"No turning back" – The exact moment when Jon Moxley decided to leave WWE
Jon Moxley has never shied away from telling fans the truth about his six-and-a-half-year WWE main roster run as the Dean Ambrose character.
The former Shield member left WWE in April 2019, six months after his widely criticized heel turn. In the weeks following his character change, Moxley's Ambrose persona took several digs at the WWE Universe. On one occasion, he even received rabies shots to "inoculate himself" from fans.
In May 2019, Moxley appeared on Chris Jericho's Talk Is Jericho podcast to discuss his WWE exit and decision to join AEW. He revealed that the day he filmed the inoculation shots proved to be the final straw for his WWE career:
"This is the day that I knew 100 per cent I was gone and there was no turning back," Moxley said. "I actually almost walked out. Not really, I'm glad I didn't because I would've ended up in some legal stuff. I knew I was gone in July [2018] but I'm thinking, like, why rush it? It's only eight more months or whatever."
"There is NO shower that can wash away your sins."
@TheDeanAmbrose thinks @WWERollins is a "lost cause"... #RAW https://t.co/biWYeyRwXA
The segment aired on the November 26, 2018, episode of RAW. Jon Moxley knew he could bounce back from previous bad moments in WWE, but the rabies storyline felt different:
"I was always able to recover, but I remember sitting there thinking, 'That might be the one I just can't recover from.'"
Moxley's contract ended on April 30, 2019. A month later, he made his AEW debut at the company's inaugural Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
How Vince McMahon reacted to Jon Moxley's WWE departure
According to Jon Moxley, Vince McMahon thought the inoculation storyline development was "so well-written." The former WWE Chairman expected the segment to get the villainous Dean Ambrose character "a ton of heat" with the audience.
Justice has been served.
#ShieldsFinalChapter @WWERomanReigns @WWERollins @TheDeanAmbrose https://t.co/FTKDd1HTYp
Moxley added that McMahon thanked him after learning he wanted to leave when his contract expired:
"He [McMahon] starts babyfacing me and he's like, 'I understand you gave your notice and, you know, thank you so much for everything,' and I'm like, 'I guess we're doing this now.'"
McMahon also referenced the rabies segment in one of his final conversations with the former WWE Champion:
"Vince goes, 'Yeah, I heard you were unhappy with something about the shot thing we did. I wish you'd have told me,'" Moxley added.
Ambrose's heel turn was not well received by fans, especially as the character change took place on the night that Roman Reigns announced his leukemia diagnosis. In the final two months of his WWE run, the current AEW star turned babyface and reunited with Reigns and Seth Rollins.
What did you make of Jon Moxley's WWE booking? Let us know in the comments section below.