Jon Moxley On If He Wants His Daughter To Pursue Wrestling, Writing His Memoir
Just hours after it was announced that Renee Paquette and Jon Moxley welcomed their first-born daughter, Moxley's interview on Oral Sessions was released. This week, the former AEW Champion took over for his wife's podcast and answered questions fans sent in that ranged from relationship advice to learning how to grasp the ropes on becoming a father.
Now a brand new father, Moxley is on the verge of starting a fascinating journey into fatherhood and learning the ropes on how to lead by example. One question asked by a fan had to do with his daughter's future career and if he would be in favor of her converting into a second-generational wrestler.
"If she was really passionate about it, then yeah, go for it. If not, if it were just a playing around thing, then go play around with it. " Jon Moxley replied. "I would assess where her mindset was and [I would say], 'Get in there and, uh, take a bump. See how that feels.' Whatever she wants to do, I will support it. If she ever wanted to get into wrestling, in theory, I would rather guide it and make sure it was done correctly and safely and right, and for all of the right reasons."
Continuing, Moxley spoke about how delighted he is to ride the journey of fatherhood and how he hopes his daughter will inherit more of Renee's characteristics over his.
"Everyone is putting this experience over, and I'm like, ok, let's do it! I guess it'll be interesting to see if she's more like her [Renee] or more like me," Moxley said on getting ready for fatherhood. "There's some bad DNA in my bloodline, so I'm mostly hoping for her's. Like, if I just got a little Renee, I'd be cool with that. I've got way too many problems that needed to die with me. I hope that they don't go any further."
As more questions poured in, another fan asked Mox if he weren't a wrestler, what other career fields would he have been interested in pursuing. Surprisingly, he said either as a forest firefighter or a writer.
"When I took an aptitude test, they told me I'd be a forest firefighter, which I never went and did that. It seems like a cool job. I'd be into that. But I think I would have been a decent writer," Moxley added. "I have no writing skills, and I never went to school for writing. Once I started picking it up, I had a knack for it, 'cause it's storytelling.
"If you're writing a book for s–ts and giggles, you know, you want to capture people's attention. That's what we do in the ring. That's what you do with a promo and with an angle. Writing is just another form of that. Maybe, I would've been a writer because it's in the same vein as what I do."
Speaking of writing, with his new memoir set to hit bookstores this fall, Moxley revealed the ups and downs he faced when creating his rip-roaring work.
"As far as what to put in and whatnot...say what you want to say and mean what you want to say and get your point across. It's kind of like a wrestling match, too, or like a promo. That's why WWE promos f–king suck because they jam 5,000 f–king words that aren't necessary – say what you wanna say, mean what you wanna say, [and] get the point across. 'I'm gonna beat your ass on Saturday night because I don't like you.' Boom, done. Sometimes in a match, it's like, ok, we planned all these f–king spots, but really, what is the story? What are we trying to get? You're the good guy, and I'm the bad guy. Sometimes, you just look at it and go: you know what, we don't need all that extra s–t. I probably wasted a month putting s–t in that [I thought], I don't f–king need this. I don't even know why I'm putting this in," Moxley noted on the struggles he faced when writing his memoir. "If I'm leaving it out, it's just 'cause it doesn't fit so I can craft that perfectly balanced story. I wouldn't say that was the hardest part.
"The hardest point is the focus – the incredible amount of focus to write a book. I knew it was going to take a lot of hours – a lot of sitting and typing and thinking. I didn't realize how mentally and emotionally draining it was going to be. Two hours of really deep writing, you feel like you just ran a f–king marathon. You're like physically spent. It was tough. But hopefully, it's good. Maybe, it'll suck, I don't know. It doesn't matter 'cause I like it!"
You can pre-purchase Jon Moxley's self-titled memoir here. It will officially hit bookstores Tuesday, November 2.
You can listen to Jon Moxley's full interview here. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Oral Sessions w/Renée Paquette with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.