Under the name of Dean Ambrose, Jon Moxley had a noteworthy run in WWE. He was one-third of the most successful WWE faction of the last decade-plus. He worked PPV main event matches and won a world title. All in all, he became as one of the most popular babyface characters in the company over a period of years.
Related: 5 Wrestlers Who Should Challenge Jon Moxley For The AEW Championship (& 5 Who Should Stay Away)
Moxley wasn’t happy in WWE, though. After his contract was up, he returned to the ring name he’d worked under prior to his WWE run and found himself working elsewhere—most notably in Japan and for AEW. What matches have marked his greatest successes since leaving the largest wrestling promotion in the world? This article takes a look back at ten of them.
10 Jon Moxley vs. Chris Jericho - AEW Revolution
Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho had worked a program in WWE, most infamously highlighted by the two feuding over potted plants and a light-up jacket. Their issue in AEW was more heated, to say the least, with the two warring over the AEW Championship.
Related: 10 Failed Chris Jericho Storylines (That Should Have Worked)
Things came to a head in an instant classic between Moxley and Jericho at Revolution. Jericho came in the arrogant champion, and the two worked around a supposed eye injury to Moxley. The excellent match came to a head with Moxley removing his eye patch to reveal he was one hundred percent, before putting away Le Champion.
9 Jon Moxley Vs. Juice Robinson - NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors 26 Finals
Jon Moxley made his debut for New Japan when he challenged Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship. It was clear that he had something to prove, working in this new environment, still relatively fresh off of his WWE run.
The results were pretty terrific as the pair delivered a hard-hitting twenty five minute match that showcased Moxley less as a character and more as an impressive athlete who could cut a fast pace in the ring. Amidst a very strong night of wrestling, this match, in particular, stood out as excellent with Moxley collecting his first post-WWE gold.
8 Jon Moxley vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW G1 Climax 29
The main event for night six of the 2019 G1 Climax tournament saw Moxley close the show for New Japan for the first time, working against the well respected Tomohiro Ishii.
The bout saw Ishii adapt well to Moxley’s brawling, hard-hitting style to deliver a memorable and unique contest with hints that Ishii might actually pull off the upset. Moxley did end up winning, but it was after twenty minutes of a hard-fought battle that went a long way toward shoring up his status as not only a great wrestling personality, but a worker more than capable of holding his own in top tier matches.
7 Jon Moxley vs. Jeff Cobb - AEW Dynamite
In the build to Jon Moxley facing off with Chris Jericho for the AEW Championship, Le Champion’s Inner Circle faction brought in a hired gun to weaken Mox. That man was Jeff Cobb, coming off of decorated runs in Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground, as well as stint in New Japan where he had actually clashed with Moxley before.
This match represented a rare case of a debuting star looking terrific in defeat as Cobb ate the loss his first time working an AEW match, but nonetheless came across as very stiff competition for one of the best-respected talents on the roster.
6 Jon Moxley vs. Taichi - NJPW G1 Climax 29
Jon Moxley’s opening match of his first run in the G1 Climax tournament saw him square off with Taichi. The bout was a good one and stood out for offering more plunder than other matches that night.
A big part of Moxley’s success in most promotions he’s worked for has been his ability to stand out. Putting aside his wackier antics from WWE in favor of a hardcore style helped him to a memorable performance that stood a chance of appealing to a different sort of fan than would have gravitated to the rest of the matches on this show.
5 Jon Moxley Vs. Kenny Omega - AEW Full Gear
AEW wasted little time in putting together a legitimate dream match between a pair of top stars and top workers who had been most synonymous with the WWE and New Japan brands, respectively. Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega main evented the Full Gear PPV and the brutal spectacle of the match immediately capture the imagination of fans.
Related: 5 Ways Kenny Omega Is Better In AEW (& 5 Ways He Was Better In NJPW)
The match highlighted the hardcore carnage Moxley was capable of, while also drawing a rougher edge out of Omega. Moxley won in the end with an elevated Paradigm Shift.
4 Jon Moxley Vs. Shota Umino - NJPW Dominion 2019
New IWGP United States Champion Jon Moxley faced off at Dominion against Shota Umino. Unlike other matches on this list, this one wasn’t necessarily an objectively classic match. Nonetheless, it was a proper showcase for Moxley as champion and a good showing for Umino as challenger.
Umino hit a flurry of offense early on to get fans buying into the idea that he might be able to pull off the upset victory. Moxley established his dominance from there, though, defeating his opponent handily in about four minutes to further establish himself as a dominant new player in town.
3 Jon Moxley Vs. Shawn Spears - AEW Dynamite
In October 2019, Jon Moxley worked Shawn Spears on an episode of AEW Dynamite. Recast these two wrestlers in their WWE personas of Dean Ambrose and Tye Dillinger, and it doesn’t exactly sound like a thrilling pairing. However, in AEW, each man has both stepped up his game and found new opportunities in the creative process to emerge as more exciting stars.
Yes, Moxley had to be considered the favorite going in, and he did wind up winning. Nonetheless, As an upper-level heel, Spears posed a meaningful threat to Mox as he got going in his AEW run.
2 Jon Moxley Vs. Shingo Takagi - NJPW G1 Climax 29
Shingo has built a reputation for putting on great matches for New Japan, and so it was to be expected that his clash with a red hot Jon Moxley in the G1 Climax tournament would produce a good match. While this encounter included much of Moxley’s signature brawling style, things also got more technical.
Moxley won not with his signature Death Rider that he had been finishing opponents with throughout the tournament, but rather via a submission hold. In an unlikely finish to an excellent match, Moxley made Shingo tap out to a cloverleaf.
1 Jon Moxley Vs. PSC - AEW Dynamite: Bash At The Beach
In January 2020, Jon Moxley and PAC squared off with an AEW Championship match on the line. The two are stellar workers who had both been shining since their respective departures from WWE, and the bout had all the makings of an instant classic.
The guys lived up to the hype, including the brutality of PAC working Moxley’s eye injury, complete with bloodying his opponent’s bandage. In the end, however, Mox would prevail, paving the road for him to see his rivalry to Chris Jericho through to a title match at Revolution.
Next: 5 Reasons Jon Moxley Is Better As A Babyface (& 5 Why He's Better As A Heel)
