Before we get on with our list I feel the need to state the obvious that all of us have
Jon Moxley in our thoughts as he entered an inpatient alcohol treatment program last week.
Addiction of any kind is a disease and there is never any shame in getting help. Go get
em Mox, you got this.
MOX written by Jon Moxley is the latest wrestling book to hit bookstore shelves reminding those
outside the wrestling bubble that yes, we can in fact read. There have been plenty of
great wrestling books over the years and it brings me great joy to say this one does indeed
measure up with the likes of Have A Nice Day, Hitman, and A Lion’s Tale. I don’t think
I have ever read a wrestling book with more of the author’s personality soaked into
every page. Make no mistake, this book is Jon Moxley though every word.
More a collection of short stories about his life than a point A to point B tale, Moxley
will often stop to share bits of information that only people like me will remember. But
hey if you are desperate to know that Moxley’s favourite movie is Point Break, his favourite
cereal is Suga Bear, and his first CD was Master of Puppets then this book has something
for you too.
I’m Tempest hailing from partsFUNknown and these are 10 takeaways from MOX by Jon Moxley.
Also before we start our list, please subscribe to partsFUNknown. Adam’s already come up
with every creative way to ask you to subscribe, so I’m just going to ask politely, because
I’m Canadian and we’re oh so polite. Please subscribe, please subscribe, I said the magic
word you have to do it now.
10. Jon Moxley REALLY Likes Sandwiches
Now this is my kind of book. Yes yes don’t you worry yourself the rest of this list will
be about wrestlers and wrestling matches and the like but I don’t think I will walk away
from reading this book with a bigger life lesson than the certified Jon Moxley guide
to sandwich making present within these pages. The man included a bullet point list of components,
do’s and don’ts, and MULTIPLE diagrams for how to craft and eat your perfect sandwich.
The man is a self-proclaimed sandwich connoisseur and after looking over his work who am I to
argue otherwise. Hey Mox I might just have a sandwich that will tickle your fancy.
9. Inspiration for his AEW character
It is no surprise that Jon Moxley wanted to distance himself from his Dean Ambrose character
when he left WWE. Something something gas mask something something ketchup and mustard
wasn’t what he wanted to take with him as he stepped into his new chapter. Sure enough,
his AEW character has included none of those things but what it has included is inspiration
from one of Moxley’s favourite literary characters. That character being Jack Reacher.
While discussing his own moral compass, Moxley writes that Reacher kills people at a breakneck
pace in unforgiving fashion but does it because it is the right thing to do. He has no patience
for bad guys doing bad guy shit but his moral compass is always on point. Taking a look
at Moxley’s body of work in AEW taking on everyone from The Elite to Chris Jericho all
while being an honourable yet sadistic babyface, you can start to see a resemblance but now
I just want to see Moxley fight Tom Cruise for the honor of being Jack Reacher cmon TK
make it happen.
8. Don’t Ask Anyone For Advice
It is worth mentioning that while this book is not simply WWE hate porn it does offer
a very raw look at some of the more toxic aspects of WWE behind the scenes. There is
plenty of toxicity near the top with the WWE brass and don’t worry we’ll get to that,
but toxicity also exists within the locker room and in this case with how veterans may
treat new talent. During a house show loop in December 2011, little less than a year
before the debut of the Shield, Jon Dean Ambrose Moxley was working with Daniel Bryan Danielson
who whispered to him in the locker room not to ask anyone for advice. The reason behind
this being if you were given a piece of bad advice everyone would be watching you to see
if you did what you were advised to do and if you didn’t you would get heat. Perhaps
we don’t need to be so sensitive there lads. Moxley does say that asking veterans if they
had seen his match was not his style but noted that Bryan’s words gave him better insight
into how Machiavellian the WWE main roster could be.
7. Ups and Downs In FCW
If you ever looked at the presentation of NXT and thought “you know, there is just
too much life in this building” well then let’s wind back the clock and take a look
at some FCW! My word, what a drab looking venue. Jon Moxley spent a significant amount
of time in FCW after signing with WWE in 2011, a time he said he both loved and hated. His
first day William Regal spotlighted him during a promo showcase allowing Mox to flex his
verbal muscles and make a good impression on WWE’s higher ups in attendance. That’s
good. But Moxley also detailed how he hated Wednesday promo class because he refused to
try. Two reasons for this. The first was he did not want to mess about with a goofy character
like The BEEKEEPER out of fear someone would actually see it and like it and come to think
of it that does seem like something out of NXT 2.0 but I digress. The second was he didn’t
want to cut any good promos for WWE creative folk to take and give someone else. That’s
bad. But overall Moxley does say he loved his time there putting over his series with
Seth Rollins for the Jack Brisco 15 Championship as well as his rivalry with William Regal
which he and Regal both say is some of the best work of either of their careers. That’s
good.
6. He Thinks The Mick Foley Feud Would Have Killed His WWE Run
I deserve eight-hour sleeps, Dredd deserves a sequel, and Mick Foley deserves a better
last match than the goddamn 2012 Royal Rumble. It is common knowledge that Mick Foley and
Dean Ambrose were set to feud in 2012 with the angle actually starting before the plug
was pulled due to Foley’s health. It’s a big WWE what if moment as this is something
of a dream match and Ambrose’s involvement surely would meant no Shield, but Jon Moxley
wrote that the feud would have killed his WWE run dead. Filled with edgy promo material
at the time, Moxley knows he would have reacted poorly to being given a script, had “difficult
to work with” shaved into his hair and pushed right out the door. Having watched the last
decade of WWE programming it is hard to argue with his logic.
5. Tone It Down
A few excerpts from this book have made the rounds on Twitter over the last week with
this frustrating nugget being one of them. Jon Moxley was routinely someone that WWE
management had to tell to “Tone It Down”. Moxley uses a dark match against Ted DiBiase
Jr. as an example where the match was really good with a kickass promo beforehand and a
hot crowd but he got to the back and “you gotta tone it down pal”. He’d then follow
up this performance the next night with the exact same match but just less good and sure
enough, that was exactly what Vince was looking for. It is so odd. WWE has been twisted into
a place where they only want you to get a C+ on your paper and if you get an A you are
trying too hard. When you see how much better the work has been from former WWE stars like
Bryan Danielson and Ruby Soho immediately after leaving, it is truly baffling to hear
that this is absolutely by design and WWE does not want their performers to perform
to the highest level possible.
4. Triple H Match Made Them Both Feel Like Wrestlers Again
Jon Moxley’s match with Triple H at WWE Roadblock is one of the best singles matches
of either man’s career and I will die on that hill. Not because I was there but because
it is god damn true. An old school wrasslin match with two guys allowed to go to the ring
with no plan and wrestle the old fashion way. Moxley waxes poetic about the match, as he
should its bloody brilliant, but the real takeaway was the reaction of everyone else
as Triple H, the COO of the company, was described as having a look of pride on his face and
a twinkle in his eye having reconnected with the part of himself that just wanted to be
a wrestler. Triple H may be more corporate machine than wrestling man now but it is genuinely
very heartwarming that the novelty of a truly great performance can still put a smile on
that man’s face after over 20 years in WWE. Also Vince and Stephanie both loved it but
they’re not wholesome so I’m moving on.
3. People Complained About The Shield Being Stiff
A famous tale is that CM Punk told The Shield ahead of their debut that guys might be instructed
to make them look weak so be stiff. Considering it was Ryback in the ring, maybe there were
some ulterior motives behind that advice. This is confirmed and elaborated upon by Moxley
who wrote that a number of WWE higher-ups gave The Shield their private blessing to
be as physical as necessary after their debut. However, this came with a lot of complaints
amidst a series of busted lips, black eyes and bruises. It is not specified who it was
who complained about The Shield’s aggression but look through their list of opponents from
their first few months and you can take a guess. Moxley also shares a story about how
The Rock began coughing up blood after a Shield beatdown with every soul present backstage
clutching their pearls fearing they’d just killed Luke goddamn Hobbs. Thankfully The
Rock was fine and this had to do with cold air and blood vessels in his lungs which sounds
like a much more complicated problem than a wrestling beatdown, god sort it out Dwayne,
jeez.
2. His Confidence Was Gone After WWE
After over six years on the WWE main roster the man formerly known as Dean Ambrose was
spent, in body and spirit. Moxley notes multiple times throughout the book that his confidence
was completely shot after he left WWE in 2019. Not surprising, I wouldn’t know who I was
either if I was on TV getting flu shots in my ass six months prior. Moxley was unsure
about how he would be received by the New Japan fans and wrestlers when he arrived in
the promotion at the Best of the Super Junior Final in June 2019, but the same is true tenfold
for his AEW debut at Double or Nothing 2019. He even goes so far as to say his fear at
the time was that he had been booked into oblivion to the point that he would be blackballed
from wrestling, damaged goods only to be seen as goofball Dean Ambrose with an exploding
TV in hand. During his first meeting with Tony Khan, Moxley admits to wanting to warn
Khan not to sign him out of fear that he might ruin his company before it got off the ground.
Clearly none of this happened with Moxley becoming a top star in New Japan and AEW on
his first night in each promotion but it goes to show just how damaging his time in WWE
was for his psyche. Also side note the Uber driver who drove TK to Mox’s house was a
wrestling fan paid $200 to stay quiet. He didn’t spoil the surprise. What a good lad.
1. Fuck Kevin Dunn
It has been quite some time since we’ve had someone take Kevin Dunn to task for his
crimes against wrestling, but this book fills that void. For those unaware, Kevin Dunn is
WWE’s head of television production and the reason WWE has the worst camerawork of
any form of entertainment outside of WorldStar Fight videos. He is not considered a popular
fellow and sure enough Jon Moxley did not have good things to say about him. After winning
the U.S. title at Extreme Rules 2013, Mox was told he was in trouble with the man in
the truck. Upon being shown he said “give me my fucking belt” on camera, a big no-no
as far as PG WWE is concerned, Moxley gave what he says was a very sincere apology and
thanked Dunn for bringing it up, thinking Dunn was looking out for him and catching
an easily correctable mistake. What a positive experience. An hour later Michael Hayes told
him he didn’t give the right kind of apology and oh do I never want to work for this company
for as long as I live. On one hand, this is incredibly childish and petty but on the other
Moxley points out just how damaging it is for someone with so much power over people’s
careers to be acting in such a manner. He ends this chapter by saying “I’ve heard
all kinds of stories about that guy messing with people’s careers, but this isn’t
that kind of book suffice to say that dude is a fuckbag. Maybe this is that kind of book.
No! No! But for real don’t even get me started on no this is not that kind of book. Fuck
Kevin Dunn.” And if you needed a reminder that this is indeed written by Jon Moxley,
that should be all the proof you need.
And that’s our list make sure you let us know what your favourite part of MOX is in
the comments, make sure to like and share this video around and subscribe to partsFUNknown
for more fun wrestling content just like this. LIW 4 Life.