Jon Moxley's Real Life Heat With Brock Lesnar, Explained
Quick Links
When it comes to professional wrestling, not everything is perfect behind the scenes between wrestlers, even when it comes to the top stars. No matter how long time progresses, stories are always coming out about things not being perfect outside the ring. During his time in WWE, Jon Moxley didn’t seem to have too much heat with most people, but someone he didn’t quite see eye to eye with was Brock Lesnar. The pair wrestled at WrestleMania 32, and this was the genesis of Moxley’s somewhat dislike towards Lesnar. It is interesting to look into this heat, especially since Moxley openly revealed it on the WWE Network in an interview.
Brock Lesnar And Jon Moxley Had A Hot Program Ahead Of WrestleMania 32
When wrestling in WWE as Dean Ambrose, Jon Moxley was someone who garnered a big fanbase, particularly in the lead-up to WrestleMania 32. After finishing runner-up in the Royal Rumble matches and coming seconds away from defeating Triple H to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Moxley was arguably the most over babyface on the roster. This led to WWE changing plans for WrestleMania season, with Moxley entering a feud with Brock Lesnar.
RELATED: 10 Biggest Wrestlers Brock Lesnar Faced, Ranked By Size
The various brawls both backstage and in the ring added a lot of heat to this rivalry, and the No Holds Barred Street Fight stipulation was very intriguing. In the weeks leading up the show, Moxley inherited various items from hardcore legends like Mick Foley and Terry Funk to prepare him for Brock Lesnar, and it felt very much as though he was set to receive a push as the new face of hardcore wrestling in WWE. There was a decent amount of anticipation for this match, especially since many felt as though WWE would pull the trigger on Moxley given his huge following. However, this match led to Moxley being unhappy with Lesnar.
Brock Lesnar Vs Jon Moxley Was Severely Underwhelming
At WrestleMania 32, Lesnar and Moxley had arguably the most underwhelming match on the card. A very tame swing of a barbed wire bat was about as extreme as this match got. The rest of the bout was filled with steel chairs and kendo sticks, with Moxley mostly just getting beat up the entirety of the match. Aside from a brief flurry, Moxley was easily dispatched with just one singular F-5, and he lost the match.
RELATED: Is Brock Lesnar Losing HIs Luster As A Babyface In WWE?
Fans were very underwhelmed by this, and so was Moxley. He even spoke out about this disappointing match on the Broken Skull Sessions on the WWE Network and in subsequent interviews too, such as with Wade Keller (H/T 411Mania), where he detailed how excited he was for the match, and how people were hyped up to see it. He said, “I earned this match on my own merits. Me doing my thing, my way made it to where like people wanted to see this match. So now I’ve earned the match. So now I’m like, ‘Yeah!’ This is like, my dream opponent, dream scenario, Street Fight. I’m like, you can imagine how much effort and time and thought I put into this, right? This is my life.” Even with this excitement, not everything went to plan.
Jon Moxley Was Frustrated By Brock Lesnar, Causing Real Life Heat
Further on in the interview, Moxley went into how hard Lesnar was to work with. He pitched several crazy ideas, some involving thumbtacks and other instruments, but both the producers and Lesnar were very closed off to his ideas. Moxley stated that Lesnar wasn’t interested in stealing the show, and likely felt as though he was doing Moxley a favor by even just being in the ring with him.
RELATED: How A Story From Jon Moxley's Book Shows How Toxic The WWE Locker Room Once Was
Moxley was particularly critical of the finish. “We put together a finish of like, maybe I’ll grab the barbed wire and duck it, and throw me into a pile of chairs, which was not even that good. That’s a brawl, that’s not WrestleMania. And I built it up in the media like, ‘Yo, this is gonna be nuts.’ I was banging my head against the wall screaming at everybody for weeks it felt like, and it felt like I was invisible. Main reason was, I wasn’t the most important match on the show. I was basically non-important at all.”
Moxley’s dislike towards Lesnar is visible in the comments given about him, even though that heat probably doesn’t extend to outside the confines of this match and what occurred during it. It is a shame as, on paper, this was a big match, and if Lesnar put his all into the bout then it could have been a show-stealer. Instead, it was a bland no disqualification match that served little purpose and didn’t really benefit anybody.
