During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Jon Moxley spoke about his former teammates in The Shield.
Since debuting at WWE Survivor Series 2012, Moxley, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins have been three of the most successful wrestlers in the industry.
The faction even played a role in the conclusion of the WrestleMania 40 main event when Rollins came out to The Shield's music and wore a tactical vest to distract Reigns. Moxley was in Japan at the time this took place. He says he woke up to texts from people who heard The Shield music and thought he was coming out rather than Rollins.
Moxley said:
I was asleep in Japan when that was going on. When I woke up, I had these messages saying, ‘I thought you were coming out!’ And I was like, ‘Coming out where?’ It’s cool that people thought it was me. But I was asleep.
On April 30, it will be exactly five years since Moxley left WWE. In that time, Rollins has gone through many different versions of his character and is now a five-time world champion while Reigns just finished arguably the greatest title reign in modern WWE history.
Moxley said of his Rollins and Reigns' success in WWE:
What they’ve done, it’s a really cool thing. We were nobodies. We came in with attitudes, and we pretty much said, ‘We’re coming in, f--- you, and we’re taking this sh-- over.’ The more time that passes, the more it becomes evident that we did exactly what we said we were going to do.
Both Reigns and Rollins dropped world titles at WrestleMania 40 night two. Moxley won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Windy City Riot just six days later. The win makes him the first wrestler to hold world titles in WWE, AEW, and NJPW.
Moxley continued:
I’m the first guy to hold all three–WWE, AEW, and IWGP. It feels so humbling to be put in this position. It’s a different world with the IWGP title, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I’m going to storm the f------ castle.
Moxley's first defense of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship is scheduled for AEW Dynamite tonight. He'll defend against Powerhouse Hobbs on the show.
Moxley continued:
I need to get through Hobbs on Dynamite, and then I get the opportunity to return to Japan with the championship. I’m not intimidated by the opportunity. I’m much more comfortable with the ball in my hands. Let it fall on my shoulders. I’ll take all of the blame if it goes wrong. I am more comfortable when sh-- goes off the rails. A lot of people want to be in those positions, but then they get there and realize it’s a lot harder than they thought.
Nothing lasts forever. You can’t take anything to the grave with you. One day you’re giving everything back to the universe, and the world keeps spinning. It could last three weeks, it could last three years–but to be in this position, it means as much to me as anything I’ve ever had in wrestling.
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