Jon Moxley feels like he's on top of the world.
Former WWE Champion Dean Ambrose, now going by Jon Moxley shocked the wrestling world when he appeared at All Elite Wrestling's Double Or Nothing show on May 25th in Las Vegas. Jon arrived to the MGM Grand Garden Arena to a thunderous ovation and went on to lay out both Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega. Moxley did a sit-down interview with fellow AEW star Chris Jericho that was the talk of social media for days and to open that interview, Moxley shared that he feels refreshed. Jon Moxley said that he was mentally checked out towards the later portion of his run in WWE and told some of the stories that led to him making the decision to not return.
Moxley commented on the report that came by way of PWTorch which broke the news that he was planning to exit the company after his contract expired following WrestleMania 35. Moxley also touched on the sit-down interview that was conducted by Michael Cole with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins prior to The Shield's 'Final Chapter' WWE Network special.
?I guess it?s been five months or so since rumors or whatever leaked that I was planning on leaving WWE at the end of April. The world went into pandemonium, and I?m sitting there listening to everybody give their opinion, all these different rumors and everybody is talking about it, the announcers are talking about while I?m in the ring and the fans know and I haven?t said a word. Throughout the whole process, I didn?t ask them to put out a weird press release or bring it up on commentary or none of that. I haven?t said a word." He said. "The only thing that was close to a word I even said? we had a little interview with Michael Cole and I said something at the very end, and that was only out of self preservation, because I had a feeling I was getting set up. So I was ready and I beat him to the punch and even that, I didn?t really give any information out. I said, I just gave him the line, ?I walked in this casino eight years ago, and now I?m cashing in my chips.' That didn?t give any information." Moxley explained. "That was only out of self preservation because I thought that was some kind of setup where they were going to try and like, ?Breaking news, Jon Moxley can?t hack it in WWE so he?s gonna go pursue a career in the minor leagues' or something like that. So I was ready for that.?
The former WWE Champion said that he is the happiest he's ever been professionally. He reflected on his journey that led to where he is now which started with traveling up and down the roads with everything he owned in a book bag to having a great deal of success in WWE and now embarking on a new journey with All Elite Wrestling.
?I?ve never been happier. I am at the absolute apex of life right now. I feel so good. I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off of my shoulders, and nothing but gratitude to WWE. Nothing but positivity over here. Nothing but gratitude. That place, I?m so grateful for my run over there." Moxley shared. "That place changed my life. When I walked in there I was a kid, now I?m an adult. I grew up there in a lot of ways and a lot of ways I?m a different person than I was when I started there and a lot of ways I learned a lot of life skills and I?ve grown as a person during my time there. I mean, it was almost eight years ago exactly, May of 2011. I got my little Beater car, I drove 24 hours straight non-stop from Philly to Tampa with nothing but my gym bag full of wrestling gear and whatever cash I had in my pocket was all I had in my name, and now eight years later I got to live my dream. I got to do so many amazing things in the ring in WWE. I got the opportunity and the real blessing to be a part of the Make-A-Wish program and to connect with so many fans all over the world. It?s something I kinda took seriously over my whole time there no matter what I was mad about -- mad about creative or whatever, I always tried to remember? until you are one of those guys doing Make-A-Wish stuff and you meet these fans from all over the world and they just tell you these stories about how you helped them persevere through whatever they did, I always took that responsibility very seriously, so [I?ll always] be very grateful for that, and if nothing else, over these last eight years, I met my wife in WWE.?
While mentioning The Shield's Final Chapter WWE Network special, Moxley claimed that he was paid $500 for that.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.