Jon Moxley Says If AEW Isn’t A Success, It Sets The Business Back 20 Years

In an interview with TVInsider, Jon Moxley spoke about the potential of AEW and said that if the company isn’t a success, it will set the business back twenty years. He also commented on retiring Bryan Danielson at AEW WrestleDream. Here are highlights:

On the potential of AEW: “The potential of AEW is so f*ckin’ huge. We’re not even scratching the surface of it. Just the roster of wrestlers is this ridiculous bounty of riches. Just a ridiculously stacked roster of the best wrestlers in the world. So many people you haven’t even seen yet of what they can do. I’ve seen what they can do. I can imagine what they can become if we water that seed and let it grow.”

On AEW needing to be successful: “There is no me being in there and losing. Everything is different now. It is life or death. AEW has to be a success. If it’s not, the business gets set back another 20 f*ckin’ years. I’m not willing to go through that again. Others who I’ve known for 15-20 years are not willing to go through that again. It’s at the hands of our generation. This is what we wanted to do and all we’ve ever wanted to do. The future is in our hands. Whatever AEW will become in the future is up to us. Frankly, in five years nothing has been built. We’re going to build it right now. There has been no flag. AEW has not really nailed down its identity being a young company, and that’s fine. There has been a known flag for everyone to unify to say this is who we are what we do and the direction we’re going. We’re going to plant our flag. That’s starting with me and the few people watching my back and others. We’re going to demand more of everybody around us. We’re going to unify behind one flag and march forward and turn this into what it can be. This could be the best place I’ve ever worked. It could be 10 times better than anyone has ever worked. I can see how powerful wrestling can be. We want to build a place we can take pride in. I see all this beyond Saturday night in Newark. That could all go up in flames if I get taken out. If the AEW title gets put in the wrong hands. It’s my responsibility to make that impossible for that to accomplish.”

On beating Bryan Danielson at WrestleDream: “It’s easy to get emotionally attached to a match with Bryan Danielson. One of my best friends and training partners and a guy I’ve been down the literal and proverbial roads with all around the world for years. There was an objective that needed to be completed. He had to be taken off the board as part of the big picture. He was a thing on a checklist. There was no way I was walking out of the building without getting the job done. I don’t have time to feel sad about it. To me, it was a beautiful funeral. His mom was in the front row as I was squeezing his neck as his mom screamed that she loved him, and he screamed it back to her. I’m not sure if that was caught on camera, but that was quite a powerful moment to see up close. A lot of guys’ careers will end in the hospital or their phones will stop ringing. It won’t be on their terms. Bryan was able to do very much to end this stage of his career on his terms. He did not verbally submit or tap out, but I felt the spirit of the ‘American Dragon’ leave his body and feel that he can now rest.”

On Danielson’s health: “I don’t think people understand how much he has gone through physically. I remember the run-up to WrestleMania he headlined. I was with him pretty much every night, and he was banged up. He was getting through it to get there. A lot of people don’t understand the actual physical toll this could take on your body. I don’t think people knew how much he was suffering. You would never know it by looking at him. I was there and saw and understood what he went through. I felt like Bryan was at peace. I felt his mother was at peace, and everyone in the state of Washington was upset that night. It is what it is. We’re moving forward from here.”

Jon Moxley on his Full Gear match: “If we’re asking people to pay a little more on pay-per-view, I’m going to give them a little more. I can’t juggle or dance or do cartwheels for you, but I can put my elbow all the way into Orange Cassidy’s face to see how much of his skull I can get. I can see if I can snap his arm so loud that it reverberates through the audio and picks up on camera. We have a group chat going where we’re always sending really bad cuts and hematomas and snaps. It doesn’t bother me. I have an iron stomach for that kind of stuff. I also don’t like to watch horror movies. The real world is scary enough. I don’t need to see demons and werewolves eating people. But if someone’s arm gets snapped or a leg breaks, everyone wants to throw up. it doesn’t bother me at all. Since it’s pay-per-view, I will try to give that to the fans in New Jersey and fans watching on pay-per-view. Something really heinous in the main event on Saturday night.”