Top AEW star says he has "infinite respect" for Jon Moxley for quitting WWE

A top AEW Star recently praised Jon Moxley for quitting WWE and making a move to the upstart Jacksonville-based company, explaining that he had infinite respect for the former World Champion. The star in question is Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

After working in the Stamford-based company for nine years, Jon Moxley left in 2019. A few months later, the former WWE Champion shocked the pro wrestling world by debuting at AEW's inaugural pay-per-view, Double or Nothing. Since then, The Purveyor of Violence has stayed with the Jacksonville-based promotion and has won the AEW World Championship thrice.

In his recent article for The Players' Tribune, current World Champion MJF wrote that Jon Moxley's departure from WWE, despite being a top star in Vince McMahon's promotion, was extraordinary:

"The thing you have to understand with Mox is that he chose AEW. Maybe that sounds obvious, but it’s not. It’s hard to explain. It’s like people have these weird emotional scars about wrestling, from so many years of there being only one game in town. Where it’s like..… Ok. You wrestled classics in Ring of Honor? You were a top guy on the indies? You sold out arenas in Mexico? You were (literally) “big in Japan”? Cool…… have you ever said “Welcome to Monday Night Raw,” though?? I just think there’s a segment of fans who would always assume, no matter what, that WWE was Plan A. But Jon took a f*cking sledgehammer to that assumption."

The Salt of the Earth added that he has infinite respect for the 38-year-old for taking the extreme step in the prime of his career.

"He was part of WWE’s Plan A. He headlined there for half a decade. Was their world champ, was in their biggest stable, drew money, drew ratings, moved a**loads of merch. And in the absolute prime of his career he said, Thanks for the memories, thanks for the gigantic offer. But I’mma try this other thing over here. That’s the sh*t a lot of guys will TALK about doing. Jon is the one guy who actually went out and did it. Dude has my infinite respect," MJF continued.

Jon Moxley set to face Eddie Kingston at AEW Worlds End

On the most recent edition of Dynamite, Jon Moxley defeated Swerve Strickland and Jay White in the Gold League final of the Continental Classic Tournament.

In the Blue League Final, Eddie Kingston exorcised his demons by defeating Bryan Danielson for the first time in his career and advanced to the tournament's climax.

Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston will square off at the AEW Worlds End pay-per-view on December 30, 2023 for the Triple Crown Championship. This title includes the inaugural Continental Championship as well as the ROH World and NJPW Strong Openweight Championships.

MJF gets honest about his relationship with Cody Rhodes. Read the full story here.