{"id":124028,"date":"2024-04-16T08:32:53","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=124028"},"modified":"2024-04-16T08:32:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:32:53","slug":"jon-moxley-more-than-the-greatest-transitional-champion-of-modern-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/04\/16\/jon-moxley-more-than-the-greatest-transitional-champion-of-modern-wrestling\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Moxley: More Than The Greatest Transitional Champion of Modern Wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cEven if I win, it’s not going to matter. I’ll be the most overlooked, disrespected, forgotten about, and taken-for-granted wrestler in the history of this business. It’s not gonna matter. But it means something to me.\u201d<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span>Jon Moxley<\/span><\/strong>,<\/span>\u00a0New Japan Pro Wrestling\u2019s<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Youtube channel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Truth follows when\u00a0<\/span>Jon Moxley<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0speaks. His words, personal and yet worldly, show awareness of the way others perceive and feel about him. Mox\u2019s pre-<\/span>Windy City Riot<\/span><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0promo connects to his history as the alternate champion of pro wrestling. One where tribalism, biases and dramatic sweeps of recent history have overshadowed his achievements.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite being one of the most prominent, accomplished, and successful wrestlers of the modern era, being the bleeding heart and soul of AEW has a price. Some fans feel the former\u00a0<\/span>Dean Ambrose<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is overrated, overexposed, over bleeds. Insert other AEW criticism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right now, AEW is likewise overshadowed. The statement of success that was\u00a0<\/span>Wrestlemania XXL<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and the fallout of\u00a0<\/span>CM Punk\u2019s<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>explosive interview<\/span><\/a>\u00a0have stolen the spotlight. So maybe right now Moxley\u2019s legacy is overlooked, disrespected, and depending on how history plays out, may be diminished further.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything Mox says could be true. For some, being the only man to win the world championships in\u00a0<\/span>AEW, NJPW\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>and WWE means nothing if it doesn\u2019t happen in the fed. However, Moxley, this well-deserved triple crown winner, has spent his life as a symbol of an alternative in wrestling. Even when he was in WWE.<\/span><\/p>\n

And even greater of an achievement, Jon Moxley\u2019s legacy is more likely to be overlooked. Moxley is perhaps the greatest modern transitional champion. A man capable of guiding companies through storms and blizzards. Through deserts to water. Through difficult transitions to a better place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Transitional In the Grand Sense of the World\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When I say transitional, I don\u2019t mean as a stop-gap champion. I mean as a champion and personality able to bridge the gaps between eras and generations. A man who in a crisis leads a company to stability. Someone who can transcend being a wrestler and can embody a company. Can represent something more to fans than being the next champion.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Moxley talks, even if you get tired of his emotive, personal, and violent-soaked promos, everything he says sounds real to him. In turn, it becomes real for so many fans. When Mox discusses holding a world championship, Moxley becomes the championship. Mox embodies its meaning, its spirit and gives it prestige.<\/span><\/p>\n

They say the man makes the belt and not the other way around. Moxley personifies this when you study how, almost like a cult leader, he makes the championship so precious in his willingness to fight the entire world, and its dog, to defend it. Even if you don\u2019t drink what he\u2019s offering you, you know Mox isn\u2019t joking. The championship, the company, and its fans are represented by Jon Moxley. He will shed sweat and blood for both.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moxley is a person promoters want metaphorically and literally fighting their fight. Even as the wheels come off the track. Whether a Pandemic, creative chaos, or the need for something new, Moxley is like a physical PR man who\u2019s going to find a way to take the spotlight and re-direct it onto what makes the company unique.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right now, that\u2019s exactly what New Japan need.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Japan Decline\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At New\u00a0<\/span>Japan\u2019s Windy City Riot<\/span><\/em>, Moxley defeated\u00a0<\/span>Tetsuya Naito<\/span><\/strong>. The value of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship has been diminished over time in the minds of some Western fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since NJPW\u2019s peak in the 2010s, a decline seemed inevitable if not addressed. Slowly, New Japan has been losing top stars to US promotions. First with WWE with the likes of\u00a0<\/span>AJ Styles<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Shinsuke Nakamura<\/span><\/strong>. Neither man put over another New Japan star on the way out of a match. Although AJ did get deposed by the new\u00a0<\/span>Bullet Club<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0leader,\u00a0<\/span>Kenny Omega<\/span><\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

A reliance on Bullet Club and\u00a0<\/span>The Elite<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0to engage Western audiences led to diminishing returns over time. Then the latter left to start their own promotion, taking some Western attention with them. Bullet Club\u2019s antics of cheating to win, its size and splinter factions and changing of leadership have saturated the group\u2019s appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ascension of\u00a0<\/span>Jay White\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>as the leader and eventual heavyweight champion had a mixed response. Capable of delivering New Japan\u2019s long epic-style matches, yet the comparison to\u00a0<\/span>Triple H<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0was not always meant positively. The implied Marmite attitude towards the character and personality led to debate then (and now in AEW) of whether White was capable as a main event character.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then came the Pandemic. The crowning of\u00a0<\/span>EVIL<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0as the IWGP Heavyweight champion knocked the belt\u2019s prestige significantly. More top wrestlers have left without replacements being fully formed to take their place like\u00a0<\/span>Kota Ibushi<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0<\/span>Jay White, Kazuchika Okada<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Will Ospreay<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Future stars are being built, like\u00a0<\/span>Zack Sabre Jr<\/span><\/strong>. The next crop of main eventers has been signposted like\u00a0<\/span>Ren Narita<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0<\/span>Shota Umino<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Yota Tsuji\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>(<\/span>The Reiwa Three Musketeers<\/span><\/strong>). The issue is that building requires more time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt Means Something to Me\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I called Moxley a physical PR man with good reason. Some fans will be frustrated with NJPW\u2019s creative re-direction. Beyond Moxley\u2019s title win, various other title changes could suggest to fans a lack of faith in NJPW\u2019s new intended direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that promo referenced earlier, let\u2019s see how Mox may have attempted to reframe the conversation before these events.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven if I win, it’s not going to matter.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Mox\u2019s verbiage is always filled with storytelling and nuances. His pre-match promo is the same. Almost underdog-like (despite being a four-time world champion elsewhere), Mox showed awareness that right now, outside of the rising tide of WWE, NJPW and AEW as the alternatives are viewed dismissively.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is reality, but the reality of those companies becomes personal:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll be the most overlooked, disrespected, forgotten about, and taken-for-granted wrestler in the history of this business.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve discussed in articles elsewhere on history (<\/span>Taker<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0vs.<\/span>\u00a0Sting<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Wrestler\u2019s Pay<\/span><\/a>), the winners of wars get to tell the story their way. In the wider fan perception, one side seems to actively be looking for signs that the end is nigh for AEW.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, growing discontent at<\/span>\u00a0Dave Meltzer\u2019s<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0five-star rating system and his perceived preferences for New Japan has also brought tribalistic disdain for NJPW. The\u00a0<\/span>Bruce Prichard<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0idiom, \u201cfive stars in the Tokyo Dome\u201d has seeped more and more mockingly into wrestling discord with some fans annoyed that NJPW gets more critical acclaim than the commercially more successful WWE.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mox again seems to get that the tide of public opinion is against the alternatives. Yet he makes himself one with this criticism. The one people with the pitchforks should come for. Moxley wants to be the company\u2019s shield.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not gonna matter. But it means something to me.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Overlooked in WWE<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jon Moxley, even before his big debut in 2012 as part of\u00a0<\/span>The Shield<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>WWE<\/span><\/strong>, many fans saw unbridled potential. When YouTube was still in its infancy, I remember watching Moxley promos from\u00a0<\/span>CZW<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and the Indies. Even then, Moxley spoke on a different level. An almost lost, old-school, barbaric, and mentally unstable \u201cwrestling is real\u201d energy emitted from his body language alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Moxley made it to WWE\u2019s developmental,\u00a0<\/span>FCW<\/span><\/strong>, his promos aimed at\u00a0<\/span>William Regal<\/span><\/strong>, his later mentor for the\u00a0<\/span>Blackpool Combat Club<\/span><\/strong>, cut against the grain. It engaged with a reality that the company had avoided for years. It all proved the renamed\u00a0<\/span>Dean Ambrose<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0could be a success if allowed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of the three members of\u00a0<\/span>The Shield<\/span><\/strong>, Ambrose was different and most popular. His energy could be humorous (think the classic \u201cNope\u201d Dean Ambrose meme?) and dangerous. Fans wanted more from a minimized US Championship run where Ambrose barely defended the championship. Fans invested in The Shield during a time when the company\u2019s defence to growing fan dissatisfaction was to ignore it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then when The Shield split, WWE\u2019s attempts to make \u201c<\/span>Roman [Reigns<\/span><\/strong>] look strong\u201d came across as time-worn, generic, and obvious, the hardcore fans pushed back. These fans loved Dean Ambrose because, like CM Punk and\u00a0<\/span>Bryan Danielson<\/span><\/strong>, he represented an alternative. Yet unlike Danielson, Moxley was not able or happy to find a place for himself within the restrictions of WWE.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ambrose became secondary. A utility player and prop-comedy guy, to the increasing detriment of the real-life Jonathan Good\u2019s enjoyment of wrestling and mental health. When Moxley decided to not re-sign with WWE 2019 and debuted in AEW, a lot of those hardcore fans had already moved to AEW also as the alternative. There are still WWE fans who prefer Ambrose to Moxley.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, Now, and Forever?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the modern wrestling war, Moxley has made his stand with AEW. Despite stating that he could have returned to WWE at\u00a0<\/span>SummerSlam 2022\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>with the AEW World Championship as he did not have a contract, Mox didn\u2019t. Management might have changed, but Moxley\u2019s principles did not and have not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Renee Paquette<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0on her\u00a0<\/span>Oral Sessions<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0podcast reported how Triple H\u2019s relationship with Mox was strong when he left, with Triple H offering to give Moxley help. Moxley himself has said WWE is better under Triple H than\u00a0<\/span>Vince McMahon<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0at the helm. But still, Moxley remains with AEW and has not been shy about stating why he believes AEW is the place to be.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact that Moxley has continued to embody the alternative means there is likely truth in what he has stated about being overlooked and disrespected. Long-term Mox may be left in WWE\u2019s version of history as the third most important member of The Shield. The one who went elsewhere unable to do \u201cthe grind\u201d. Although Moxley, like many fans, seems aware that WWE is not the entire history of pro wrestling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even if fans who predict the end of AEW are proven right in the long run, the likelihood is that Moxley\u2019s full contribution to AEW and history beyond the fed. Much like the history of the\u00a0<\/span>Monday Night Wars<\/span><\/strong>, AEW and Mox would be tainted and diminished through the lens of victory. As that is the nature of things.<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire reason I reference Moxley\u2019s WWE run and these perceptions is because tribalism is so engrained into the present wrestling landscape, that we sometimes forget how the past influenced our present and how we got here.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe Brought Pro Wrestling Back\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At the end of February 2020, Jon Moxley won his first world championship at\u00a0<\/span>Revolution<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. Although Moxley might have come from WWE, his\u00a0<\/span>Talk is Jericho<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0interview, his brutal war with\u00a0<\/span>Kenny Omega<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and his first stop in New Japan before AEW made it clear this was not the same animal.<\/span><\/p>\n

In beating\u00a0<\/span>Chris Jericho<\/span><\/strong>, a man who presented himself as being above the company, deserving both the championship and fan\u2019s respect because of what he had done for wrestling elsewhere. For being the man responsible for AEW\u2019s existence. Moxley was a strong choice while The Elite feuded with\u00a0<\/span>The Inner Circle<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and struggled amongst themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his victory speech on the March 4th\u00a0<\/span>Dynamite<\/span><\/strong>, Moxley\u2019s sentiments were as much as being AEW as it was himself. Moxley cemented himself as the alternative:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou see this belt right here? It\u2019s the AEW World Championship. It represents professional wrestling. The sport that I love! The sport that I have dedicated my life to. This belt never belonged to Chris Jericho. Hell\u2014this belt doesn\u2019t belong to me. This belt belongs to you. Each and every one of you in this building tonight, and not just that\u2014every AEW fan watching around the world that helped will this company into existence. Every AEW fan out there that said \u2018We want something different. We want something better.\u2019 We brought pro wrestling back!\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n

Jon Moxley, Dynamite 4th March 2020<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

This rah-rah, flag-waving speech with grit has become a Moxley trademark. Perhaps to the point of parody for some detractors. It stood then (unintentionally) oppositional to the type of rah-rah speech that\u00a0<\/span>Seth Rollins<\/span><\/strong>, Mox\u2019s Shield brethren, was reported to have given backstage in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Pandemic World Champion\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n