Jon Moxley On When He Knew He Wanted To Leave The WWE, Why He Didn't Leave Sooner
Since leaving the WWE back in April, Jon Moxley has been quite vocal about his departure and the many factors that led to his decision to leave one of professional wrestlings' biggest companies and jump ship to their biggest competitor, AEW.
Fans thought that Moxley aired all his frustrations out on Chris Jericho's "Talk Is Jericho" podcast this summer, but he was only scratching the surface.
During an interview with Jim Ross at Starrcast this past Friday, Moxley told the audience a story that he had never told anyone about. It had to do with him not being sincere enough with his apology to the production crew about dropping the F-Bomb on TV after receiving the WWE United States Championship.
"This was at pay-per-view," Moxley began. "I believe I won (for the first time) or defended the United States Championship. I won the match and the referee was raising my hand and I yell out 'Give me my f**king belt,' blatantly. They (the production crew) cut it on delay. I had no idea I said this.
"I go to the back and everyone is acting a little weird. I sensed some weird energy. I remember Road Dogg coming up to me and asking 'Did you just say f**k out there?' I said 'No, I didn't cut a promo.' He goes 'No, in the ring?' I'm like 'No, I don't think so.' He goes 'Oh' and walks away. I didn't think anything of it.
"The next day, somebody comes up to me, I won't drop any names, but a higher-up type comes up to me and tells me he wanted me to go to the production truck and apologize to those in the truck, because they had to press a button for a five-second delay because, you know, that's so hard.
"So I go to the truck, and they make me watch it. I had to sit down, like I'm being punished. They put it on and I was thinking I probably didn't say it. And then I was like 'Oh, I really did say it.' I'm admitting that I was at fault and I was apologizing to them as to what I thought was a sincere and perfect apology.
"A little bit later, the same person comes up to me and says 'I don't think that was the right kind of apology for the push that we want to give you.' I was like 'What do you mean? I apologized.' He goes 'Look. I know that you're a different type of cat.' I was like 'What do you mean? I totally apologized.' Looking back years later, I must've came off as a dick. I didn't mean to. But, I must have. I think that was a pivotal moment where they were like f**k this guy. That's how they looked at me, however, they saw me, and that's how they still probably look at me to this day."
After telling that story, Moxley unraveled more details about when he knew he wanted to take his business elsewhere.
"(During his recovery from his tricep surgery) It was in July, when I started to realize I was not excited to come back," Moxley stated. "I was excited about wrestling, but I was like do I really have to go back to the WWE? Can I go to CZW or somewhere else?
"I remember I was training with Joey Mercury, and he was with Ring of Honor at the time. He was telling me about how ROH/NJPW just sold-out Madison Square Garden. I was like damn man can you take me with you? I have to go back to the WWE. I was picturing all these terrible ideas they would have for me (once I came back) and it was making me anxious.
"I told myself, I was going to give them one last shot, I've got this heel turn coming up. They kept putting it off and putting it off. I eventually become a heel and that turned to s**t real quick. I knew I was gone in the summer, while I was off. But I knew I wasn't going to leave early and deal with the legal s**t. I knew I was going to ride out the contract."
Moxley defeated Kenny Omega in a "Lights Out" match at AEW Full Gear on Sunday. Our AEW Full Gear recap is here.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Unhinged-The Jon Moxley Story Starrcast IV with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.