Moxley Says He Wasn’t Referencing AEW in his WWE Farewell
Screen Geek recently spoke to AEW wrestler Jon Moxley at the New York Comic-Con. Moxley discussed leaving WWE and a whole lot more. Below are some highlights.
Moxley on if he regrets not leaving WWE sooner: “That’s an interesting question. I’ve often thought, and wondered, what would have happened if I left in September of 2015, which was when I signed my last contract with WWE. But, at that point, I was still kinda like, still trying to do things their way and I just kinda like… It never occurred to me to leave really back then. It felt like I wasn’t, like I hadn’t completely… I never really bought into their bullshit kind of thing, but I like was trying to be optimistic. Like, be grateful for the opportunity and try to make the most of it and, you know, save money and so forth.”
“But, I often wonder what would have happened if I had the foresight to just leave back then. I don’t know. It could have been worse, it could have been better, but, ultimately, everything’s supposed to work out how it’s supposed to be. The timing of, like, leaving at just the moment that AEW came into existence and just merging at the same time, that feels like a historical thing that I’m very grateful that it happened. Hopefully, it’s historical. We look back in five years and maybe it didn’t matter at all. But, you know, we’ll find out.”
Jon Moxley on his line about “cashing his chips” in his final WWE promo and if it was a reference to AEW: “It was an interview. It was my last night and they had us do this sit down Michael Cole interview. A Shield special. And I was like, ‘What? That’s weird…’ Cause the whole time they’re sending me out to, like, to do goodbyes and stuff… And they didn’t know how to handle it. Bury me, push me, bring the Shield back together, and they killed me off like 4 different times. I went thru a table, then they put my head thru the stairs, they didn’t know how to handle it. Because I didn’t say anything. And because Vince couldn’t buy me, they didn’t understand. They couldn’t how… cause they had no control. He just couldn’t wrap his head around that I was leaving. So, I felt like they were gonna try and get the jump on it. I was real defensive because I thought they were gonna try and ‘get the scoop’. I just felt like it was a set up. But, no, [it wasn’t a reference to AEW], it was ‘cash my chips in’… I walked into FCW, drove from Philly to Tampa with literally the cash I had in my pocket and my bag. That’s all I had in the whole world. Hence, ‘walk into a casino’ and try my luck at this WWE thing and see if it works out. However many years later, I did pretty f***ing good, but now it’s time to, ‘alright, i’m done playing, now it’s time to cash out and walk out’. That’s what I meant by that.”
Jon Moxley on if his wife Renee Young plans to join AEW: “Uh, she’s got a lot of stuff on her plate. A lot of things she wants to do. I mean, you’d have to ask her what all her goals and aspirations are, but she has a lot of them outside the wrestling business. Right now she’s just like, right now over there she’s completely invaluable. She has a lot of great opportunities with Fox, and uh, which is great for her, and uh, her, you know, I uh… her future is in her hands, she can do whatever she wants, and she’s uh… It’s good to be her right now. A lot on her platter right now, a lot on her plate. It’s very cool, you know?”
