their friendship over the years after being called up to the main roster as members of The Shield alongside Seth Rollins. It’s no secret that Ambrose is slated to depart from the WWE this month once his contract expires.
“I want him to stay. Dean, if you’re listening, stay. Do not go. I’ll buy you a bottle of Jack and beer every single night. We just want him to be happy. The selfishness in us wants him in our locker room. But as a friend and brother, I just want him to be happy.”
Reigns talked about how he wants his friend to be happy and will support him in whatever he does next. “I’m not gonna lie, we’re selfish beings and I want my friends with me.”
The former WWE Universal Champion would bring up how Ambrose is a workhorse and brilliant superstar, who has a great passion to get better, and an amazing work ethic. Reigns would add, “He is going to land on his feet. Hopefully, it’ll be next to me in the locker room.”
Former WWE Champion Seth Rollins did a recent interview with Cathy Kelley for WWE.com where he talked about a wide range of topics that include the impending departure of Dean Ambrose.
Ambrose will be departing from the WWE at the end of April as he has decided to not sign a new contract with the company. WWE officials offered him a five-year contract that was more than seven figures per year, but Ambrose reportedly turned it down.
Rollins said, “It breaks my heart. I get it. I understand this place can be frustrating.”
He brought up that Ambrose has been wrestling for several years and sometimes you just need to step away and take care of yourself. He wishes him luck in what he wants to do next. Ambrose marches to the beat of his own drum and Rollins knows how he feels about his creativity.
“Sometimes when it pulls him in a different direction, that’s just how he’s gotta be.” Rollins added that he never thought the three of them (himself, Ambrose, and Roman Reigns) working anywhere else or not being in WWE at the same time.
Dean Ambrose took a bow before WWE Universe after Monday’s RAW from Washington D.C. went off the air.
After the credits Rolled, Ambrose came out and attacked Baron Corbin. As he made his way back to the ramp, Ambrose saluted the crowed in what might be his final WWE appearance for a very long time.
Dean Ambrose is expected to leave WWE later this month after 8 years with the company.
Below, check out video of what happened with Dean Ambrose after Monday’s RAW went off the air:
Ambrose has been teaming with Seth Rollins against Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin on WWE house shows as of late.
Dean Ambrose Leaving WWE
WWE released the following statement to media earlier this year:
“Dean Ambrose (Jonathan Good) will not be renewing his contract with WWE when it expires in April. We are grateful and appreciative of all that Dean has given to WWE and our fans. We wish him well and hope that one day Dean will return to WWE.”
Ambrose signed with WWE nearly 8 years ago on April 11th, 2011.
Before WWE, Ambrose wrestled for 7 years as Jon Moxley on the independent scene. Most notably, Moxley is a 2x former Combat Zone Wrestling World Champion. From Cincinnati, Ohio, Ambrose is also a former ally of OVE’s Sami Callihan. The two held tag team gold together for Westside Xtreme Wrestling.
The main event of this week’s episode of Raw saw Seth Rollins taking on Drew McIntyre after McIntyre attacked both Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose on last week’s episode of the show.
However, things didn’t go as Rollins may have planned and thanks to an interruption from Brock Lesnar, the Scottish Psychopath was able to defeat the Architect.
The segment didn’t end there as after Lesnar went backstage and the show went off air, Kurt Angle’s WrestleMania opponent Baron Corbin came out and tried to attack Seth.
Though he wasn’t successful as Dean Ambrose who wasn’t part of this week’s episode of Raw made the save and both the Shield members then hit their finishing maneuvers on the Lone Wolf.
The segment ended with the members of the Shield standing tall and you can check out a video of the whole thing WWE posted on YouTube below:
Seth Rollins is scheduled to face Brock Lesnar for his Universal Championship at the upcoming WrestleMania PPV while Dean Ambrose doesn’t have an announced match for the show yet.
On the other hand, Kurt Angle announced on this week’s Raw that Baron Corbin will be his opponent for his farewell match at the upcoming PPV.
Dean Ambrose is set to leave WWE when his contract expires in April. With his departure imminent, speculation as to what Ambrose’s next career move might be is only natural.
Jim Ross announced on last week’s Jim Ross Report that he will also be parting ways with WWE when his contract expires later this month. JR has been linked with All Elite Wrestling and has gone so far as to retweet Twitter chat to that end, only adding to the sense that Ross and AEW will end up doing business together.
Rumors intensifying over the last 24 hours that @JRsBBQ will be joining #AEW in some capacity… thoughts? Rather see him in an announcing role or behind the scenes? Let us know!
Is it possible that both Ambrose and Ross will end up in the same place?
While he does not address that possibility directly, Ross goes out of his way on this week’s podcast to praise Ambrose and says wherever Ambrose goes next, he expects big things.
“Wherever Ambrose may land in his next gig, he will be a major player,” says Ross. “He’s ready to be a featured guy, not another top guy.”
JR also praises Ambrose’s professionalism on the show, suggesting that his leaving WWE not been made public, that one might not ever guess that The Lunatic Fringe is on his way out.
“He’s had great work since he said he was leaving,” adds Ross. “His work has been exemplary. He hasn’t called anything in, he has had great matches, great effort.”
“Wherever he’s going, somebody’s getting a player.”
