Jon Moxley

Moxley in July 2023

###

Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.

**Jonathan David Good** (born December 7, 1985) is an American professional wrestler, where he performs under the ring name **Jon Moxley**. He also appears in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former two-time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.

Regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the world and noted for his deranged and mentally unstable onscreen character, Moxley has also been recognized for his popularity with audiences; he is best known for his time with WWE, where he performed as **Dean Ambrose**, where he was a member of The Shield. Ambrose won his first championship while in the group, the United States Championship, with his 351-day reign being the longest reigning champion. He would also become a one-time WWE Champion, a three-time Intercontinental Champion, and a two-time Raw Tag Team Champion, while also being a Money in the Bank Ladder Match winner. Upon winning the Raw Tag Team Championship in August 2017, Ambrose became a Triple Crown Champion and a Grand Slam Champion.

He is also known for his work on the independent circuit between 2004 and 2011, and worked for various promotions including Full Impact Pro (FIP), Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), and Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), where he was a member of KAMIKAZE USA.

Moxley made his NJPW debut in June 2019, winning the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship in his first match, becoming the first and only person to have held the WWE and IWGP United States Heavyweight Championships, before vacating it four months later, only to regain it in January 2020 and becoming the longest-reigning champion in the championship's history. He also won the AEW World Championship in February of that year, making him the first person to hold championships in AEW and NJPW simultaneously. All totaled between WWE, AEW, and NJPW, he has held 12 total championships (including four world titles and three U.S. titles).

## Early life

Jonathan David Good was born in Cincinnati on December 7, 1985. He grew up in Cincinnati's East End, which he said was so deprived that shoplifting was a daily occurrence for everybody he knew because they never had any money. An avid wrestling fan who idolized Bret Hart, he used wrestling as an escape from his rough upbringing by watching videos and reading stories about wrestling's earlier days. He attended Amelia High School in nearby Batavia, but dropped out one year after beginning to train as a wrestler. He supported himself by working minimum-wage jobs in factories, restaurants, and warehouses, but was constantly getting fired because he would skip work if he was booked to wrestle a match that clashed with his job; however, he continued to do so because he knew he "could always find another minimum-wage job". He often used drugs such as cocaine as a teenager, during which time he was also arrested multiple times for shoplifting. He has said that he would have most likely become a forest firefighter if he did not pursue wrestling.

## Professional wrestling career

### Dragon Gate USA (2009-2011)

Moxley started working for Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA) in late 2009. He made his first televised appearance in March, where he defeated Tommy Dreamer in a hardcore match taped for the Mercury Rising pay-per-view. At the Uprising event in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Moxley suffered a legitimate injury where his left nipple was nearly severed during a match with Jimmy Jacobs.

On March 27, 2010, SHINGO, YAMATO & Moxley founded the American version of the KAMIKAZE. KAMIKAZE USA would also attack Quackenbush, Jigsaw, Masato Yoshino, and BxB Hulk after their matches, leading to Quackenbush challenging YAMATO to a match between KAMIKAZE USA and the Chikara wrestlers. The match took place at Enter The Dragon 2010, which saw YAMATO, Tozawa, Moxley & Akuma, representing KAMIKAZE USA, being defeated by Yoshino, Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Hallowicked, ending the feud between KAMIKAZE USA and the Chikara wrestlers. KAMIKAZE USA disbanded when SHINGO returned from the injury and joined forces with Masaaki Mochizuki's new stable, Junction Three to battle CIMA's Blood Warriors in Japan. Moxley's last match in DGUSA was against Homicide in January 2011, which Moxley won.

### New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2019-present)

#### Debut and IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship (2019-2021)

##### Debut (2019)

After weeks of New Japan Pro-Wrestling airing videos of a mystery man targeting Juice Robinson, Moxley was revealed as the culprit. Moxley would make his New Japan Pro-Wrestling debut on June 5 in which he defeated Robinson for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. Following Moxley's original challenge, AEW CEO Tony Khan stated that Moxley would be able to take independent and international bookings during the summer before AEW's television deal started in the fall of that year. However during an interview with *Nikkan Sports*, Moxley clarified that he would continue to appear for NJPW while being signed to AEW.

On June 9, at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Moxley made his intentions on participating in the G1 Climax after defeating Shota Umino in a singles match. Afterward, Umino became Moxley's manager with Moxley nicknaming him "shooter". From July 6 until August 11, Moxley took part in the 2019 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of five wins and four losses. He went undefeated in the tournament, firstly defeating Taichi and then with wins over Jeff Cobb, Tomohiro Ishii, Shingo Takagi, and Tetsuya Naito, before suffering his first loss to Toru Yano. He then lost his next three matches to Jay White, Hirooki Goto, and Juice Robinson in their head-to-head match, failing to advance to advance to the finals of the tournament.

##### Feud with Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki (2019-2020)

He would vacate the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship after being unable to wrestle in a scheduled championship defense at King of Pro-Wrestling on October 14 due to travel issues arising from Typhoon Hagibis. On December 8, Moxley returned to NJPW confronting Lance Archer, before laying him out and his Suzuki-gun stablemate Minoru Suzuki with the *Death Rider*. Afterward, Moxley challenged Archer to a Texas Deathmatch at Wrestle Kingdom 14. On January 4, 2020 on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, Moxley defeated Lance Archer in a Texas Deathmatch to win the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship for the second time. The following day on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14, Moxley successfully defended the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Juice Robinson. Afterward, Moxley was involved in a brawl Minoru Suzuki, leading Suzuki to lay him out with the *Gotch-Style Piledriver*, before proclaiming himself as the next challenger for his title. On February 9, 2020, Moxley successfully defended his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Suzuki. This would be Moxley's final match in NJPW for over a year, due to travelling issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 1, Moxley surpassed Kenny Omega as the longest reigning United States Heavyweight Champion.

##### COVID-19 Pandemic and international title defenses (2020-2021)

Following his title defense, Moxley alongside several other NJPW wrestlers was unable to work on NJPW events, due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being absent, Moxley made an appearance in NJPW in a pre-taped vignette on January 4, 2021 at Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome, warning the winner of the match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate between KENTA and Satoshi Kojima, which KENTA won. After an eleven-month absence, Moxley made his return to the promotion on January 29, during an episode of *NJPW Strong*, attacking KENTA. On February 26 at The New Beginning in USA, Moxley defeated KENTA to retain the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. After Moxley defended his title against KENTA he would then proceed to challenge Yuji Nagata for a match for his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship which Nagata later accepted Moxley's challenge with their match taking place on All Elite Wrestling's weekly series AEW Dynamite. On May 12, 2021 at AEW Dynamite Moxley would go to defeat Nagata to successfully defended his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship with their match becoming the second title match to take place in another US-based wrestling promotion with the first being Kenny Omega against Yoshi-Hashi on October 15, 2017 at NJPW and Ring of Honor (ROH) co-produced event Global Wars: Chicago. After Moxley defended the title against Nagata, Karl Anderson cut a promo challenging Moxley for a match for his title in which Moxley later accepted the challenge with their match taking place on All Elite Wrestling's Fyter Fest television special. On July 14, 2021 at Fyter Fest, Moxley successfully defended the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Anderson. After the match in a backstage segment, Lance Archer challenged Moxley for a rematch for the title. It was later made official that Moxley would face Archer in a Texas Deathmatch on the second night of AEW's Fyter Fest television special. On July 21, 2021 on the second night of Fyter Fest, Moxley lost the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship back to Archer. On July 30, at Tag Team Turbulence, Moxley appeared in a pre-taped video challenging The Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) to a match, while also promising to bring a surprise partner to his team. On August 1, The Good Brothers accepted Moxley's challenge. The following day, NJPW made the match official. On August 14, at Resurgence, Moxley revealed his partner to be Yuji Nagata, where Moxley and Nagata were defeated by Anderson and Gallows.

#### Sporadic Appearances (2021-Present)

On the November 27 episode of *Strong*, Moxley teamed with Eddie Kingston to face Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer in a Philadelphia Street Fight, which the latter team won. Moxley returned to the promotion to face Will Ospreay at the Windy City Riot event on April 16, 2022, where he was victorious in the main event. At the Capital Collision event on May 14, Moxley challenged for the United States Heavyweight Championship in a fatal four-way match including Ospreay, Juice Robinson, and Hiroshi Tanahashi, which Robinson won. At the Music City Mayhem event on July 30, Moxley defeated El Desperado in a no disqualification match.

On May 3, 2023, at Wrestling Dontaku, Moxley's protégé Shota Umino announced his return to the promotion, as one of his partners to challenge Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii to a title match for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On May 28, Umino revealed that Moxley's Blackpool Combat Club stablemate Claudio Castagnoli was the mysterious partner. On June 4, at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, Moxley, Umino and Castagnoli unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. After taking part in a deathmatch at Game Changer Wrestling's Tournament of Survival, Desperado said the experience reminded him of the motivation he got from facing Moxley at Music City Mayhem, leading Desperado to challenge Moxley to face him again, mentioned that he was interested in the projects that *NJPW Strong* was doing. On June 7, Moxley answered Desperado's challenge, accepting his challenge and proposing a tag team match at NJPW Strong Independence Day, with Moxley teaming with Homicide and Desperado chosing a partner of his chosing. On June 17, Moxley appeared in a video, challenging Desperado to "Final Death" a match at the second night of Strong Independence Day, which Desperado accepted. At the first night of NJPW Strong Independence Day, Moxley and Homicide were defeated by Desperado and Jun Kasai. The following day, Moxley defeated Desperado in a Final Death match.

Once again overseas in Japan, Moxley returned to NJPW on November 4, facing Great-O-Khan at Power Struggle, though the match quickly ended in a double count-out, as the two men brawled all over the arena and had to be separated by NJPW staff. Immediately following the match, Moxley challenged O-Khan to a Falls Count Anywhere match, which O-Khan promptly accepted. After brawling throughout the arena, Moxley defeated O-Khan. Moxley returned in the main event, being in the corner of his protege Shota Umino, during his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship match against Will Ospreay. Following Ospreay retaining the title, Moxley confronted him in the ring, seeking a match for the title however, both men were attacked by David Finlay. Finlay then used a mallet to destroy both the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship belts, which represented a single championship. Finlay’s manager Gedo, then challenged Ospreay and Moxley to a three-way match, on Finlay’s behalf for a brand new championship at Wrestle Kingdom 18. Soon after, the match was made official by NJPW, for the newly created IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. On January 4, 2024 at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Moxley failed to win the new title, as the three-way match was won by Finlay.

The following day, at *New Year Dash*, during a post-match interview, Moxley was challenged by Shingo Takagi to a match at Battle in the Valley. Moxley accepted only on the condition that it was no disqualification match, which Moxley on January 13. Afterwards, Moxley challenged Takagi's *Los Ingobernables de Japón* stablemate and reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito to a match at Windy City Riot.

## Wrestling style and persona

The ring name Jon Moxley was given to Good by a fellow wrestler who had misheard the name of James Van Der Beek's character Jon Moxon in the 1999 film *Varsity Blues* shortly before his first match: "I'd probably been thinking about names for years and years, but I had no ideas. [...] So, right before I'm about to go out the ring announcer said, 'What's the name?' I didn't have one. [...] This other wrestler guy was just like, 'It's like the *Varsity Blues* guy. He's like the guy from *Varsity Blues*, Jonathan Moxley.' They're like, 'That's cool.' I was too nervous to say yes or no. [...] Actually, in the movie, it's Moxon. So the guy screwed up the name a little bit. It wasn't my idea at all. It was just foisted upon me."

Since his time in the United States, Moxley's gimmick has seen him characterized as a mentally unstable and unpredictable wildcard. His gimmick has been compared to Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker.

Moxley's reversion to his old gimmick and subsequent debut at AEW's Double or Nothing after leaving WWE in 2019 was widely praised, with Phillip Martinez of *Newsweek* commenting that Moxley had caused "the wrestling world to erupt" after his surprise appearance. Justin Barrasso of *Sports Illustrated* opined that Moxley was "the cornerstone of AEW." *Variety* also attributed Moxley as one of AEW's biggest ratings attractions for their weekly broadcast.

Moxley's match with Tomohiro Ishii during the G1 Climax in July 2019 was met with critical acclaim. *Deadspin* noted how the tournament offered an excellent platform for him to shine following his departure from WWE; they notably singled out his match against Ishii, calling it "almost certainly Moxley's best singles match ever, under any name, but it felt significant in another sense. It was good, brutal fun to watch, but it also pointed a way forward for Moxley not just as An Attraction, but rather as a brilliant and brilliantly violent wrestler." The match was also awarded five stars by Dave Meltzer of the *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*. The match was also awarded five stars by esteemed wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the *Wrestling Observer Newsletter*, with Meltzer remarking, "I think this was the first time I ever saw a match where at the 17 second mark I already felt it was going to be a four star match... this is a four star match already, right now, and they're building from there."

## Other media

Good, as Dean Ambrose, appeared as a playable character in the video games.

Under the Dean Ambrose name, Good made his acting debut in the 2015 action film *12 Rounds 3: Lockdown*, in which he played Detective John Shaw. In May 2019, it was reported by *Deadline Hollywood* that Good had been cast in *Cagefighter*, an "MMA-themed" action film.

In 2011, Smart Mark Video released *Stories From the Streets: The Jon Moxley Story*, a DVD featuring several of Good's matches in CZW, HWA, and IPW, as well as a two-and-a-half hour shoot interview with Good. He has also spoken on several podcasts such as Chris Jericho's *Talk is Jericho* in May 2019 (in which he talked about his departure from WWE), and AEW's *Unrestricted* podcast in February 2020 (for which he was the inaugural guest). Good's autobiography *Mox* was released on November 2, 2021.

## Personal life

Good began dating Canadian-American backstage interviewer and on-air personality Renee Paquette, known in WWE as Renee Young, in 2013. They previously lived near Las Vegas, where they were married in an impromptu ceremony at their home in the early hours of April 9, 2017. Their first child, a daughter named Nora Murphy Good, was born on June 13, 2021. In November 2021, they relocated to his hometown of Cincinnati to be closer to both his family and Paquette's family in her hometown of Toronto.

Good has referred to himself as a loner, which he has often incorporated into his onscreen character. He has also called himself a minimalist, revealing that he drove to WWE's training center in his rundown car with only a bag of clothes and the money in his pocket upon accepting their contract offer. He was roommates with fellow wrestler William Morrissey (best known as Big Cass) during this time and later moved out when he was promoted to the main roster, leaving behind thousands of dollars worth of merchandise sent to him by WWE and telling Cass to "give it to charity or something". He then moved into his new apartment, which he left unfurnished because he reasoned that he would be traveling most of the time.

A notably private person, Good refused to use the Twitter profile WWE created for him in 2012. He explained in a 2014 interview, "As far as social media and all that, I understand connecting with fans on a different level, but I don't feel the need to open myself up to the opinion of everybody in the world with a phone or computer. I just don't get being connected to everybody on such a superficial level like that. There's a kind of mystery when you don't put yourself out like that. ... People start to kind of create their own version of you in their head." He later set up Twitter and Instagram profiles upon leaving WWE in 2019, although he still rarely uses them.

In order to be closer to the recommended doctors during his recovery from an injured arm in 2018, Good lived for a period of time in Birmingham, Alabama, where he contracted MRSA in his arm. He later claimed that the infection nearly killed him. In November 2021, at Good's request, Tony Khan announced that Good had checked himself into rehab to address his alcoholism. He returned to wrestling three months later.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Bulldog Choke* (Bridging sleeper hold)
	+ *Curb Stomp* (Running jumping stomp to the back of the head of a bent-over opponent) – 2022 – present; adopted from Seth Rollins
	+ Cutter – used in his early career
	+ *Death Rider* (Snap double arm DDT, sometimes while lifting)
	+ *One Hitter* (Vertical suplex lifted and dropped into a DDT)
* **Signature moves**
	+ Arm trap swinging neckbreaker
	+ Corner forearm smash followed by a running bulldog, with theatrics
	+ Cross armbreaker
	+ Crossface chickenwing
	+ Diving back elbow
	+ Diving elbow drop to a standing opponent, sometimes to the outside of the ring
	+ Double leg takedown or a running crossbody followed by multiple punches
	+ Double foot stomp
	+ Dragon screw
	+ Elbow smash
	+ Front dropkick, sometimes from the top rope or to an opponent against the ropes
	+ Fujiwara armbar
	+ Guillotine choke, sometimes with a double underhook
	+ Headlock driver
	+ *Hook and Ladder* (Chickenwing facebuster)
	+ Inverted atomic drop
	+ Jumping neckbreaker
	+ *Knee Trembler* (Running knee lift)
	+ Knife edge chop
	+ Multiple lariat variations:
		- Pendulum
		- Running
		- Sliding
		- Tiger feint from the ring apron followed by a short-range
	+ Multiple suplex variations:
		- Butterfly, sometimes from the top rope
		- German
		- *Money Clip* (Rolling release, sometimes while standing)
		- Snap
		- Super
	+ Modified gogoplata
	+ *Moxicity* (Spinning side slam)
	+ Pendulum backbreaker
	+ Piledriver, sometimes while applying a cradle
	+ Rear naked choke
	+ Running front dropkick
	+ Running knee lift
	+ Snap DDT
	+ Sleeper hold
	+ Slingshot plancha
	+ Swinging side slam backbreaker
	+ Scoop slam
	+ Shoot kick, sometimes repeated
	+ STF
	+ Suicide dive
	+ Texas cloverleaf
	+ Twisting snap elbow drop
	+ Tornado DDT
	+ Uranage, while standing
* **Nicknames**
	+ **"Death Rider"**
	+ **"The Purveyor of Violence"**
* **Entrance themes**
	+ **"Death Rider"** by Yonosuke Kitamura (NJPW; June 5, 2019–Present)
	+ "Wild Thing" by X (AEW/NJPW; June 26, 2022)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **New Japan Pro-Wrestling**
	+ IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
* ***New York Post***
	+ Male Wrestler of the Year (2022)

* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
	+ Feud of the Year (2014) vs. Seth Rollins
	+ Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2014, 2015)
	+ Male Wrestler of the Year (2019)
	+ Ranked No. 1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the *PWI 500* in 2020
	+ Ranked No. 6 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the *PWI 500* in 2021

* ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
	+ Best Brawler (2020, 2021, 2022)
	+ Best Pro Wrestling Book (2021) *Mox*
	+ United States/Canada MVP (2020, 2022)
	+ Feud of the Year (2020) vs. Eddie Kingston
	+ Wrestler of the Year (2020)
	+ Shad Gaspard/Jon Huber Memorial Award (2021)

## References

1. ↑ Middleton, Marc 2015-08-23. WWE SummerSlam: Roman Reigns And Dean Ambrose Vs. Luke Harper And Bray Wyatt . WrestlingInc..
2. ↑ James Caldwell (May 4, 2015). "Caldwell's WWE Raw Results 5/4: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - Payback hype, Cena's Open Challenge produces NXT star & Bret Hart, New Day, more ". *Pro Wrestling Torch*. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
3. ↑ Parks, Greg. Parks's WWE SmackDown Report 6/27: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Friday show, including Roman Reigns vs. Kane . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2014-07-27.
4. ↑ Parks, Greg. Parks's WWE SmackDown Report 5/9: Complete coverage of Friday night show, including U.S. Title match, John Cena & The Usos vs. The Wyatt Family . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2014-07-27.
5. ↑ Middleton, Marc 2015-11-22. WWE Survivor Series: Roman Reigns Vs. Dean Ambrose (WWE World Title Tournament Finals) . WrestlingInc..
6. ↑ Bishop, Matt. Lesnar finishes off Triple H at Extreme Rules . *Slam! Sports*. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved on 2014-04-27.
7. ↑ Chris, Aiken. WWE Main Event TV report – Wednesday, 19 February 2014 20:17 . *Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online*. Retrieved on 2014-04-27.
8. ↑ Stephens, David. WWE Raw results – 10/21/13 (Hell in a Cell PPV hype) . WrestleView. Retrieved on 2014-04-27.
9. ↑ Parks, Greg. Parks's WWE SmackDown report 12/6: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Friday show, including C.M. Punk against a member of The Shield . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2014-04-27.
10. ↑ Adams, Mandy 2016-12-05. WWE News, Predictions: AJ Styles Won Despite His Exposed Posterior; Phenomenal One To Face The Undertaker; Dean Ambrose Challenges James Ellsworth . iTech Post. Retrieved on 2017-02-13.
11. ↑ Paez-Pumar, Luis 2016-12-05. WWE 'TLC': AJ Styles Shines, SmackDown Live Continues to Excel . Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2017-02-14.
12. ↑ Jon Moxley's DGUSA profile . Dragon Gate USA. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved on 2012-03-16.