Jon Moxley

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Chioda Says Cena Wasn't Happy Losing to The Rock

Longtime WWE referee Mike Chioda officiated the first match between John Cena and The Rock at WrestleMania 28, and this week he provided his thoughts regarding Cena's mindset at the time.

During an appearance on the Monday Mailbag podcast (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Sai Mohan), Chioda said he felt Cena wasn't exactly over the moon about losing to The Rock: "I think Cena had a little bit of a problem doing the job because here's Cena carrying the torch for the last 10 years at that time. He was busting his ass, day in and day out. Here comes The Rock back after so many years of being in Hollywood and he's got to job out to the Rock?"

At the time, The Rock had not had a match in more than seven years, while Cena was well on his way to tying Ric Flair's all-time record of 16 world title reigns.

The Rock's return to WWE in 2011 after such a long layoff was a huge deal, though, and given WWE's desire to get multiple matches out of him, it ultimately made sense for him to beat Cena.

Rock would go on to beat CM Punk for the WWE Championship the following year, and then he put it on the line against Cena at WrestleMania 29.

It was there that Cena got his win back over The Rock and became WWE champion. The Rock also proverbially passed the torch after that match by shaking Cena's hand and raising his arm.

While The Rock did strike the first blow in his rivalry with Cena, the program was really designed for Cena to become even more firmly established as the face of WWE.

Simply beating The Rock at both WrestleMania 28 and 29 wouldn't necessarily have accomplished that, but after facing adversity with a loss, the WrestleMania 29 win meant that much more.

Moxley Talks Wanting Christian in AEW

AEW star Jon Moxley made a pitch Tuesday for a veteran talent to eschew a return to WWE in favor of AEW.

In an interview with Gary Cassidy of Inside The Ropes, Mox talked up Christian, who made his in-ring return at the Royal Rumble last month: 

"I'll tell you, a guy I'd like to see here is Christian. I don't know if that was a one-off for him in the Royal Rumble, but he looked frigging good to me, looked like he was in great shape, he looked sharp, man.

"I tell you, he's one of the guys that's—the wrestlers know it more so than anybody—Christian is so good. Like, his brain and his execution, and his mind for wrestling is just like next-level."

The 47-year-old Christian had not wrestled a true match since 2014 after essentially getting forced into retirement by injury, but he looked like he hadn't missed a beat when he entered the 2021 Rumble and was among the final few competitors remaining.

It remains unclear if there are more matches on deck for Christian in WWE, but if there aren't, Mox made a compelling argument for why AEW would be a good fit:

"The things that he could do with the wrestlers in AEW and all the creative freedom, but, you know, taking things but there's no hindrance on anything creatively here, obviously, we're having a frigging Exploding Deathmatch, so the things Christian could do at AEW, I would be extremely excited to see that. That would be my No. 1 dream guy."

While it doesn't seem like Christian's wrestling future is set in stone, it stands to reason that anything he does as an active competitor will happen in WWE since that is where his emotional return occurred.

Also, his longtime best friend is Edge, who will be challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 37.

Christian could help Edge out in that rivalry, or he could have a great feud and match for WrestleMania in his own right against someone like AJ Styles or intercontinental champion Big E.

Landing Christian would be a major coup for any company, including AEW, but given how good he looked in the Rumble, the odds of WWE letting him walk seem slim.

Booker Discusses Sting's Powerbomb Bump

WWE Hall of Famer gave his thoughts this week on 61-year-old fellow Hall of Famer Sting taking a big bump on AEW Dynamite last week.

On his Hall of Fame podcast (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marco Rovere), Booker expressed his opinion on why Sting felt the need to take a powerbomb from Brian Cage:

"You want to be a team player, you don't want to be a guy sitting on the sidelines, sitting on the bench. You want to get in the game. I know that's Sting's mentality, he's not going to want to go there and just get a paycheck. Don't treat me like I'm one of the old guys, he wants to feel like one of the boys. One of the ways to ingratiate yourself with the boys is to go out and take a big bump, go out there and do something crazy, jump off something.

"That's what Sting did, went out and took the biggest bump you could possibly take, which was the powerbomb by Brian Cage. It was a hard bump, definitely one of those bumps after coming off the deal with Seth Rollins he said I want to test myself. Let me test myself, go out here and see if I can still take it at 61 years old."

Booker made reference to Sting's last match, which was against Seth Rollins at WWE Night of Champions 2015.

That match marked the end of Sting's in-ring tenure in WWE, and for quite a while it looked like he would never wrestle again. Sting suffered a scary neck injury in the match, after which WWE shut him down, inducting him into the Hall of Fame and primarily using him as an ambassador.

Sting apparently wanted more than that, and he made his AEW debut in December. Recently, AEW announced that Sting will team with TNT champion Darby Allin to face Cage and Ricky Starks in a street fight at March 7's Revolution pay-per-view.

While Sting may have proven something to himself by taking the powerbomb, Booker said that he, at 55 years of age, wouldn't have done the same thing:

"I know taking a bump like that for me, I'll be 56 in a couple weeks and I know I'd be in a straight jacket. I can only wonder how he feels today after taking a powerbomb like that. Was it something that was warranted was my question. My answer is no. Beat me down, all you gotta do is beat me down, I will sell it like a car ran over me. We would've got what we needed out of this deal, but for him to actually go and take a powerbomb cold? Because you can't warm up to take a powerbomb if you haven't had a match, there ain't enough stretching in the world."

Sting deserves a lot of credit for being willing to put his body on the line given his age and injury history, but Booker's point seems to be in reference to working smarter rather than harder, especially at this stage.

If Sting wants to have some level of longevity in terms of being able to work some matches in AEW, avoiding big bumps like the powerbomb may be in his best interest moving forward.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Omega Talks Potential Match vs. Lesnar

Brock Lesnar is currently a free agent, meaning he is free to work with any wrestling company he chooses.

While it is difficult to envision Lesnar wrestling anywhere other than WWE, an intriguing dream match between The Beast Incarnate and a top AEW star was proposed Monday.

AEW world champion Kenny Omega was asked on Twitter about potentially wrestling Lesnar, and he responded: "Brock is one of the greatest athletes and performers of all time. I'd need more friends if I were to face him."

Omega's answer seemed to be somewhat in character, but it likely provided a good idea of what a Lesnar vs. Omega match might look like.

Given Omega's alignment with The Good Brothers, who have helped him in his rivalry against Jon Moxley, it stands to reason that Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson would help Omega against Lesnar.

Lesnar going to AEW is likely little more than a fantasy at this point, though, since WWE Chairman Vince McMahon would conceivably pay Brock whatever it takes to keep him in WWE and away from the competition.

In fact, a Lesnar return to WWE could already be in the works considering what is happening with the WWE Championship currently.

The Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Drew McIntyre to become the new WWE champion at Elimination Chamber on Sunday, but he is set to defend the title next Monday on Raw against Bobby Lashley, who helped him against McIntyre.

McIntyre has history with Lesnar, and it is no secret that Lashley badly wants a match against the latter. Since both McIntyre and Lashley figure to be in the WWE title picture at WrestleMania, it could open the door for Lesnar to re-enter the picture as well.

Moxley Shoots Down Possibility of WWE-AEW Partnership

AEW cultivating a working relationship with Impact Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling has led to speculation about a potential crossover with WWE in the future, but AEW star Jon Moxley has no belief something like that could happen.

Mox was asked about it during an interview with Inside the Ropes (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), and he quickly dismissed the possibility:

"That would never happen. That's not even worth wasting any mental energy to ... you know. I mean, if you want to fantasy book some cool s--t. You know, maybe you could fantasy book it for, like, fun magazine stuff. You know, like back in the day, in magazines, you used to always have, like, 'Dream match: Bill Goldberg vs. Steve Austin,' in '98. But that ain't gonna happen."

Moxley is among those who have worked on top in both AEW and WWE, so he understands the inner workings of both companies better than most.

The former AEW and WWE champion is taking a realistic approach, as WWE hasn't been known to work with its closest competitors since McMahon took the company both national and international in the 1980s.

Others in AEW have been more hopeful about working with WWE one day, including AEW President Tony Khan and executive vice presidents Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega. Khan and Rhodes are both open to a working relationship with WWE should the opportunity ever present itself. Meanwhile, Omega expressed his belief that AEW working with WWE is possible if Triple H takes over WWE in the future.

Omega negotiated with Triple H before deciding to join AEW, so he may understand his WWE counterpart's mindset better than some of the others who have commented on a possible partnership.

For now, though, it is difficult to envision WWE having any interest in working with AEW, and Mox clearly isn't getting his hopes up.

Miz Puts Himself on WWE Mount Rushmore

The Miz became a two-time WWE champion when he cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Drew McIntyre at Elimination Chamber on Sunday, and The A-Lister has a strong opinion about where that places him in the annals of WWE history.

During an interview with TMZ Sports, Miz mentioned an impressive accomplishment now on his resume and suggested that it puts him among the all-time wrestling elites:

"I am the first-ever two-time Grand Slam champion. That means I've held [the WWE Championship] title twice. The Intercontinental more than twice. The United States champion twice and Tag Team Championships twice.

"I am the only one in the history of this business to be a two-time Grand Slam champion. So in my opinion, I'm on the Mount Rushmore of WWE."

Miz put himself on pro wrestling's Mount Rushmore alongside Hulk Hogan and John Cena. He continued by saying that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock and Ric Flair could battle it out for the fourth and final spot.

As awesome as The Miz is, it is fair to say that he may be sensationalizing a bit since he put himself ahead of some of the all-time greats.

With that said, Miz's resume speaks for itself. He has now held 20 championships during his 15 years in WWE, and he is a two-time holder of the Money in the Bank contract as well.

Considering most felt he was better suited for reality TV when he debuted in WWE, it is fair to say he has overcome more than most of the all-time greats to get to this point.

Arguing something like the Mount Rushmore of a certain profession is always a subjective discussion, but there is no question that Miz is a future WWE Hall of Famer, which is something few predicted when his career began.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Jon Moxley continues to get the most out of his freedom provided by AEW.

The former AEW champion made his second Bloodsport appearance Saturday night, defeating Davey Boy Smith Jr. via knockout in the main event.

Moxley and Smith traded shoot headbutts and hard strikes throughout the match, which in typical Bloodsport fashion featured a mix of MMA-style strikes and traditional catch wrestling. Moxley was able to score a knockout after reversing Smith's toe hold and hitting him with a Paradigm Shift.

Bloodsport is the first match of what will be a few huge weeks in Moxley's career. Mox will defend his IWGP United States championship against Kenta on Feb. 26, a little more than a week ahead of his March 7 exploding barbed-wire deathmatch against Kenny Omega at AEW Revolution for the AEW championship.

That three-week run of matches is one of the most notable for a wrestler in recent memory, and Moxley got off to a strong start in defeating Smith. 

Moxley previously defeated Chris Dickinson at last October's Bloodsport event.