WWE News: Jon Moxley fka Dean Ambrose reveals how Vince McMahon reacted to him leaving
What's the story?
Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose, left WWE when his contract with the company expired at the end of April 2019.
Speaking on ‘Talk Is Jericho’, Moxley revealed how Vince McMahon reacted when he informed the WWE chairman that he was not going to sign a new deal.
In case you didn't know…
WWE confirmed in a statement in January 2019 that Dean Ambrose had not renewed his contract and he was set to leave at the end of his deal in April.
One day after he officially became a free agent, the former Shield member posted a cryptic video on Twitter on May 1 which revealed that he will now go by the name Jon Moxley again.
This led to conspiracy theories amongst fans that he could return to WWE as Moxley, as opposed to Ambrose, but the majority of people believed that he would end up in AEW.
As it turned out, Moxley did indeed sign for AEW, and he made his first appearance for the company at Double or Nothing when he showed up at the end of the show and attacked Kenny Omega.
The heart of the matter
Jon Moxley told Chris Jericho that he refused to look at WWE’s contract offer for him in January 2019. Instead, he stormed into a production meeting and immediately sought out Vince McMahon.
Recalling what happened next during a one-on-one meeting with his boss, Moxley said:
“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.’”
He went on to mention how Mark Carrano, WWE’s Senior Director of Talent Relations, had informed McMahon that Moxley knew he wanted to leave WWE on the day that he received a rabies jab during a segment on Raw in November 2018.
“Vince goes, ‘Yeah, I heard you were unhappy with something about the shot thing we did. I wish you’d have told me.’”
Moxley said during the podcast that he had already told McMahon about his unhappiness with the segment two months earlier, but he tried to stay calm during their meeting.
“I’m still trying to babyface him, be as nice as possible, show all my gratitude. It got a little emotional, you know what I mean? On both sides. And I took the opportunity to say everything I wanted to say because I had been having this conversation in my head for months.”
He added that he told McMahon that he felt physically sick in his stomach every Monday when a writer would go up to him with a script.
What's next?
Vince McMahon has several pay-per-views to build towards in the next few months, including Super ShowDown on June 7 and Stomping Grounds on June 23. Jon Moxley, meanwhile, has signed with AEW and he will face Juice Robinson in NJPW on June 5.