AEW champion Jon Moxley explains how the biggest challenges that come with wrestling without a live audience are mental

• AEW champion Jon Moxley will defend his title against Brodie Lee at "Double or Nothing" on Saturday, May 23.
• But instead of performing in front of an amped crowd in his home town of Las Vegas, Moxley will instead be facing his challenger without the benefit of a live audience.
• Moxley told Insider that without fans in attendance to urge him on, the biggest challenge as a performer is to "get in your own head."
• Before his match against Lee, Moxley's new film, "Cagefighter: Worlds Collide," will premiere on Saturday, May 16 at 7 p.m. ET on FITE TV.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

In the world of professional wrestling, the show must go on.

While the coronavirus pandemic put most of the sports world on an extended pause, professional wrestling forged on, adjusting on the fly to the new reality of their situation.

The biggest change for these athletes — aside from the entirety of the world around them — is performing in front of empty seats, rather than packed arenas filled with screaming fans.

According to AEW champion Jon Moxley, it's not a change that comes easy.

Moxley spoke with Insider ahead of his latest film — "Cagefighter: Worlds Collide," which premieres Saturday, May 16 at 7 p.m. ET on FITE TV.

Asked about the challenges of performing without a crowd, Moxley said the lack of a live audience had a big effect on his mentality during matches.

"There's a huge difference. The biggest thing is you gotta get in your own head a lot," Moxley said. "You can be so tired and jetlagged and whatever, but the second you walk through the crowd and you got adrenaline burning, and a crowd going nuts, you ride the wave of the crowd."

Moxley said that lack of the give-and-take between athletes and audience that is usually such an important part of live wrestling shows changes the perspective of a match, and forces him to focus and stay patient.

"What we're doing the ring kind of depends on — it's kind of like surfing. You're riding the ups and downs of the waves and your just kind of controlling the crowd, but also riding with the crowd," Moxley said. "Maybe something happens on the fly that gets a big reaction, and you go with that — and that wasn't your original plan. But without a crowd, you gotta really lock into your own head, and just tell your story, and be patient, and just get in a zone to where it's real."

"When I'm at my best, I will convince myself — whether that's in the ring or on the mic or whatever — I'll convince myself that this is real. I've gone in the ring against a William Regal or a [Minoru] Suzuki or a [Tomohoro] Ishii or whoever, and I've convinced myself that I hate this guy. Or if I'm on the mic, I've convinced myself that I'm gonna kill this man. And with no crowd behind you, you really have to get into that mindset."

While getting into the right headspace for a match was certainly more natural with a raucous crowd, Moxley said that locking into his matches is made easier by the fact that the AEW roster is stocked with talent that he's eager to perform with.

"We have so much young great talent that everyone is talking about in AEW, but something I was thinking the other day was 'Damn we have so many awesome veterans.' I got the opportunity to work with Christopher Daniels for the first time in my career — we just never crossed paths. I got the opportunity to work with Frankie Kazarian the other night, we never crossed paths either."

"I watched him when I was a teenager, he's like, top of the food chain. He's a dude that can main event anywhere in the world, he can literally do it all. And to have an opportunity to be like, 'you and Frankie,' 'oh cool,' and me and Frankie just go to the ring and work."

Moxley is set to defend his AEW championship against Brodie Lee at "Double or Nothing," on Saturday, May 23 — a match that was supposed to take place in front of a packed house in Moxley's home city, Las Vegas.

With the event moved to Florida and without a live audience, Moxley won't have the hometown reception that should have come with his entrance as champion.

But with or without a crowd, he'll be ready to put on a show.

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Read the original article on Insider