New Japan is also getting ready for the upcoming G1 Climax tournament this summer. The tournament will kick-off with a special opening night in Dallas on July 7th. Following the first night of the tournament, the G1 will head back to Tokyo on July 14th for night 2.
The last night of the G1 tournament is scheduled for August 12th. NJPW’s next show after that will be Royal Quest in London on August 31st.
Jon Moxley defeated Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States championship today at the finals of the Best of the Super Juniors 26 tournament. Moxley was wrestling in his first match for the promotion after being revealed as the mystery person behind the “Time’s Up” videos targetting Juice Robinson.
“Death Rider” Jon Moxley delivered two double-arm DDTs to get the victory.
Moxley enters the 6th reign in the championship’s lineage and is the 5th person to win the title. Robinson is the only former champion to have won the title twice.
“New Japan and Jon Moxley came to terms on an agreement some time ago, completely independently of All Elite,” NJPW GM Michael Craven said in a statement to SI.com’s Justin Barrasso. “Our understanding is that he is free to wrestle in Japan. We wish AEW well, but have no working relationship as of now.”
Jon Moxley is just hours away from making his NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) debut.
While waiting for his first match in the promotion, he decided to train at the NJPW dojo. He shared this photo on his Twitter account, which you can see here:
NJPW holds their Best of the Super Jr. Finals event on June 5 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan that will air on their streaming service. In the main event, Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi in the tournament finals will go down.
Moxley is slated to challenge Juice Robinson for the IWGP US Championship. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White is also being advertised as one of the several big matches taking place at this show.
While NJPW and AEW do not have a working relationship, Moxley signed a separate deal with NJPW to allow him to work this show.
Best of the Super Jr. Finals Card
Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi – BOSJ finals
IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson vs. Jon Moxley
Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero vs. Marty Scurll & Brody King
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White
Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma and Toa Henare vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI
Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask vs. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru and DOUKI
Ryusuke Taguchi, YOH and SHO vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo and Robbie Eagles
Dragon Lee, Titan and Shota Umino vs. Jonathan Gresham, Bandido and Ren Narita
New Japan Pro Wrestling will present the finals of their Best of the Super Juniors tournament tomorrow. The promotion released the full lineup for the event today.
Previously, Jon Moxley vs Juice Robinson for the US title, Jay White vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, and the tournament finals had been announced. The event will air live on New Japan World.
Check back early Wednesday morning for results from NJPW BOSJ 26 Finals.
NJPW BOSJ 26 Finals Lineup
Shota Umino, Titan, & Dragon Lee vs Ren Narita, Jonathan Gresham, & Bandido
Ryusuke Taguchi & Roppongi 3K vs Robbie Eagles, El Phantasmo, and Taiji Ishimori
Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Yoshi-Hashi, Toru Yano, and Tomohiro Ishii vs Douki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr, Minor Suzuki, Taichi (Suzuki-Gun)
Toa Henare, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, and Kota Ibushi vs Bushi, Sanada, EVIL and Tetsuya Naito
Rock Romero & Kazuchika Okada vs Brody King & Marty Scurll
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jay White
IWGP United States Championship: Juice Robinson (c) vs Jon Moxley
Best of the Super Juniors 26 Finals: Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi
Jon Moxley To Debut For New Japan
New Japan GM, Michael Craven recently stated that their signing of Moxley was made independent of his deal with all AEW. He made the comments in a statement to SI.com.
“New Japan and Jon Moxley came to terms on an agreement some time ago, completely independently of All Elite,” Craven said in a statement. “Our understanding is that he is free to wrestle in Japan. We wish AEW well, but have no working relationship as of now.”
The latest episode of Being The Elite was released on Monday afternoon and featured an appearance by Jon Moxley in the opening seconds.
In the video, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) put their fists together like The Shield used to do, then look over at Moxley. This led to Moxley smacking his forehead with a look of confusion and walks off. You can watch the video here:
Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose from his time in WWE, made his promotional debut at their inaugural pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Moxley makes his in-ring debut for All Elite Wrestling this month when he faces Joey Janela at AEW: Fyter Fest (June 29th). Moxley departed from WWE at the end of April as he decided not to sign a new contract with the company.
He finished up his contract with the company 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.
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.
Jon Moxley made his AEW debut last weekend and he’ll debut with NJPW on Wednesday. Moxley will face Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States title on the final night of the Best of the Super Juniors. He appeared on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling podcast recently and discussed his departure from WWE and future with AEW and NJPW.
During the show, Moxley lamented that his frustrations in WWE all came down to one person.
“Toward the end and especially in the last few months and especially now looking back,” Moxley said. “I always pictured myself as one of Vince’s guys because he liked me. Now looking back on it I’m like “Vince is like the problem, Vince himself is a problem.'”
“I’m not trying to tear them down when I say this,” Moxley continued. “I’m trying to help the situation if I can.”
“I’m telling you that’s a problem. I was just there, I know the ins and outs, he’s a problem,” he continued. “It’s a shame because there’s so much great talent – there may have never been more talent there.”
Moxley would continue to say that everyone likes NXT and that might be because Vince McMahon is not involved.
“Everybody seems to like NXT,” Mox said. “What’s the key ingredient that’s missing?”
Jon Moxley has been part of some amazing moments in his career so far which include winning the WWE Championship, his moments with the Shield and sharing ring with the likes of the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.
However, the Dean Ambrose turned Moxley implies that his recent appearance at AEW Double Or Nothing, where he made his debut for the promotion during its first official PPV event, trumps everything he has done so far because it was the highlight of his career.
During a recent interview on Radio Show Flip the Strip, Jon recalled his WWE title win. While he said that the moment was pretty cool and it was something he wanted since he was a kid, according to him, his AEW debut “totally trumps” that:
“Across the street from MGM Grand a few years ago at
T-Mobile [Arena] I won the WWE title, the title that I wanted to win as a kid
ever since I saw Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels Iron Man match over that title …
I went and did that. That was pretty cool. [but] This totally trumps that,”
Continuing on the topic, he explained that even though WWE made his name, standing on his own two feet without having any involvement from the company and listening to 12,000 plus people chanting Moxley was an indescribably satisfying feeling.
Jon Moxley’s AEW debut was a surreal moment without a doubt. Though him saying that it trumps anything he did in WWE only emphasizes how miserable he was in the company. As he explained in his recent interview too, it shows how the lack of creative satisfaction made everything depressing for him.
Bully Ray says he can relate with the frustrations Jon Moxley recently expressed on the Talk is Jericho podcast. Moxley spoke at length regarding his discontent with WWE’s creative system and today Bully Ray said on Busted Open Radio that he can relate.
“I understand where he comes from,” Bully said on the show. “Everything that Dean says I can relate to.”
Bully then talked about moments in his career when he was frustrated with WWE creative.
“There were things that went on, and I don’t want to make this about me but you asked,” he continued. “There were things that went on in my career there with D-Von where we would show up and basically we were like ‘are you out of your mind?’ You’re serious? You really want us to do this?'”
Bully continued to say he lobbied against him and D-Von being split up.
“When Vince decided to split me and D-Von up, we told him ‘it’s not going to work’,” Bully said. “Low and behold, it did not work.”
“Everything (Moxley) is saying about being handed wonky lines or being put in scenarios that are – where you’re just trying to tread water – completely relate to everything,” Bully continued. “And you know what? If Tommy Dreamer was on, he could relate to it.”
Bully would then continue to say that Busted Open’s Mark Henry would likely be able to relate with it more than anyone.
Sasha Banks has given a not-so-subtle seal of approval to Jon Moxley and his blockbuster appearance on Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast earlier this week.
In a show of solidarity after the interview dropped, Moxley’s wife, WWE broadcaster Renee Young, posted a photo of Instagram of them together. Several pro wrestling personalities gave supportive comments on the photo, including Brie Bella, Mickie James, Brandi Rhodes, Ryback and more.
Sasha Banks also chimed in, which you can see below. She wrote, “All good things come to those who stay true.” The former Raw Women’s Champion is on hiatus from WWE, reportedly due to her sharing the same frustrations that led to Moxley’s departure.
There have been rumors of Banks sitting out the rest of her WWE contract as talks between the two sides have been at a stalemate since she asked for her release in April. The former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion hasn’t worked a match or been seen on WWE programming since WrestleMania 35.
Jon Moxley makes his in-ring debut for All Elite Wrestling next month when he faces Joey Janela at AEW: Fyter Fest (June 29th).
On Thursday afternoon, Sasha Banks posted another inspiration quote on Twitter. At what appears to be a crossroads in her career, Banks wrote, “I will conquer my biggest dreams. Once you open the cage, I bet that I’ll spread my wings”
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.
Jon Moxley successfully debuted for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) during their Double Or Nothing event last Saturday. Appearing during the final moments of the show, he was greeted with a hero’s welcome by the fans in attendance.
Since then, Moxley has appeared on Talk Is Jericho to discuss his reasoning behind leaving WWE. His thoughts on the matter have clearly struck a chord with a lot of his peers.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, former WWE Superstars Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer discussed Moxley’s comments, admitting that they fully aligned with his feelings and creative frustrations, before reflecting on the current feeling amongst the WWE locker room.
“When you know your time is up, you just have to stare down the barrel of that gun and wait out your deal, which is exactly what he [Dean Ambrose] did,” Bully Ray said. “There’s no other way out. A couple of other people got their release and were able to wiggle on out. Nobody’s getting their release anymore. You’re going to have to wait out your contract, and he did it professionally, and he did it the right way.”
Dreamed added that he understands that frustration “because once you reach a certain amount of goals, then what? […] For guys like, even myself, it’s that creativeness, as well as to be able to have a say. I work for a lot of companies, I’m not under contract for any of them, because I don’t want to be married that way to anybody.”
During a time where more WWE Superstars than ever before are openly discussing their unhappiness within the company, Moxley’s reception must have been validating for those who decided to leave—and all the more sobering for those that were not allowed to.
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:
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross served as the lead announcer for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) at their inaugural pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing, over the weekend.
The biggest news to come out of the show was the fact that Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose from his time in WWE, made his promotional debut at this show.
Ross was recently interviewed by Sports Illustrated where he talked about being surprised about Moxley’s AEW debut
“I didn’t know it was going to happen. I knew we were negotiating with Moxley. I asked what was happening with him about 10 days ago, and I was told it was going well, but when it came time for the show, his name wasn’t anywhere on my format sheet. It left my mind because I had more I knew I had to prepare for.”
Ross would continue by stating that it reminded him of Mick Foley getting thrown off the Hell in a Cell structure due to him not knowing it was going to happen, which both situations had.
Ross added, “I didn’t know Moxley was coming out there. He was so full of passion and raw, animal magnetism. I felt it in my bone marrow, it was a ‘Stone Cold’ moment.”
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Jon Moxley will debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) against IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson on June 5th. The match will be one of the feature bouts at the Battle of the Super Juniors 26 Finals event.
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jay White and the finals of the BOSJ 26 tournament are also scheduled for the event.
Moxley was recently revealed as the mystery person behind the “Time’s Up” videos targeting Robinson. He now has an official wrestler bio on the New Japan Pro Wrestling website, which you can view here.
Early Monday morning, Mox announced his upcoming trek to New Japan with the following video:
New Japan sent out a press release regarding Moxley’s debut yesterday:
“Jon Moxley will be appearing in Ryogoku Sumo Hall June 5 with apparent designs on IWGP US Heavyweight champion, Juice Robinson. Moxley previously saw worldwide fame as a WWE ‘Grand Slam’ Champion and member of top flight faction The Shield under the name Dean Ambrose,” the release reads.
Tony Khan clarified Moxley’s AEW contract status during the post Double or Nothing media scrum:
“He is a multi-year contract, he will be on a full-time deal,” Khan said. “When we go weekly, he’s going to be full-time. Same as some of the guys, especially when the schedule is light, I’m open to him working some international and indie dates. He is full-time with us, domestically, essentially he’s our guy.’”
Jon Moxley signaled the start of a new era in pro wrestling when he made his debut for All Elite Wrestling during their first official PPV event Double Or Nothing.
The latest episode of Being The Elite takes a look at the
days before the show and features some interesting backstage footage of the
event.
The episode titled “Backstage at Double Or
Nothing” began with footage of Jon Moxley right before he made his debut
and attacked Chris Jericho at the show.
We then see the Young Bucks making their way to Las Vegas for the event and we see them and the other members of the Elite doing some meet and greet.
The episode also features an interesting time lapse of the buildup of Double Or Nothing’s stage and Flip Gordan returning and meeting Cody Rhodes and Hangman Page.
Towards the end we see Cody, Bucks and the AEW President
Tony Khan in the gorilla position right before Moxley made his appearance in the
arena.
Though probably the most interesting segment was featured at
the last and it saw Jon having a stare down with Joey Janela. This might be an
indication that the former WWE Star can face Janela in his debut match for the
promotion.
You can check out the latest episode of Being The Elite below:
Jon Moxley debuted for AEW Saturday night at Double or Nothing. Following the event, Moxley cut a promo stating it was time the pro-wrestling industry was given a facelift.
“One day, they will all come to my funeral just to make sure I stay dead, but today is not that day,” Moxley said. “I’m alive! My heart is still beating and I’m breathing fresh air for the first time in a long time.”
AEW Tweeted out the below video of Moxley’s promo:
“My name is Jon Moxley and I am on a mission to reclaim my soul. And I’m not the only who thinks, ‘You know it’s about time this industry got a facelift.’ So make no mistake about it, this is an official declaration of war against anybody who wants to get in my way or anybody who stands in AEW’s way.”
Moxley’s in-ring debut for AEW was announced for Fyter Fest on June 29th.
“We’re on a mission to knock the pillars of this industry on their ass,” Moxley continued. “We ain’t reading history books anymore, we’re writing them. This is what you call a paradigm shift.”
Jon Moxley to NJPW
Earlier today, NJPW confirmed that Moxley is also the man behind the videos targeting Juice Robinson in NJPW.
Jon Moxley is headed to New Japan Pro Wrestling. The former Dean Ambrose was revealed earlier this morning as the mystery person behind the videos targeting Juice Robinson.
NJPW has since announced that Moxley will make his debut for the promotion on June 5th, the final night of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
Moxley sent the following out on Twitter early Monday morning:
Shortly after Moxley posted the video, NJPW sent out a press release.
“Jon Moxley will be appearing in Ryogoku Sumo Hall June 5 with apparent designs on IWGP US Heavyweight champion, Juice Robinson. Moxley previously saw worldwide fame as a WWE ‘Grand Slam’ Champion and member of top flight faction The Shield under the name Dean Ambrose,” the release reads.
Moxley is also scheduled to wrestle Pentagon in a match for NorthEast Wrestling in Poughkeepsie, New York on August 16th. The event will take place just 15 days before AEW’s return to PPV on August 31st with All Out in Chicago.
Dustin Rhodes, Renee Young, Jerry Lawler and more are also scheduled for the event.
Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose from his time in WWE, is now in AEW.
Chris Jericho beat Kenny Omega in the main event of AEW’s inaugural pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing, for the newly-launched promotion at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Following the main event, Jericho was cutting a promo in the ring when Moxley came through the crowd and attacked Jericho as well as the referee. Moxley and Omega started brawling. The show ended when Moxley sent Omega flying through the stage.
Jericho is slated to face Adam “Hangman” Page at a later date to crown the inaugural AEW World Champion. It appears that Moxley vs. Omega is the feud going forward.
Moxley has been speculated to sign with the promotion by fans to the point where many think that he could make an appearance at Double or Nothing, which turned out to be true.
Moxley departed from WWE at the end of April as he decided not to sign a new contract with the company. He finished up his contract with the company 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.
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 Champion Dean Ambrose broke the internet this past Wednesday by dropping the Jon Moxley promo video, confirming the return of his indie persona.
And it appears that fans won’t have to wait for a long time to see him back in action either and he would return to the ring next month, if not sooner.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that Mox has bookings with several indie companies for June which are going to be announced in the near future.
The observer notes that in indies, Ambrose can command a
higher booking fee than most other stars and work as much or as little as he
likes.
Though this doesn’t necessarily mean that we will have to wait until then to see the Hardcore Star back in action and it’s possible that he makes his return much sooner.
We noted before how the Jon Moxley video was full of metaphors and subtle hints and fans have dug out some signs they believe point towards him making an appearance at the upcoming Double Or Nothing PPV on May 25th.
It makes a lot of sense for the former WWE Star to make an appearance on the show to make the most out of the buzz surrounding his next move.
He can then return to indies in the meantime when AEW tries to put together a TV Deal and a regular wrestling program for themselves.
Though whether or not this will actually happen will be revealed later this month. For now, one thing that is certain is that fans will not have to wait for a long time to see Dean Ambrose back into a wrestling ring.
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.
WWE confirmed on Tuesday that Dean Ambrose will be ending his time with the company in April. WWE’s unprecedented statement reads, “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.”
Reports seem to indicate that Ambrose is unhappy with his creative direction – so much so that he turned down a long-term multi-million dollar contract.
Prior to joining WWE developmental back in 2011, Ambrose had an impressive run on the independent scene under the name Jon Moxley. Moxley was for his ‘death matches’ in promotions including Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW).
With the news of Ambrose’s imminent departure from WWE, one independent star who is already thinking about the possibilities is none other than Jimmy Havoc.
Havoc is one of the most popular death match wrestlers anywhere. The former PROGRESS World Champion is also a CZW Tournament of Death winner in his own right and could bring it to Ambrose in a hardcore setting.
Havoc vs. Moxley has potential written all over it and would be a draw for any company that could sign this contest.
