Why Jon Moxley’s WWE run was a failure

[Toothlessagression1980]

Keep it short and sweet moxley reminded me alot of Brian Pillman. But just wasn’t suited for the wwe... there were just too many restrictions holding him back...
the difference between Moxley and Pillman is that Pillman entered the company at exactly the right time that 96/97 era where they were gonna start getting a little bit more raunchy, Pillmans character was perfect for that time even though he wasn’t the greatest worker.

There’s only so much Moxley could have done in today’s wwe since it’s so pg. also Moxley never really had great in ring skills he was always a guy in the Indys you could count on for a great promo but he’d consistently have the worst match of the night

 

[Spencesc11]

I think Moxley had a solid run in WWE he just wasn't ever going to be "The Guy". Whenever a group comes along there is always different levels of elevation. Reigns was always going to be the #1 and Rollins had a better look and better promos making him the #2. Moxley was high mid-card with title reigns and main event exposure. He was even the face of the blue brand for awhile. Not sure what more he expected but thought WWE made quite a bit of him and with his Shield run and popularity the ability to make a lot of money outside of WWE.

 

[neildittmar]

It may sound like I'm splitting hairs here, but "Jon Moxley" never wrestled for WWE, "Dean Ambrose" did. Yes, I know it's the same physical person but based on what I've seen of his material, pre-WWE Jon Moxley *never* would've been allowed in WWE which is likely what begat the Dean Ambrose persona in the first place.

So, if you're asking why "Dean Ambrose's" run in WWE was a failure, I'm not sure I agree with the premise. Abrose resided in WWE for about 8 years... longer than in any other company. He was consistently at the middle or top of the card for a sizeable portion of that time, even towards the end when WWE knew he was leaving. During that time, he was a one time WWE champion, a 3 time IC champ, held the tag belts twice, and won Money in the Bank. He even went out on top during the Shield's Final Chapter.

Though I'll admit that I haven't seen a lot of Moxley's current AEW / Indy material, what I have seen looks like a hybrid of the old Mox character and Dean Ambrose. I highly doubt that he would've taken any of that character into a new promotion if he himself considered it a wholly abject failure.

So, what measure or level of success did Ambrose not reach that you believe classifies his WWE run as a failure?

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Personally, i can't really call his run a failure. He's been a multiple time, tag team, ic and u.s champion the first WWE champion of the new brand split era. Wrestled all the top guys in the company and will he was never the main focus out of the three shield member, he still got a pretty good run as a upper mid card guy.

The thing is, ambrose/moxley style from his indy days wouldn't have work in the corporate environment that wwe found themselves in. But he was a good promo and a decent wrestler but lacked the presence that rollins and reigns had and that why he was always playing second fiddle to rollins and reigns. He's a average worker at best and they did the best they could with him. I don't think is wwe run was a failure because it's that run that made it possible for him to get into AEW and other promotion and be looked at as a major draw. Without that WWE exposure, he wouldn't have been that big of a draw and we wouldn't be talking about him now so i think he had a pretty good run in wwe

 

[Toothlessagression1980]

this guy was getting comparisons to hot rod and everything the hype around him was unreal everybody was saying he’s the next big star and all that shit never happened.

 

[Aquaman6686]

I'm not calling him by that horrible, off-brand toilet cleaner name. Dean Ambrose was most certainly not a failure in WWE, he simply wasn't a good enough talent to be a long-term main eventer. He was a perfectly serviceable midcard guy, and could occasionally fill a main event spot if needed, but Ambrose was never going to be a multiple-time World Champion who consistently headlined PPVs. That wasn't WWE's fault, he just didn't have what it takes.

 

[VolsDreamer]

*leaves company*

*random dudes on interwebs* - "FAILURE!"

 

[Toothlessagression1980]

He got alot of hype and never lived up so yeah he was a failure.

 

[Finsta]

Tell you what.. There'd be plenty of guys in the WWE locker room who would very happy if they had had the runs, title wins, Shield hype and popularity etc that Ambrose did.

He's definitely not a failure in my book.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Tell you what.. There'd be plenty of guys in the WWE locker room who would very happy if they had had the runs, title wins, Shield hype and popularity etc that Ambrose did.

He's definitely not a failure in my book.

Plus he met his wife in WWE, so there's that.

 

[Greg]

The guy was not used properly and creative was too busy with Roman

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The guy was not used properly and creative was too busy with Roman

Because in the end Reigns was making money for the company and ambrose wasn't So reigns was a bigger priority.

 

[thewhitecrow]

They didn’t use him properly not on a single aspect. Glad he went to AEW, he basically saved his career

 

[TDFG]

I wouldn't call his WWE run a failure, WWE wanted him to stay and from thinking that they could punish him by jobbing on the way out they then made a bit of a big deal in promoting The Shield's final run/final matches.

WWE has had more misses than hits when it comes to Champions in the recent years, creative has to be held accountable in that as well.

Ambrose left as a multiple time champion, signed what's probably a great deal for him with AEW and will be pushed as a top talent.

Not bad for a failure!

 

[@smarkmouth]

Moxley got weekly exposure on flagship television.

Moxley was awarded just about every accolade a wrestler can have in WWE.

Moxley met his wife.

Moxley made enough money to settle debts, buy a house, and buy his mom a house. (Talk is Jericho)

If this is what you call failure then you need to revisit your understanding of the word.

 

[FromGlasgowScotland]

He went from a $10 per night hardcore backyard style wrestler to a millionaire former world champion household name being one third of one of the most successful wrestling factions of all time and was for the most part always quite highly featured on WWE events, How is that a failure? I've seen a lot better talent in my opinion come through the WWE and not even get a quarter of the accolades Dean Ambrose got in the WWE.

 

[BigSwoleMisawa]

He was made to use a fuckin potted plant as a prop. Yeah they really set him up for success...

 

[BigSwoleMisawa]

Moxley got weekly exposure on flagship television.

Moxley was awarded just about every accolade a wrestler can have in WWE.

Moxley met his wife.

Moxley made enough money to settle debts, buy a house, and buy his mom a house. (Talk is Jericho)

If this is what you call failure then you need to revisit your understanding of the word.

Maybe you need to understand that some people have pride, and that’s worth a lot more than making shitty guaranteed money at a garbage job.

 

[Ryan McQueen]

To me he just wasn't very entertaining, he seemed like a funny guy in real life but his character was lame, his promo's were absolutely atrocious and his matches were unwatchable. I could not watch him for longer than 5 minutes as he lost my attention, don't know what it was but he just didn't cut the cloth for being the man. There was alot of hype before he debuted about how great he was, he finally debuted and he just seemed like a really angry character but he was not very good at it so to speak. His run was not a failure but he for someone who was meant to be talented and entertaining, he didn't quite reach boiling point.

 

[Ryan McQueen]

Because in the end Reigns was making money for the company and ambrose wasn't So reigns was a bigger priority.

Reigns was favored because he has the size factor, that's the only reason and we actually don't have any proof that reigns was making more money, I just think WWE were using Reigns because they had an obsession with him.

 

[Ryan McQueen]

You can make excuses for the guy, the guy had comparisons to the liking's of rowdy roddy piper! Piper was around during the golden era which was similar what we have now so what's the excuse? he certainly did not live up to expectation of what people thought he would be. Yeah I blame WWE to a certain extent but I also think Ambrose himself could done more to help like CM Punk did.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Reigns was favored because he has the size factor, that's the only reason and we actually don't have any proof that reigns was making more money, I just think WWE were using Reigns because they had an obsession with him.

Reigns was favored because fans gravitated to him before he got his big push and then when he finally got to the top, the IWC fans turn on him but at the same time, he was making more money for the company then anybody else not name John Cena so they continued to push him. If you want proof, just go to the WWE corporate website or read reports about it in the wrestling observer. Meltzer reported the whole thing about how Reigns was selling more merchandise then anybody else in the company. The thing is Ambrose was always going to be the third wheel of the shield no matter what they did with him. Rollins had the athleticism, Reigns had the charisma and presense and ambrose was just ambrose. The fact is in WWE, Ambrose over achieve and while i get why he wasn't happy anymore, i get why WWE block him from doing what he wanted to do because as Jon Moxley, he's a even worst performer then he was as dean ambrose.

 

[Ryan McQueen]

Reigns was favored because fans gravitated to him before he got his big push and then when he finally got to the top, the IWC fans turn on him but at the same time, he was making more money for the company then anybody else not name John Cena so they continued to push him. If you want proof, just go to the WWE corporate website or read reports about it in the wrestling observer. Meltzer reported the whole thing about how Reigns was selling more merchandise then anybody else in the company. The thing is Ambrose was always going to be the third wheel of the shield no matter what they did with him. Rollins had the athleticism, Reigns had the charisma and presense and ambrose was just ambrose. The fact is in WWE, Ambrose over achieve and while i get why he wasn't happy anymore, i get why WWE block him from doing what he wanted to do because as Jon Moxley, he's a even worst performer then he was as dean ambrose.

Ambrose was the better performer than Reigns even though Ambrose did not meet expectations or even close, I would sit and watch him anytime before Reigns.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Ambrose was the better performer than Reigns even though Ambrose did not meet expectations or even close, I would sit and watch him anytime before Reigns.

But you were in the minority, if that was the case, wwe would have went with ambrose instead of reigns

 

[JoeMallard]

Reigns was favored because fans gravitated to him before he got his big push and then when he finally got to the top, the IWC fans turn on him but at the same time, he was making more money for the company then anybody else not name John Cena so they continued to push him. If you want proof, just go to the WWE corporate website or read reports about it in the wrestling observer. Meltzer reported the whole thing about how Reigns was selling more merchandise then anybody else in the company. The thing is Ambrose was always going to be the third wheel of the shield no matter what they did with him. Rollins had the athleticism, Reigns had the charisma and presense and ambrose was just ambrose. The fact is in WWE, Ambrose over achieve and while i get why he wasn't happy anymore, i get why WWE block him from doing what he wanted to do because as Jon Moxley, he's a even worst performer then he was as dean ambrose.

Moxley is more entertaining than anyone has been on Raw and Smackdown the past two yearshits besides Becky Lynch, keep being a WWE sheep, it's what you're good at.