So, Dean Ambrose made his triumphant return a couple of weeks ago and the wrestling world was agog with the changes the Lunatic Fringe: Short hair (goodbye bangs), much more muscular (hello, five pack!), and a new attitude. Gone was the goofy, funny lunatic of old, this Ambrose barely spoke and seemed to be more interested in caving in faces than anything else. Which begs the question: Is that Dean Ambrose, or did Jon Moxley sneak in the backdoor?

For those of you who don’t know, Jon Moxley was Dean Ambrose’s ring name before he came to WWE and Jon Moxley’s tear through the indies is something of legend. He made his name by participating in matches even ECW would deem too dangerous: Tangled Web matches (Barb wire done in the shape of a spiderweb. No, I’m not kidding.), glass table matches, Death Matches (basically last man standing matches, only MUCH bloodier), Drunken Death Matches (okay, I only know of him doing one of these), basically the more dangerous and nasty, the better.

Even more well known were his promos, which were compelling because they portrayed Moxley as an angry, damaged, more than slightly unhinged, young man that didn’t care if he survived the next match, never mind caring if his opponents survived. If you’ve never had the chance to see his promos, I highly recommend them.

It goes without saying that Jon Moxley was nowhere near PG enough for WWE, but a stint in FCW/NXT tamed down the madman from Cincinnati into the Lunatic Fringe, Dean Ambrose. However, Mox did come to the surface a few times, especially right after the Shield split up. My favorite example is the promo he cut on Seth Rollins in 2016 right before the Brand Split. If you’re so dialed into a promo that you scare your friends, you’re doing it right.

So what makes me think that Jon Moxley snuck in the backdoor and no one realizes it? For one, Mox was generally a loner. Yes, he was part of a couple of factions, namely Kamikaze USA, where he managed a young talent named Akira Tozawa, as well as several other Japanese athletes in Dragon Gate USA against Bryan Danielson. Rejoining Reigns and Rollins, golden boys of WWE, is not something Moxley would do. Moxley would target guys like Reigns and Rollins, not join them and be buddy-buddy with them.

On the flip side, it could simply be a case of Dean not feeling as connected to Reigns and Rollins, which would be understandable given that while he sat at home for eight months, unable to compete in the business that he loves,  Reigns and Rollins seemed to flourish without him, winning big matches and titles, while Dean sat at home. Dean readily helped Seth win the IC belt by keeping McIntyre from interfering and helped Reigns escape a cash-in attempt, and came to Reigns’ rescue last week on RAW, however, he could have ulterior motives for doing those things, such as wanting to beat his friends himself for those titles.

Would WWE really take the step of letting Ambrose bring back the persona that made him a legend in the indies, in a more PG friendly version? Maybe, if they were planning on building him as a major heel down the road and pitting him against either Reigns or Rollins, or maybe both. Either way, Ambrose’s new attitude, along with his new look, has been a breath of fresh air and seeing where it goes is going to be fun.