How Jon Moxley Became The Best Wrestler In The World

Before he "took his ball and went home" from Seth Rollins' house or "tried to take dinner" off Seth Rollins' table or whatever bizarre allegory classifies as seeking employment elsewhere in 2019's fertile industry, Jonathan Good was having a truly rotten time at work.

Laid out in excruciating-yet-fascinating detail on an exit podcast with Chris Jericho following revelations that he was to work for both New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling after his contract expired, the re-renamed Jon Moxley castigated the WWE system for everything it had done to him and the Dean Ambrose character.

The distinction between defining the company and the man at the top of it is important here, and not just because Vince McMahon throws a f*cking wobbler if you overdo it on the pronouns, pal. Moxley was careful to note that, while a crazy old man ran the company he began to dread going to work for, it was the same crazy old man had afforded him much to begin with. It was a partial catch-22, even if an underlying subtext confirmed the skewed reality within the organisation many outsiders have suspected for years.

Seth's own takes are riddled with similar subtext. He thinks WWE's output is the best not necessarily (all) because of the actual matches, but because he knows how hard he and others have to work. How painful it all is physically and emotionally because they're on the longest loops and have the least creative say and yet still make towns, public appearances and charity events because that's the life they've chosen. One could read his remarks as being just as caustic as Moxley's were. Seth, outwardly, would deny that, but would he even realise that implication?

Does he know himself currently as a performer as well as his former Shield brother? Recent weeks and months have painted a rather damning picture of two men at completely opposite ends of industry acclaim.

CONT'D...