Do you think you know everything about the wrestling business? Are you aware of where it is headed and who will be at the reigns of it all, long after Triple H, Undertaker, John Cena, and Randy Orton fissile away? Up until recently, so did I. However, I recently became aware of a possible diamond in the rough. It is very apparent to me now that a future star has been calmly, silently brewing right under our noses…
Though I don’t necessarily “believe in The Shield”, you can bet I believe in Dean Ambrose.
Before he even stepped foot into Florida Championship Wrestling in 2011, Jon Moxley was making Tsunami waves in the independent circuit for three-years-shy of a decade. He appeared in companies such as EVOLVE, Combat Zone Wrestling, Heartland Wrestling Association, CHIKARA, International Wrestling Association, Insanity Pro Wrestling, and Dragon Gate USA, just to name a few!
This is where I will direct to you to a sufficient video, one which I believe, properly introduces just who Jon Moxley is…
While Moxley bounced around from promotion to promotion, he was making lasting impressions in each. In a sense, he would enter a promotion, burn it to the ground (talent-wise), place his flag atop their hill, and move on. However, unlike other break-out indie stars that have been discovered such as CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson and Chris Hero… Moxley’s wrestling skill was not his selling point. His persona and charisma is unlike anybody else’s I’ve personally seen in some time. He reminded me of the days in which such men as Mick Foley and Brian Pillman were lighting up screens with their bizarre madness and psychotic demeanor. Simply put, he was more interesting than any up-and-coming star I had seen, in a while.
Don’t believe me? Do you want to really know what I am trying to convey? Then spend these nineteen minutes and just see a little bit for yourself through this promo compilation…
Told you.
As Moxley spit out his deepest inner thoughts to anybody (or any camera) that would listen, he really was perfecting a truly twisted, entertaining character. His was grungy, mangy, and seemed to care less about any filters of ‘wrestling talk’ during his promos and interviews. Moxley always seemed to hold a very ‘to hell with the established wrestling world and it’s walls’ sort of aura…
Though his wrestling is on par with any other fresh star you see today, it is his speaking, facial expressions, and emotional pull that will (I believe) make him shine brighter than anybody else in the coming years. If he is booked and allowed to be his inner Moxley under his newly gained Ambrose name, the man is going places to say the least.
It’ll be a crying shame if the WWE fails to realize this, as the man can really paint a picture story wise. After watching hours of footage online from countless promotions, it seemed all their greatest story lines had a common denominator: “The Street Dog” Jon Moxley. Don’t get me wrong though, some people just don’t exactly fit the ‘mold’ of the WWE. Moxely had been on Smackdown in 2006, though not nearly being the entertainer he would become in just a few short years after that, was simply enhancement talent (a virtually unknown wrestler that WWE would bring in to get beat up and examined for any possible marketing value)…
By the time Moxley arrived in FCW, he had already been something beyond his peers. Verbally sparring with legends like Mick Foley outside of the ring, and challenging one of pro wrestling’s most underrated technical wrestlers of all time, William Regal, inside the ring. He just stood out. If you have a guy in FCW that makes the show worth watching, you know you’re on to something. With Dean, you could expect the unexpected.
Fast forward a year or two to today and the ball is truly in the WWE’s court. What they do with Ambrose after his Shield days will make or break his career there, but mark my words, Dean Ambrose is capable of exploding an opportunity through the roof. And if what I believe to be correct, does in fact turn out to be as such, all everybody else will have to do, is hold on.
Itching for some more Moxley/Ambrose? Jump over to the treasure trove that he calls his home on the web. You can find countless promo and match footage, a robust DVD library, and other interesting facts and tidbits. And fret not, you can thank me later… http://dean-ambrose.net