WWE News: Embarrassing segment almost made Jon Moxley fka Dean Ambrose walk out of WWE

What's the story?

Jon Moxley, formerly known as Dean Ambrose, left WWE at the end of his contract in April 2019.

Speaking on the latest episode of ‘Talk Is Jericho’, Moxley discussed the day in November 2018 that he considered walking out of WWE.

In case you didn't know…

On the same Raw episode that Roman Reigns revealed that he had been diagnosed with leukemia for the second time, Dean Ambrose turned heel in October 2018 when he attacked fellow Shield member Seth Rollins at the end of the show.

In the weeks that followed, “The Lunatic Fringe” took the spotlight away from his rivalry with Rollins and instead directed his attention towards the fans, who he tried to protect himself from by wearing gas masks and taking rabies jabs.

The underwhelming storyline culminated in December 2018 at the TLC pay-per-view, where the match involving Rollins and Ambrose received “Boring! Boring!” chants from the crowd.

One month later, it was announced that Ambrose was going to leave WWE when his contract came to an end after WrestleMania 35.

The heart of the matter

Jon Moxley told Chris Jericho that he was so infuriated by WWE’s booking of the Dean Ambrose character that he wanted to walk out before an episode of Raw in November 2018.

He had been told on the morning of the show by a writer that he was going to receive rabies shots later that day on Raw in order to “inoculate himself” from fans.

Vince McMahon said the segment was “so well-written” and it would get him “a ton of heat”, but Moxley was not convinced.

“This is the day that I knew 100 per cent I was gone and there was no turning back. I actually almost walked out. Not really [he wasn’t going to go through with it], I’m glad I didn’t because I would’ve ended up in some legal stuff. I knew I was gone in July but I’m thinking, like, why rush it? It’s only eight more months or whatever.”

Moxley added that he always believed he could bounce back from “embarrassing” moments in the past, but the rabies segment was the final straw for him.

“I was always able to recover, but I remember sitting there thinking, ‘That might be the one I just can’t recover from.’”

What's next?

Jon Moxley will face Juice Robinson in NJPW on June 5 before taking on Joey Janela at AEW’s Fyter Fest event on June 29.