In November 2021 Jon Moxley entered an inpatient alcohol treatment and was removed from all AEW bookings for the foreseeable future. After completing the program the star took a break from the ring before returning to AEW Dynamite in January 2022.
In recent months Moxley has discussed being in a really bad place before entering the program, commenting that he was “all f*cked up” before seeking help.
“I Was Afraid Of Dying” – Jon Moxley
In a new interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer Jon Moxley again addressed this difficult period of his career revealing that he feared he would have a seizure and die in the ring.
“Over a year ago, I was afraid of dying of a seizure in the ring. I had that on my mind every day. It was all (messed) up, and going through an absolute personal hell for a long time that nobody else even knew about. When you’re scared for your actual life, to make the decision to go to rehab and (stuff) was basically – I had to basically assume I’m giving everything away. I was like, OK, I’m either going to live a long, happy life and raise my kid and be a person, or I can wrestle. But I can’t have both,”
Continuing on, the AEW World Champion reflected on being welcomed back to All Elite Wrestling by the fans.
“But when I got out, it turned out that nobody was mad at me at all. Everybody was very happy. I was welcomed back by AEW and by the fans, and it was just like, go and get back to it. And when you’ve already lost everything, all you fear for is your life, literally and figuratively. If I had taken another step in the wrong direction, I could have been on the verge of losing my family if I had gone that way. If I had kept going in another direction, I could have died on live television. I could have literally lost everything.
So to make that choice, I had to completely give away everything. I’ll never wrestle in this arena again, I’ll never get to wrestle in front of these fans again, I’ll never get to be on TV again, I’ll never win a championship again, I’ll never make any money again, I’ll go back and get my old job at the arena – I don’t know. I had to give it all away,”
The star went on to break down how he has a very different perspective on wrestling making his return to the ring.
“Now there’s kind of nothing to lose. What, am I gonna lose a match? Will I screw up a move? Like, what could possibly go wrong? Almost nothing. Big f’n deal. Am I alive? OK, I think it was a fine day, then,”
Since coming back to All Elite Wrestling Jon Moxley has become the first three-time World Champion in company history. While it has been announced that his next defence will come against MJF at Full Gear.