10 Times Wrestlers Got Over With ONE Match
8. Jon Moxley
It was put up or shut up time for Jon Moxley, and he'd done an awful lot of talking.
He had put himself over in very candid podcasts as a waste of talent - a man intent on breaking his image as a performing monkey for an audience of one. That this notoriously private individual even had to rid himself of these thoughts was a sensational story, but to truly sell it, he had to perform. He opened himself up to embarrassment with the relish of the blade.
In his first post-WWE match, Moxley challenged Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship. It was a tremendous, gnarly, totally committed fight that fused Moxley's hardcore tendencies with the rhythms of strong style. Mox had the expressive face, imposing physique and badass body language to get the standoff spot over in a way unique to himself, and sank his teeth into Robinson's forehead to portray himself as a nasty f*cker with total disregard for the rules - and, in politely apologising subsequently, an endearing, humorous figure to the new Japanese audience.
This was Jon Moxley unregulated - a funny but not wacky badass sh*t-kicker - and it comprehensively embarrassed the memory of Dean Ambrose.