Channing Thomas: The Industry Needs More Leaders Like Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley is not only considered to be one of the best wrestlers in the world by fans and his peers, he’s viewed as a benchmark by many given his work ethic and wanting to give back to the sport. 

Though Moxley is signed to AEW, he makes various independent appearances in effort to bring attention to the indie scene. 

Speaking to Jeremy Lambert & Stephen Jensen on The Spotlight, Channing Thomas reflected on facing Jon Moxley at NEW Wrestlefest XXVI in 2022. 

“I wrestled Jon Moxley and I was like, ‘wow, that was a different level.’ When I wrestled him, I believe he had just come out of alcohol rehab the week before. His first match was Ethan Page on a live Rampage, and the next night he wrestled me, and the following night he wrestled Homicide for GCW. You look at a guy like that, a guy that’s given his body, his life, to the independents, and that’s really where he found himself on the independents. He goes and works for WWE, which is awesome and fantastic, but he’s a guy who understands how important the independents are to wrestling. You look back when he showed up at a random AAW match in Chicago in a barbed wire massacre. He’s one of those guys that loves wrestling and you can tell he loves wrestling. The industry needs more leaders like that,” he said. 

Moxley entered inpatient alcohol treatment in November 2021. He returned to wrestling in January 2022, jumping right back in the ring. 

When asked if he spoke to Moxley before their match, Channing replied, “He’s an extremely private guy. We talked twice, he’s very to the point. Not a lot of face time with him, but as a fellow person who kind of wants to be alone sometimes, I respect that. He wasn’t advertised for the show, he was a big surprise. Him just being there is incredible and speaks volumes to how he feels about independent wrestling as a whole.”

Moxley defeated Channing in under three minutes. 

Both Moxley and Channing are now champions as Moxley holds the AEW International Championship while Channing holds the Limitless World Championship. 

Fans can watch the full interview with Channing in the video above.