On the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho – The Emancipation of Jon Moxley – we are treated to an inside view of exactly how things are run backstage, and why the man formerly known as Dean Ambrose left WWE in the way he did.
It’s truly strange because one of the first things he said was that he didn’t ask for WWE to put out that notice that he was going to be leaving the company. Maybe they thought he would pull out last minute and stay, so they could shoot it into
It makes WWE look as if they’re touting their stars out to the independent circuit because they’re so big it doesn’t matter as to whether another company snaps them up. If they’re viewing AEW as another TNA/Impact promotion, then it shows just how out of touch the boss is with wrestling as a whole nowadays. The early number of PPV buy rates for Double or Nothing shows that they did a lot better than anybody expected, and the fact they have signed a TV deal in the United Kingdom with ITV is absolutely huge and will blow WWE’s figures out of the water, that much can be presumed.
But Moxley’s crucifixion of WWE doesn’t just stop with the mindless way they handled his release. His awful heel turn and what they had him performing with
They became fixated on the Ambrose character being wacky and goofy, instead of just a little clinically insane. They turned what could have been one of the most intense characters in the company into a guy who was sick of being around smelly fans.
What makes this whole issue worse is that each time Ambrose was written one of these storylines, he took it straight to Vince, who was convinced that these pieces of writing were “good shit” to quote what Moxley said specifically. He even took this line that was given to him after Roman Reigns had gone away from WWE to deal with his leukemia:
“I mean, look at Roman. For what [he] did in The Shield, he has to answer to the man upstairs.”
On top of that, Moxley was apparently asked to say another line relating to Roman’s health issues, but this time flat out refused as he thought that somebody would get fired, or the company would lose the sponsorship with Susan G. Komen.
The fact Vince McMahon says the writing in the company is great shows the biggest issue to begin with, as more often than not, fans see WWE resting on their laurels as they have no competition.
Take this past weekend, for example. AEW knocked their show out of the park; sure, Cody taking the sledgehammer to the throne was a bit too on the nose for some fans, but most stars who were on the show had their stock rise in one way or another. Even just from what we saw on the PPV, Moxley’s character was full of life, breathing aggression and kicking ass all around the arena. This was what he was born to do and it felt like his Stone Cold moment. If the sound of glass shattering was heard from that show, it was Moxley breaking through the glass ceiling that WWE had created for him.
WWE responded with an incredibly lacklustre RAW show and even namedropped AEW in a Sami Zayn promo, which saw interest on Google spike for that exact moment. That show epitomises what Moxley states about WWE, and how hard it is to have any creative license on what you’re working with.
This view inside the company leaves fans with the perspective of not just Moxley, but Sasha Banks, The Revival, Luke Harper, Maria & Mike Kanellis, and reportedly Dolph Ziggler, even though he is now back and in the main event picture.
TJP left earlier this year and said he’s making more on the Indies than he did in WWE, so why wouldn’t other stars take their chance and branch out if they’re unhappy?
It goes to show that all is not well within WWE at this moment in time, and Moxley says that Vince McMahon himself is a big part of the problem. Who knows, when the XFL fully starts, maybe the executives are hoping that VKM will take a step back from running WWE, but we can’t comment on how likely that may be.
Both Jericho and Moxley went on to say how AEW is breathing new life into professional wrestling, and it’s hard to disagree with them. When the TV deal starts in October, WWE needs to step their game up, otherwise we could be seeing a big swing in viewing figures.
For the full Talk Is Jericho episode, click here.