AEW superstar and former world champion Jon Moxley recently spoke with Wrestling Observer Radio to hype his new book, “Mox,” and discuss a number of different topics about his career, including his love for independent wrestling and how the scene is finally healthy once again after the COVID-19 pandemic nearly shut things down. Highlights from the interview are below.
How much he loves indie wrestling:
It’s a couple things. One, I just love doing them. I fucking love Independent wrestling. I love the small building, 250 people packed into a small building atmosphere. I love that shit. To me, I can get the same feeling there as I get from a 20,000 seat packed arena. A lot of times, it’s better because in that environment, nobody is going to be pushing me for time or telling me I have to go home in three minutes or 40 seconds or I have one segment and a commercial break. There’s no fucking commercial breaks. It’s just wrestling. It’s fans in the building, lost in the moment, enjoying wrestling, and you can get lost in the moment too. That’s the drug I live for.
Says now that the indie scene is healthy again after the pandemic he hopes to draw more eyeballs to certain promotions:
Another reason is, the Indies got…I come from the Indies. I didn’t make shit on the Indies. Back then, it was different. I didn’t make fucking dick. Now, folks can make actual money and there are more ways to make money with Twitter and these things and ways to monetize and a YouTube show and push your merchandise on Twitter. The Indie wrestling scene is more healthy. The pandemic hit Indie wrestling really hard. I’m like, ‘If I can help, I’ll step up and help.’ I’ll jump on whatever Indie show I need to jump on and draw a few more fans or eyeballs. If I’m on a show and if there are a few more eyeballs, I’m not saying I’m the biggest draw in the world or anything, but if there’s a couple more eyeballs on the show because I’m on the show and those eyeballs then become a fan of somebody and they buy their shirt and they follow them to other shows. If I can help in any way I can, I’m gonna step up, get in there, and help Indie wrestling. It’s where I come from and I’m not going to leave it behind. I just like fucking doing it. I never understood why WWE was trying to buy up the Indies. Just let them exist on their own because that’s where you get guys who develop, exist, and become main eventers and then you can take them from there. I just love Indie wrestling and I’ll do it forever.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful
)