15 Exact Moments Wrestlers Died Inside
3. Dean Ambrose Plays Jon Moxley In WWE
The Dean Ambrose Chronicle was a fascinating watch when it first aired in 2018: a gripping blend of the work and the shoot documenting a complex and fascinating man that stood in astonishing contrast to the cartoon he played on television.
It's even more fascinating now.
It's a WWE Network documentary that sought to capture Dean Ambrose's return to WWE - but really, it's about Jon Moxley's exit. It's fascinating even in the cold open.
It captures Moxley, pissed off at the process of the documentary itself, accusing the team behind it of trying to dictate his narrative. "I'm not gonna manufacture some answer for you. Go find somebody else, and go give him a script," Moxley says. The very first minute is loaded in damning subtext as Moxley, bustling with the furious energy he would later apply to his awesome NJPW and AEW runs, projects everything simmering within him onto the crew as they capture him grappling. That's what he wants to focus on: the actual sensation of telling a story on the mat. But he senses that's not what's going to happen. Even Mox won't expect to be made to wear a gas mask, but he expects something close to it.
"I just want it to be over. I just wanna get back to being in the ring, get back to doing what I'm doing."
The documentary is weird. Seemingly, it's meant to "chronicle" Ambrose as he agonises over the decision to betray his Shield stablemates. Instead, it captures Mox in a state of work dread - the late Sunday evening lurch in the gut.