Jon Moxley is driving change by force on All Elite Wrestling programming. Moxley and the Death Riders are deep into a hostile takeover of AEW. It's a storyline that draws attention to the wider scope of AEW's legitimate past, present and future.
"I spent about two months thinking, reading books and walking around downtown Cincinnati at three o'clock in the morning," Moxley told CBS Sports ahead of AEW Full Gear on Saturday. "I had a vision of a future that could be ours. A vision that could belong to everybody. A world where everyone can be successful. A world where everyone's strengths are brought to the forefront. A vision of a world that is inhospitable to bullshit."
Moxley speaks partially in character but, as with most works of fiction, there's truth at the core of his message. The Moxley character's goals come at an interesting time in AEW's existence. The promotion looks radically different than it did five years ago. Depending on what's most important to you as a consumer, that could be for better or worse.
AEW signed a lucrative new media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery last month, securing its future for several years. It was a major win for the company. At the same time, total viewership and ticket sales have generally declined since 2023. Some longtime faces of the promotion like Moxley have endured while an influx of new stars replace absent fan favorites.
"It's only five years old. You start with two hours of TV, that's one thing. Then three, then five. Now it's a different thing," Moxley said. "If you don't have the infrastructure to support it, you fall to the level of your systems. If the branch pops out of the dirt before it's ready, it will not have the structural integrity to hold the fruit it bears. I think we've maybe gotten things out of order.
"Crawl, walk, run. Maybe we went from a certain cadence of walk and tried to jump into a run and things got a little out of balance and split the differential. It's just about getting into the right gear for the speed you're attempting to drive. We're going to do that. I'm actually quite excited about it."
Moxley describes the growing pains of an upstart promotion. The professional wrestling landscape was very different when AEW launched in January 2019. Fans were starving for a major alternative to WWE and AEW forced the winds of change. AEW debuted with a two-hour television show and four to five annual pay-per-views. From 2023 onwards, the company produced five hours of TV and seven to eight PPVs annually.
Another recurring challenge AEW faced was keeping peace in the locker room. Multiple physical altercations have reportedly broken out behind the scenes. Moxley did not acknowledge those incidents -- none of which involved him -- but they might point to his desire to facilitate a fruitful environment in AEW.
"I found it challenging to find anyone who would take responsibility for anything," Moxley said of AEW in the past. "'It's not my fault' was something I'd hear bouncing around the hallways of AEW quite ubiquitously. Essentially what it boils down to is that I'll take responsibility for everything."
The cult leader notes of Moxley's on-screen personality is a departure from his past character work. It's also some of his most satisfying. Moxley is using the platform of his record-setting fourth AEW world championship reign to help mold AEW's future. It's fulfilling work for a man who's overcome much, including a self-imposed 2021 stint in an alcohol rehabilitation program.
"I've been through a lot. The last couple of years have been a very strange, rough and personal couple of years," Moxley said. "I feel like I've gone through a personal transformation recently. Things are very clear in my head. I'm still slowly, over time evolving into the person I think I'm meant to be. I think this is exactly where I'm supposed to be.
"I'm very optimistic about everything... I don't think there's a more polite way to say this. I don't give a single f---. I have not one single f--- to give. That is the attitude that I'm moving forward with. That is the attitude my group has. Everything I'm trying to achieve now is very much the hill I'm prepared to die on."
Moxley defends his AEW world championship against Orange Cassidy in the main event of AEW Full Gear on Saturday. Cassidy, an AEW original, leads the charge against Moxley and his Death Riders. But if Moxley is correct, it's in AEW's best interest to welcome his change.