Jon Moxley is used to getting hyped up for a big wrestling match but the AEW Champion got himself psyched in a different way for his latest on-screen role.
Moxley recently spoke with Wrestlezone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard while promoting his new film “Cagefighter: Worlds Collide” which is set to premiere on FITE on Saturday, May 16. Moxley plays Randy Stone in the movie, a story about a “fight between a Pro Wrestling champion and an MMA champion inside a fabled cage of legends.”
The cast features several other big names from professional wrestling and MMA, including WWE’s Christian (Jay Reso) and UFC stars Chuck Liddell, Luke Rockhold and Alex Montagnani. Moxley said that he didn’t get to share too much screen time with Liddell, but the on-set experience was still rewarding because he’s always held the ‘Iceman’ in high regard and it was one of the best parts of the whole shoot.
“We had so much downtime in between takes, waiting for them to set cameras up, we’d have time to shoot the crap but what an awesome dude to just be on set with. I’ve been such a huge fan of him for his whole career. I don’t really watch a lot of regular sports—football, baseball—to me, he’s Mickey Mantle. He hung out, told cool stories about fighting, stuff like that. He was a really interesting guy to just hang out with, what a cool experience.”
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Moxley talked about being well-prepared for ‘Cagefighter’ due to his years of experience as a professional wrestler, noting a wrestler’s wide range of talent and abilities. Despite being prepared for the screen in that sense, Moxley said that’s it still a different challenge in keeping your energy at the right level and explained the differences in getting ready for a match compared to a fight scene.
“In WWE we’d say we’re the ‘Navy Seals of entertainment’—we can do a little bit of everything. Improv, stunts, be dramatic, funny, off-the-cuff, so coming from the pro wrestling world I feel like you’re pretty well prepared for doing movies. The big difference here is it’s a bit slower, there’s not that excitement of ‘we’re live on TV on AEW Dynamite here we go!!!’
“We’re doing a fight scene in a big, empty, freezing cold warehouse over 10-12 hours, three days in a row and we didn’t have our own stunt guys. We created the fight and executed everything on our own so we’re really taking falls, throws, and keeping that energy up over such a long period of time is pretty challenging. Just staying warm, you don’t want your body to get cold in between takes or get injured, so mostly keeping your intensity up over a long period of time is a much different challenge. It’s a different management of your energy, if that makes sense.
“On a TV day or a pay-per-view day, certainly main eventing a pay-per-view, I’ll roll into the building, I’ll chill out or relax. I’ll take a nap, I try not to expend any extra energy until ‘game time’ and then as the evening progresses I’ll start to walk around a little more, loosen up and then go into a full warm-up, listen to music. It’s like a build to one big explosion for twenty minutes at the end of the night, opposed to getting hyped up then chilling for 20 minutes, getting hyped and [doing that] over and over for three days straight.”
Cagefighter: Worlds Collide premieres on FITE on Saturday, May 16; check out our full interview with Jon Moxley at the top of this post.
Read More: Jon Moxley ‘Super Proud’ Of Jericho Feud, Explains How Different It’d Be In WWE
The Watch List will take a look at what matches you should be watching while you’re at home and they come recommended by today’s pro wrestling stars.
Jon Moxley says he’s still watching a lot of wrestling, noting that he’s keeping with today’s televised shows but also likes to just recommended content on YouTube.
“I’m still watching all wrestling really. When RAW is on, I’ll throw that on, when Dynamite’s on now, I’ll check out what’s going on. I’ve been checking out some of the MLW shows too, MLW Fusion, they’ve got some pretty good shows there too. They still have stuff they taped when there was still crowds. Davey Boy Smith Jr. is there, ‘Filthy’ Tom [Lawlor] is there, they’ve got some good stuff so that’s definitely worth checking out. You can go back on Bleacher Report and watch all of the AEW pay-per-views, that’s all there for people to watch.
A lot of the time, [you] have suggestions pop-up on your phone and you go down the YouTube rabbit hole of watching all of these wacky matches from all over the world. I watch a ton of wrestling. I’ll start talking about a match and I’m talking to my wife about it, it’s like ‘we’ve got to put this on!’ It’s definitely a good time for a YouTube rabbit hole.”
Check out some of the full-length matches that are available free to watch in the link below. We’ve selected Moxley’s AEW match with Joey Janela as well as his Future Stars Of Wrestling battle with Killer Kross. You also can watch some of Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Tom Lawlor’s recent matches, and a Pro Wrestling NOAH battle between the Killer Elite Squad and War Machine.
Jon Moxley vs. Joey Janela — Non-sanctioned Match
AEW Fyter Fest – June 29, 2019
Jon Moxley vs. Killer Kross
FSW Natural Born Killers – July 5, 2019
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs. Killer Kross
MLW Fusion 101 – February 1, 2020
“Filthy” Tom Lawlor vs. Ross Von Erich
MLW Fusion 98 – January 11, 2020
Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Brian Pillman Jr. — MLW Opera Cup Finals
MLW Opera Cup 2019 – December 5, 2019
Killer Elite Squad vs. War Machine
Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Great Voyage 2015 in Osaka – September 19, 2015
WATCH: Jon Moxley Goes Down The YouTube Rabbit Hole, Check Out Some ‘Killer’ Full-Length Matches
