Jon Moxley is back. He’s out of jail…
Anyone who has followed professional wrestling over the past decade knows the name Jon Moxley. And if you don’t? You definitely know the name Dean Ambrose. It seemed like overnight that Dean Ambrose rose to the top of the WWE roster and suddenly… his booking hit rock bottom.
How rock bottom is rock bottom for him?
Well… after a disastrous and mentally torturous heel run in 2018, Dean Ambrose lost himself. He was depressed, angry, and struggled to find purpose in the wrestling world. He knew he was going to leave the WWE, that when his contract was up for renewal? He was walking out the door and he wasn’t going to look back unless it was to throw up the bird in Vince McMahon’s face.
MOX details Jon Moxley’s journey from indie kid to WWE Superstar to AEW powerhouse. And it does it perfectly. It’s a story that I don’t think could have been told by anyone other than Mox himself. The book reads just like Mox interviews. It’s chaotic, out of order, riddled with profanity, and absolutely enthralling.
You don’t need to know the pro-wrestling injury to appreciate this book… but it certainly helps. Much of the story revolves around the different promotions that Mox worked with over the years. From training to deathmatches to being brought onto the WWE main roster with the rest of The Shield. If you’ve followed his career, this feels a lot more satisfying. If you haven’t?
It reads like an underdog story. You can feel his excitement through the way he writes. When he reminisces on the good days of WWE, there is so much passion put behind his words that you can almost see him bouncing, eager to get back into the ring and create more best moments.
It’s interesting to note that this book was written mid-pandemic. It was written during a time when a free spirit was trapped in his house with just his wife, stir crazy and itching for something to do. And I would be willing to bet that the timing is exactly why this book is as good as it is. The pandemic is mentioned multiple times in the book and I have to wonder if that’s the reason he was able to sit down and really put his whole soul into the book.
MOX is a study in the wrestling world. Not only as an industry but as a family. The way Mox talks about his teammates and coworkers is more brotherly than anything else. There’s praise written for familiar names such as Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Chris Jericho. There’s an entire chapter dedicated to Brodie Lee and how great of a man he was.
Mox doesn’t hold back. If he loves someone and their work? You know it.
If he hates them? He doesn’t mince words about how little he thinks of them. There’s a standout moment near the end of the book in which Mox lays into Kevin Dunn, an Executive Producer with WWE. He tells a story about a moment he profusely apologized to Dunn after cursing on live television and how Dunn, to his face, claimed everything was fine… only to find out later that Dunn didn’t think it was the right kind of apology. On reflection, Mox has come to the conclusion, probably rightly so, that Kevin Dunn is indeed a “****bag”.
It’s moments like these that make you fall in love with MOX. It isn’t clean and it isn’t overproduced. No one went through with a fine-tooth comb to make sure he didn’t say anything they didn’t like. It’s just refreshingly honest.
A cool note for me… in between all of his stories, Mox throws in what he calls “Spin it Up” and “Flick Pick”. The reader gets an inside look at the soundtrack and the movies that inspire him. Some of them are far from what you’d expect.
While MOX may not be the best-written book… it is definitely one of the best books I’ve read in the past couple of years. There’s something about how raw the stories are and how passionate Mox is about what he does and who he is. I’m now more excited than ever to see where his career takes him.
MOX
4.8 | 3,205 ratings
Price: 18.8
Last update: 06-15-2024
About this item
Top reviews from the United States
Haley
You Can't Win in the 11th Hour if you Quit in the Tenth
Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2021
Chris Smith
Well Written, Full of Heart!
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2022jackie frady
Wow!!!
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2023Don
Liked Mox before getting this book, but he's one of my all time favorites now
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2024Chris Scharnagle
An unexpected surprise
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2022M.F.
Decent, not for everyone, mox could have used a better editor
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2021
Will & Angel
Great read!
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2023Ed
Amazing look at a wild career
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2023