Jon Moxley is loose and free in All Elite Wrestling because he's allowed to be himself.
Moxley has discussed many times the freedom he has in AEW compared to the lack of freedom he had in WWE. When asked by Busted Open Radio about the biggest difference between the two companies, Moxley once again referred to the lack of scripting in AEW.
"The most basic thing is they don't give me a script. If I had to boil it down to one thing that drove me crazier than anything was the fact that I got handed a script and got told what to say. From the first time that ever happened when we were The Shield and they handed us a script -- even in developmental, we were with Dusty [Rhodes] and that was one of the best times I had in the business, in FCW, just cutting promos. I heard the term 'scripted promo' and I thought it was a turn of phrase. Like, 'it's a real TV show on USA, they have scripts.' I didn't realize they actually script your lines. That blew my mind. First time they handed us a script, I thought it was a suggestion. I [told the writer], 'Okay, I've got some cool ideas, we can say this and that' and he goes, 'No, this is what you're going to say.' It was made very clear to us, 'this is what you're going to say.' I remember having a feeling in the pit of my stomach like, 'I've made a terrible mistake. I'll never speak again,'" he said.
Though Moxley is the AEW World Champion, which comes with its own set of pressure, Moxley doesn't feel the same kind of pressure he felt in WWE.
"Anybody who is successful puts a lot of pressure on themselves every day to be really good at what they do. All of us in AEW are putting pressure on ourselves every day, but it's a pressure-free kind of feeling because it's easy. All I have to do is go out and be the best pro wrestler I can be. Put a mic in front of me, turn the camera on, and I just gotta talk. It doesn't matter what I say, I'll say what I want. I'm very comfortable at all time. I'll tell you what pressure is; pressure is having a two-page script written by a 74-year-old madman that makes no sense to you and is going to make you look stupid. You're on worldwide TV and you have to memorize every line and somehow pull it off and not look like a total jackass. That's pressure. A lot of times I pulled it off, a lot of times I didn't, but I'll never be in that situation again," said Moxley.
Moxley is set to team with Darby Allin on Wednesday's episode of AEW Dynamite.
Fightful will have live coverage of Dynamite beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
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