When it comes to professional wrestling, not everything is perfect behind the scenes between wrestlers, even when it comes to top stars. No matter how much time passes, there are always stories about things that aren’t perfect outside of the ring. During his time in WWE, Jon Moxley didn’t seem to get very hot with most people, but someone he disagreed with was Brock Lesnar. The pair wrestled at WrestleMania 32, and this was the genesis of Moxley’s certain dislike of Lesnar. This heat is interesting to dissect, especially since Moxley openly revealed it on WWE Network in an interview.
Brock Lesnar and Jon Moxley had a hot show before WrestleMania 32
When wrestling in WWE as Dean Ambrose, Jon Moxley was someone who garnered a huge fan base, particularly in the lead up to WrestleMania 32. After finishing second in Royal Rumble matches and coming within seconds of defeating Triple H to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Moxley was arguably the most hyped on the list. This led to WWE changing plans for the WrestleMania season, with Moxley entering a feud with Brock Lesnar.
The various fights 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 to the show, Moxley inherited various items from hardcore legends like Mick Foley and Terry Funk to prepare for Brock Lesnar, and it felt like he was ready to get a push as the new face of wrestling in WWE. There was a decent amount of anticipation for this match, especially as many felt that WWE would pull the trigger on Moxley given his huge fan following. However, this match led to Moxley becoming unhappy with Lesnar.
Brock Lesnar Vs Jon Moxley was very disappointing
At WrestleMania 32, Lesnar and Moxley had arguably the most disappointing match on the card. A very tame swing from a barbed wire bat was the most extreme this match had. The rest of the fight was filled with steel chairs and kendo sticks, with Moxley mostly taking a beating throughout the bout. Other than a brief flurry, Moxley was easily dispatched with a single F-5 and lost the match.
The fans were very disappointed by this, as was Moxley. He even spoke about this disappointing match on the Broken Skull sessions on WWE Network and also in subsequent interviews, such as with Wade Keller (H/T 411Mania), where he detailed how excited he was about the match and how people were. excited to see it. He said: “I won this match on my own merits. Me doing my thing, my way got to where people wanted to see this game. So now I’ve won the game. So now I’m like, ‘Yeah!’ This is like my dream opponent, dream stage, Street Fight. I’m like, you can imagine how much effort, time, and thought I put into this, right? This is my life.” Even with this excitement, not everything went according to plan.
Jon Moxley was frustrated by Brock Lesnar, causing heat in real life
Later in the interview, Moxley opened up about how difficult it was to work with Lesnar. He pitched several crazy ideas, some involving thumbtacks and other instruments, but both the producers and Lesnar were very closed to his ideas. Moxley stated that Lesnar was not interested in stealing the show, and probably felt that he was doing Moxley a favor by simply being in the ring with him.
Moxley was particularly critical of the ending. “We got to an end like, maybe I grab the barbed wire and dodge it, and I get thrown into a pile of chairs, which wasn’t even that good. That’s a brawl, that’s not WrestleMania. And I built it into the media like, ‘Yo, this is going to be crazy. I was banging my head against the wall yelling at everyone for weeks and it felt like I was invisible. The main reason was that I was not the most important party on the show. Basically, I wasn’t important at all.”
Moxley’s dislike of Lesnar is visible in the comments given about him, even though that heat probably doesn’t extend beyond the confines of this match and what transpired during it. It’s a shame since, on paper, this was a great match, and if Lesnar put his all into the match, then it could have been show-stealing. Instead, it was a soft no disqualification match that did little to no avail and didn’t really benefit anyone.