If you are a long-time fan of now former WWE star, Dean Ambrose, you’ll be aware of Jon Moxley. Jon Moxley was the unhinged, psychotic, hardcore extremist that terrorised much of the indie circuit (particularly CZW, where he made his name) until his eventual signing with WWE in 2011.
Moxley achieved tremendous amounts of success during his time in WWE; co-founding arguably the greatest trio of all time and becoming a triple crown champion. The character of Dean Ambrose, however – sometimes funny, often goofy – was a far cry from the legitimately disturbing persona of Jon Moxley. If you are a die-hard Game of Thrones fan, Dean Ambrose is pretty much the TV version of Euron Greyjoy, with Jon Moxley more closely resembling the book counterpart. With Mox now certainly back and Dean Ambrose locked away (at least for now), his return poses the question of: just where is he going to turn up?
The first possibility is, of course, AEW‘s Double or Nothing event, taking place on the 25th May in Las Vegas, Nevada… the current home of Jon Moxley. Bellator’s Jake Hager – formerly WWE’s Jack Swagger – may have accidentally revealed to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani that Moxley has signed with AEW, or will at least be appearing at Double or Nothing.
“I don’t want to step in Jon Moxley’s shadow. I think that’s going to be a great debut for him, hopefully I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that’s where we see him at.”
How reliable a source Jake Hager is, however, remains to be seen. It could have been a spoiler, it could have been hypothetical, or it could have been just an attempt to mess with us.
If you have seen Mox’s video, uploaded to his Twitter account a few weeks ago, you will probably have seen some of the theories surrounding etchings on walls, dices etc. that feature in the video. We are not going to get into that here, but even without the conspiracy theories, there is good reason for Moxley being there.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1123438186410205184
First of all, Mox is a big name, thanks in part to his past indie success, but mostly because he was such a big deal in the WWE. He’s not just any recently departed star, he is a solidified future Hall of Famer whose WWE career was incredibly successful. Apart from CM Punk, he is potentially the biggest name currently not affiliated with any company. It would make sense for someone as well-established as Mox to re-debut at the biggest non-WWE event possible and Double or Nothing is easily that event. Could we see Jon Moxley confront (or, more likely, attack) Jimmy Havoc to set up a future dream death-match between the two hardcore, Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) veterans? Quite possibly.
Speaking of Combat Zone Wrestling, CZW’s Tournament of Death 2019 takes place next month. As mentioned, Moxley is a certified legend of CZW and even though Mox’s fame has risen to the point where he could probably deem the company beneath him, it’s just not in his character. Mox is a true student of wrestling; he bleeds it and he, quite simply, would never see himself as being above the promotion who helped put him on the map. Giving back to those who helped put him on the right path seems to be something very important to Moxley, as evidenced by him presenting an award to his trainer, Cody Hawk, at the recent Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion Awards.
Moxley’s long-time rival and fellow CZW legend, Sami Callihan, could well go to war with Moxley at least one more time, now that they are both in the same world once more. It is only fitting that CZW would be the battleground for the two sadistic street fighters to lock horns again, following years of separation.
It is just a matter of whether or not Moxley wants to work hardcore, barbwire deathmatches at this stage in his career. The last time he was working outside of the WWE, he was in his early 20s. Now, however, he is a 33-year-old married man whose body must be feeling at least some of the effects from years of hardcore matches, followed by years of the grueling WWE schedule (let us not forget, in the period that Dean Ambrose was on the WWE main roster, he wrestled more matches than anybody else in the company). It will, therefore, be interesting to see whether or not Jon Moxley is as hardcore as he was when we last saw him.
Other than Double or Nothing and Tournament of Death, it is hard to picture where Moxley could end up. Impact is an option, of course, as it is for anyone who has recently departed WWE. But with AEW as big as it is set to be, why would he go to Impact? Potentially, that is where the Callihan match could happen, given he is still an employee of Impact – but would it make sense to put such a hotly anticipated match-up on Impact instead of, say, an AEW show? Whereas CZW is obviously a smaller promotion than Impact, it at least makes sense for Callihan versus Moxley to take place there. New Japan Pro-Wrestling is usually in the mix with big named ex-WWE stars, but it is unlikely Moxley would pursue a career overseas.
So other than AEW’s Double or Nothing and CZW’s Tournament of Death, there probably aren’t too many realistic destinations that make sense. Of course, Mox could quite easily surprise us and appear at a Ring of Honor or EVOLVE event, or any other show for that matter (he is certainly in demand), but again, it is hard to picture. Where do you think Jon Moxley will end up? Do you think he’s Double or Nothing bound?
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
