Jon Moxley wants to create thousands of Jon Moxleys!
Since the AEW star’s return last Fall, Moxley has been causing a shift in the AEW landscape that's affected everyone up and down the roster. First was Bryan Danielson, the sacrificial lamb who was gutted like a pig at Wrestle Dream. Moxley and The Death Riders have continued to cause chaos with one goal in mind: to make sure that AEW is standing 20 years from now.
The AEW World Champion is frustrated over what the locker room has become; Moxley has previously labeled the current AEW environment as a “cancer” that needs to be removed. And he feels that The Death Riders are the only people who can do that.
Jon Moxley was a recent guest on Renee Paquette’s on Up-Close podcast and the Death Riders leader further explained his mission statement for AEW going forward:
"Everyone has questions. They are not prepared for the answers. We are one mistake away. One. One bad decision away from setting this business back 20 years. Who is going to take responsibility for that? I bear all the consequences around here. I take all the bullets around here.
I will bear the responsibility for everything my generation, Claudio's generation, PAC's generation, our generation all across the world in professional wrestling. We inherited a nuclear wasteland and we built it up year after year after year into the business you see today. We are one mistake away from going back to ground zero. Who is going to take responsibility for that? Who is going to point fingers at who on that day? I'll take responsibility for it," Moxley told Renee Paquette on Up-Close.
He continued, "My vision is not one Jon Moxley. My vision is a thousand Jon Moxleys. I want to backfill this place. I want it to last for 20 years, long after I'm dead. Long after I'm gone. That is something worth doing. That is what I was sold on. That is why I came here. This was supposed to be for wrestlers, by wrestlers. This was about the beauty, the art, the craft of professional wrestling.
What we've done here every single day with Blackpool Combat Club and beyond, what we've been about since day one, and every town we've ridden to and every rinky dink arena and every dilapidated ring we've wrestled in over the last 20 years, that's what we're about. That's what this place was supposed to be about. About doing things the way they are supposed to be done. Giving this job, this profession, the respect it deserves. It's not a [frick]ing party.
This is not what I was sold on. We're going to build something new. That's what we're doing. We're watering the seed. We're growing something with strong roots and a strong base that is going to stand firm and strong against any storm. Anybody can be on my team. Anybody can be on our team, but you better show up every single day, ready to give everything you have. You better be at 100% and drop your [frick]ing ego at the door. If you can't do that, pack your shit and get out."
The Death Riders storyline has been quite the mixed bag in the past couple of months. What Moxley said is pretty much in vein of what he's been talking about on television so nothing here is particularly new. Nevertheless, Moxley’s next challenger seems to Cope as that’s been the clear direction since the former TNT Champion made his return in early January.