5 backstage incidents that made Jon Moxley leave WWE (and how they could've been avoided)

Jon Moxley is all set for a new beginning in All Elite Wrestling. It hasn't been long since he was just one of several disgruntled Superstars in WWE, who were unhappy with their positions on the roster. With his heel turn bombing gloriously, the future was looking bleak for Jon Moxley.

Suddenly, he made waves when it was announced that he had requested his release from WWE. The speculation mill began spinning rapidly, with fans wondering whether All Elite Wrestling's arrival on the professional wrestling scene had anything to do with Moxley's decision to quit.

Last weekend, Moxley appeared at Double Or Nothing and proceeded to attack Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega. The thunderous debut sent the fans in a frenzy. Days after his debut, Moxley appeared on Chris Jericho's "Talk is Jericho" podcast.

The interview soon became the most listened edition in TIJ history. Moxley spilled the beans on what led to his exit from WWE. Let's take a look at 5 incidents that made Moxley move on to look for greener pastures and how WWE could've avoided them.

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#5 Vince sent back a promo to Ambrose, after adding all the stuff Dean had removed

Ambrose and Vince

One backstage incident saw Ambrose send a promo back to Vince, after changing it completely. McMahon proceeded to write the promo again and add everything Ambrose had just removed. He then told Ambrose that the promo was good and it suited his character.

Dictating promos to Superstars has been a major issue in WWE since a while now. The situation could have been avoided by simply letting Ambrose do his thing without giving him back the same promo that he originally didn't want to do. He has proved time and again that he can work a mic, and giving him a chance to do his shtick instead of giving him the same thing he had just rejected, was a bad decision.

#4 Ambrose's idea of returning as a heel was shot down

Ambrose' heel turn came in a bit late

Dean Ambrose missed last year's WrestleMania due to an injury. He wanted to come back as a heel and have his character go in a completely new direction. Ambrose met Vince in New York and pitched a feud with Seth Rollins, or a move to SmackDown Live. Unfortunately, WWE had already advertised The Shield for Australia's Super ShowDown event in October, which meant that he couldn't turn heel any time soon. Ambrose wasn't too thrilled with it.

Long-term planning seldom works. Remember how WWE began planning a Women's Title match between Ronda Rousey and Charlotte at WrestleMania 35, around a year in advance? Becky Lynch's popularity forced the company to change plans in a hurry, and she ended up winning the match she wasn't even meant to be a part of.

Similarly, advertising The Shield for an event several months down the line wasn't a good idea, as it put a brake on potential plans and angles that could have been done in mid-2018.

#3 The promo with the rabies shots

Ambrose getting a shot

Ambrose recalled an incident while talking with Jericho, which saw a writer explain to him that he would be getting rabies shots in a promo to innoculate himself against the fans, garnering him heel heat. He told the writer that he hated the promo. Later, Vince learned that Ambrose didn't want to do the promo. He met him and told him that the promo was good and would help him get tons of heel heat.

The segment was another black mark on Ambrose's waning WWE career, and didn't help his fledgling heel turn one bit. According to Ambrose, he was being fed goofy promos like this for a while at that point and he had become tired of it. Eventually, the heel turn flopped and he was turned babyface during his final months in WWE.

Safe to say, with the benefit of hindsight, they should have just scrapped this when Ambrose complained.

#2 He felt WWE intentionally buried him with the exchange with Nia Jax

Ambrose and Nia

After Nia Jax's appearance in the Men's Royal Rumble match, she confronted Dean Ambrose on an episode of Monday Night Raw. Jax went on to throw him out of the ring, and nothing came out of the feud as weeks passed.

In a backstage meeting, Ambrose had told Triple H and Vince that he was leaving, and the segment was immediately planned for him. He felt that this was WWE punishing him for deciding to leave the company.

Months later, The Revival rejected a lucrative contract and were soon put in an angle where Dash Wilder was seen shaving Scott Dawson's back. Incidents like this one give weight to Ambrose' claim that the segment with Nia was, in fact, a way to get back at him.

A better idea for Vince would have been to sit down with Ambrose and try to convince him to stay, by offering him a bunch of perks and a push to the main event scene. The segment with Nia was completely unnecessary, looking at how it didn't go anywhere past that one night.

#1 Ambrose was disgusted by a heel promo that was pitched to him

Ambrose and Reigns

Ambrose turned heel on the same night Roman Reigns left WWE to resume his battle with leukemia. Vince convinced Ambrose to mock Reigns' leukemia in a promo to get heel heat. Ambrose wasn't comfortable doing the promo, but went along with it. He added that he was asked to use a line that could've resulted in a PR disaster for WWE, and he decided against it.

Making fun of a life-threatening disease has never sat well with the WWE Universe. It does give incredible heel heat to the villain, but it's not the kind of heat one would want. Years later, fans still cringe when they talk about Randy Orton or Batista mocking Eddie Guerrero's death.

A near-fatal disease isn't something that should be ever made a part of a storyline. A better idea would have been for Ambrose to target Rollins, with a line thrown in about Reigns not being there to intervene and save him.