Jon Moxley Worried That AEW Fans Would See Him As "The Idiot From WWE"

podcast launched on Thursday with hosts Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards, with number one contender Jon Moxley as the inaugural subject.

During the hour-long discussion of his career, Moxley talked about his arrival in All Elite Wrestling, at the conclusion of the Double or Nothing pay-per-view last May.

Although the moment was well received, and Moxley himself has become one of the most popular stars of AEW (as well as outside WWE in general), he admits he wasn't so sure he'd be so welcomed by the company's fans.

Moxley felt that his booking during his last couple years in WWE had damaged him to the point where fans may have rejected him on sight.

"To be perfectly honest, at the time, I didn't know if people were going to cheer, if they were going to boo, if they were gonna not make any noise at all," said Moxley. "I just feel like my reputation had been tarnished so bad that I had to start from scratch."

He went into further detail, adding, "Once you get popped in the ass with a syringe on TV, and dress up like a teddy bear, and DDT people and s**t like that...I remember standing one time in the ring in a bear suit for some reason - I can't even explain to you why I'm standing in the ring in a bear suit.

"I DDT'd The Miz and took off the bear hat, and get the Pavlovian response like, "Yeeaaahhh", but I remember thinking, "This is so stupid. This is not funny or entertaining. I just remember standing in the ring thinking, "I've hit rock bottom. Like, I'm just done. This sucks. I'm just like, 'What have I become in this bear suit?'"

He went on to tie this sort of booking to his prospects post-WWE, saying, "Fans outside of WWE, they want an alternative. They're coming to Ring of Honor or Impact or AEW or whatever because they don't want Monday Night Raw and they don't want WWE stuff. I was scared that I was so synonymous with WWE crap that I'd walk out and they'd be like, "Oh God, the idiot from WWE! Oh, what are you gonna do, hit somebody with a hot dog, Jesus Christ..."

Moxley also stated, "I could never explain my gratitude toward the people in the building that night for just immediately embracing and accepting me as myself, and not putting any of WWE's crap onto me."