AEW star Jon Moxley competed in his first match since leaving the WWE back on June 5 at New Japan’s Best of Super Juniors 26 finale event. The man formerly known as Dean Ambrose walked out to the ring through the crowd instead of the entrance ramp, and was sporting a pair of trunks and wrestling shoes.
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The look was a big departure from the tank top and jeans look he’d been rocking ever since The Shield broke up in 2014. In a new interview with New Japan’s website, Moxley explained that he wanted to shake things up after wearing jeans for so long.
“I wanted to change my look, for sure,” Moxley said. “When I was in WWE, I always wrestled in jeans, and there was a reason for that; everybody else had fancy tights and I wanted to be the opposite. More grungy, a street fighter type. But wrestling in jeans, honestly, it sucks. They’re hot, sweaty, hard to move in. I’m done with wrestling in jeans! It’s so much easier to wrestle in tights.
“My boots situation was a nightmare before I wrestled,” he added. “I had a pair I bought that I was trying to break in, but they didn’t fit right. I tried another pair, they didn’t fit, either. They were too clunky. So I just went with regular wrestling shoes. When I looked in the mirror before I went out, I felt naked because I was so used to wrestling in jeans. So I knew then that it would cause a reaction, and be a bit of a shock.”
Moxley first debuted for AEW back at the Double or Nothing event in late May by storming the ring through the crowd, just like he had done for several years with The Shield. He stated in the interview that entering through the crowd instead of the entrance ramp is a bit of a call back to his WWE days.
“That idea was presented to me and at first I did think it was leaning a little on things I’d done in the past,” Moxley said. “But thinking a bit about it, it was definitely the right thing to do. I don’t want to be ‘too cool’ and ignore the things I’ve done. It is a cool entrance, and something I helped trail-blaze. The best thing about it was that it was a mood changer. The atmosphere instantly changed and I could feel that change. Plus, Sumo Hall is such a cool arena, so historic, and to have that view from the top of the stairs, that was a really cool sight.”
Moxley will compete in his first AEW match at Fyter Fest on June 29 against Joey Janela.
