Jon Moxley’s interview on Talk Is Jericho about his time as WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose had an explosive effect on wrestling discourse, if not on the wrestling business itself. Things we’ve all speculated and heard rumors about, particularly regarding how one out-of-touch man in his 70s can hold down an entire roster full of talent, were borne out by Moxley’s detailed first-person accounts of his many conflicts with Vince McMahon over his character’s direction and the things he was expected to say. In the wake of all that, reports are coming out about performers who are still with WWE facing similar problems to the ones Moxley described.
For what it’s worth: I’ve talked to several people connected to WWE regarding the Moxley / Jericho podcast. They all agree w/ Mox. He’s not saying anything others aren’t thinking. One quote I got was “It’s all true, it’s a mess. And it’s not changing anytime soon. Vince is Vince”
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) May 30, 2019
WrestleVotes, for example, says all the sources they’ve talked to about Moxley’s interview agree with him, and note that they have no expectation of change as long as Vince McMahon is in charge. You have to admit, it sounds like a sad state of affairs. It’s not too surprising, then, that Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that more WWE talent are trying to quit the company than has previously been reported. The ones that have been reported include Sasha Banks, Luke Harper, and the Revival, but Meltzer says there are enough other performers trying to get out of their contracts to count on both hands (which presumably means roughly between six and ten?). He also says that some of the names are “shocking.”
I’ll leave speculation about who those names might be for other venues (starting with the comments below), but it’s going to be interesting to see how things shake out over the next year or so. Even if WWE refuses to let anyone else out of their contracts, it will probably start becoming a lot more normal to leave for another company at the end of your contract, even if you’re still on TV, the way Dean Ambrose did. It used to seem like the only people getting released, even when their contracts were up, were either people who’d in gotten in trouble or had already disappeared from WWE programming for various reasons. Now that there are more employment options for wrestlers, quitting is much more of a possibility worth considering at all stages of your career.
