This apparently surprised some people when the rumor broke over the weekend that Ambrose, now referred to as Jon Moxley in this column from here on out, could end up in IMPACT Wrestling. Why this is a shock to people is beyond me. IMPACT has openly admitted to chasing Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho, with Don Callis going as far as saying that had AEW not upped their offer, he believed they’d of gotten both Canadian stalwarts.
— Jon Moxley (@JonMoxley) May 1, 2019
Chris Jericho even said he was offered seven figures for four matches; rumored to have been about $250,000 per match. IMPACT has deep pockets; they’re just not extending them all the time for any reason like Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff and Dixie Carter did. The money needs to make sense, and it makes sense for the company to offer Jon Moxley big money.
IMPACT is also a favorite over AEW for several reasons. Firstly, they’re non-exclusive. So Moxley will be able to follow his IMPACT buddies to various other promotions with few exceptions. Secondly, his best friend Sami Callihan is in IMPACT. Many see Moxley joining oVe, but I can easily see him opposing oVe. Thirdly, from everything I’m told, as odd as Rene Young and Moxley’s marriage may look; the two are very much in love. There is a desire by Moxley to see her as often as possible now that they’re not working together.
So when you realize that AEW will have more travel, more restrictions, less freedom and far less opportunity at the top of the card (just look at all the names they signed), IMPACT is a far more attractive option. Moxley is considered to be a frugal guy, so he’s saved most of his WWE money, and IMPACT isn’t going to be paying him peanuts if he signs.
Now, obviously, it’ll come down to where Moxley feels most welcomed. It should also be noted that he hasn’t made a decision yet as far as I’ve heard. I’ve been told that just about every promotion is somewhat interested but besides the WWE – who offered him stupid money – the only two places considered to be in the running are IMPACT and AEW.
I’m told ROH would love Moxley, but the public perception of ROH is not good right now, and wrestlers are taking notice. Most new acquisitions signed with them either due to lack of real offers from elsewhere, or because of the NJPW aspect. Guys like Jeff Cobb wanted that NJPW exposure so badly that they picked ROH over IMPACT for that reason.
Cobb himself revealed this to Fightful by saying;
Christopher Daniels was a big factor in getting me to go that direction, as well as their (ROH’s) relationship with New Japan. That was a huge deciding factor for me signing with them and not with Impact.
When you realize that if it wasn’t for ROH, that Cobb would be in IMPACT, then you start to realize how much validity the promotion has. In fact I’ve heard rumblings that part of the reason AEW hasn’t signed Pentagon and Fenix yet is due to their trust and faith in the IMPACT management to use them well. I was told that the brothers are over the moon about how they’ve been handled so far in the promotion.
IMPACT has earned a reputation of rehabbing discarded wrestlers in the past, but now they’re earning a new reputation for propping up top stars beyond previous heights.
Wrestlers are very high on IMPACT, and that can’t be ignored. The promotion is posting some of it’s better months in terms of attendance in years, with new money being spent on their streaming service to upgrade it and even the ability to give away Twitch shows for free. You being to see that the dark times for the promotion are starting to lighten, and it may be time to make that major splash, which Moxley would be.