Dean Ambrose is no more. Welcome back Jon Moxley.
Jonathan David Good, who recently left WWE after an eight-year run as Ambrose on NXT and the main roster, reintroduced himself Tuesday on social media as Jon Moxley — his character on the independent circuit before signing with Vince McMahon’s company. The 33-year-old’s Twitter profile now simply reads “professional wrestler” and is currently not following anyone.
The 1:13 video shows Moxley breaking out of a prison (a metaphor for WWE from a creative sense, possibly) by punching through the brick wall in his cell. He runs up a chain-link fence, getting his hand caught in the barbed wire at the top. Moxley proceeds to rip his hand away from the fence.
The next shots flip between him in the ring and gym training and him on the run from the police in the streets as he wraps his hand in the barbed wire. The letters M, O and X flash on the screen.
At one point, Moxley passes a wall with the word “Viper” and two dice painted on it. The dice are rolled up as a two and five. The video ends with a shot of a hooded Moxley moving his bleeding, barbed wire-wrapped hand away from his face in a real set-the-tone moment.
The video immediately sparked speculation Moxley is headed to All Elite Wrestling. The dice being turned to a two and a five is being seen as a nod to AEW’s first pay-per-view, Double or Nothing, taking place May 25 in Las Vegas. Fanning the flames more is the fact Cody Rhodes, one of AEW’s executive vice presidents, liked the tweet.
All of this is still rumor and speculation for now, just like there was talk last month that Moxley may take a break from wrestling all together. That does not seem to be the case now.
Double or Nothing is a little more than three weeks away, so we won’t have to wait long for an answer.
The video itself is as good, if not better, than anything WWE produced for him during his singles run. We all remember the promo Ambrose cut on Seth Rollins sitting on a car next to a flaming garbage can. What we saw Monday was a compelling reintroduction to the Moxley character that makes you want to see what’s next.
Moxley had an amazing run in WWE with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns as The Shield, which even got a network special on April 21 for their final match together. He was a grand slam champion in WWE, but never quite rose to level of popularity and impact Rollins and Reigns did as singles competitors.
Ambose’s most recent feud with Rollins, on whom he turned the night Reigns announced his leukemia had returned, was rebuffed by the audience and never reached its potential. He eventually decided to let his contract run out and not re-sign with WWE. Ambrose’s last televised singles match was a loss to Drew McIntyre in a Last Man Standing match on the March 25 “Monday Night Raw.”
Whatever company he ends up with, it’s an opportunity to show some moxie and attempt to get over in a way as a singles wrestler that never happened in WWE. It’s a potentially dangerous game for WWE, especially if it happens in AEW — which has the potential to push the industry leader. With more and more talent asking for their release, Moxley’s success could reinforce the belief of those who are on the fence that they can do better outside WWE’s machine and PG rating. Rhodes is already proof that can happen. If Moxley fails, it could in some degree have the opposite effect.
Either way, Dean Ambrose is no more. Jon Moxley has returned. And we are in for a heck of a ride.
