wrestling / News

Renee Paquette on Watching Husband Jon Moxley Compete in Bloody Brawls, the Parts That Really Stress Her Out

October 12, 2021 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
AEW Revolution Jon Moxley

– During a recent edition of Busted Open Radio, Renee Paquette comprehensively discussed her husband Jon Moxley competing in a Death Match in GCW against Nick Gage. As noted, Moxley defended the GCW Championship against Gage in a Death Match at last Saturday’s Fight Club event. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Renee Paquette on Jon Moxley competing in death matches: “Obviously it’s really hard to watch. I don’t even really know how to put it into words. You’re watching your loved one, my husband, doing this insane s**t. You see him bleeding that much, you see his back torn up. It looked like ground beef. He walked in the door yesterday. By the time he got home, I’d never seen him look worse. So it’s hard to watch, it’s hard to see him go through that. Also, he retained the championship. So what does that mean, does that mean there’s more of this? That’s kind of where my head goes. It’s stressful, it’s really hard to watch. It’s hard to see him bleeding that much and the thick panes of glass. How many light tubes? Is it in his eyes, is it in his lungs? This is some of the stuff that just kind of goes through my mind while I’m watching him do this.”

Paquette on the experience of watching the match and getting messages from friends: “So I’m watching it from home and I’m getting the perspective from home. I’m hearing the commentary, I’m hearing Mick Foley, I’m kind of into the show, watching the entire card. But then seeing how much he was bleeding, how much glass there was everywhere and then having friends of mine that were there message me. That’s what kind of throws me over the edge, it’s when the people that are there that are messaging me saying, ‘I can’t watch this. This is a lot. Are you okay?’ That’s what stresses me out. Cause I can still watch it on TV and there’s still that barrier between me and actually being there that makes it a little bit more palpable to accept. But when friends of mine are there, sending me videos from the crowd and checking in on me, that’s when I’m like, ‘oh my god, is he okay?’ That’s when it gets stressful.”

Paquette on if she’s ever had conversations with Jon Moxley about the hardcore matches: “Sure, but at the same time, we don’t have that conversation often because as much as, yes, I can say this is awful for me to watch and I hate seeing him physically go through all that stuff. But it is his profession. Also, I understand this profession maybe a little bit better than someone else’s wife would understand. Coming from the wrestling world, I get it to a degree. So I don’t grill him a lot by any means, but there are times where I’m like ‘what is happening?’ The thing is, I want him to go out the door. I want him to go do the things he wants to do, I want him to be happy and I want to see him to thrive in that space, and obviously he is. But as soon as he walks through the door, I’m still in wife mode. I’m like ‘alright, let me see. I want to assess all of the damage.’ And that’s exactly what happened yesterday. He was wearing a baseball hat for his flight to cover up all the marks on his forehead. And I pulled it off, not paying attention to the fact that it was being held on by dried blood. So I pulled it off and it just started bleeding all over again. His shirt was just stuck to his back. He had to go upstairs and shower again. Definitely the worst that I’ve seen of it. But all I can do is spray it down with some hydrogen peroxide, maybe get a little aloe vera on there and hope for the best.”

Renee Paquette on Jon Moxley doing what he wants to do: “It’s what he wants to do, and that’s the thing. Whether it’s him showing up in GCW and winning their title and having these matches with Nick Gage, or he pops up to DEFY in Seattle and he shows up there, that’s the thing that he wants to do. He loves indie wrestling, he loves being a part of that. So I think for somebody with the name and the clout and the credibility that he has, to be in that space where he’s doing it because he wants to be there, that’s Jon. That’s the guy that he is. He’s not there looking to be rich and famous and be on TV. He wants to do art and matches that he’s proud of. The ball is in his court to be able to do that. And that’s exactly what he’s doing right now. So for me to say ‘hey, I don’t want you to do that’, obviously I don’t want him to get injured. That’s first and foremost. But for him to creatively be able to scratch that itch, that’s what I want to see him do. I want to see him happy with his work.”

Her thoughts on Jon’s confidence: “It’s not so much the things that he says to me. He’s incredibly confident in what he does, and that makes me feel more comfortable and more confident in what he’s doing. I know that Jon’s never going to do something that’s going to put me in a bad spot or put our family in a bad spot. I always have that in the back of my mind. He knows what he’s doing, he’s one of the absolute best in the world to be doing this. So if that’s not assurance for me, then nothing else could be.”