After weeks of a video shown during New Japan Pro Wrestling events, we finally got the answer: Jon Moxley will be facing Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship at the Best of the Super Junior finals on June 5th. The match will headline the show.
Up until early Monday morning, Juice Robinson was set to face the mysterious X. “X” being the place holder NJPW uses for when they plan on debuting a new wrestler. If Moxley hadn’t already shocked the wrestling world in Vegas this past Saturday, he certainly did it again only two days later.
All Elite Wrestling’s President Tony Khan told the press after Double or Nothing about Moxley’s contract. “When we go weekly, he’s gonna be working full-time, but same as with the other guys, especially when the schedule is light, I’m gonna be open to him working some international and indie dates.” Before anyone jumps for joy about a AEW/NJPW working relationship, read this quote from NJPW’s President Howard Meij.
NJPW and Moxley came to terms on the agreement well before he signed with AEW and our understanding is that even now he is free to wrestle in Japan with us independently of his AEW commitments.
Jon Moxley In NJPW: The Possibilities
With fan’s heads filled with dream matches with the All Elite Wrestling roster, the possibilities became even bigger with this news. Howard Meij was also quoted as saying the Moxley/NJPW deal is for “multiple” dates. Obviously any and all matches Moxley could have against the New Japan roster would be considered a “dream match”. But, in this writer’s mind, there are a couple of standouts. Seeing Moxley take on Tetsuya Naito was something I thought I would never see, but it’s a possibility now. We all recall that Vince McMahon became enamored with how tall Kazuchika Okada was. Now that, would be a fantastic match to see. Unfortunately for VKM, it would be happening in a New Japan ring.
Could Moxley win the IWGP United States Championship the first time out? The Best of the Super Juniors Final airs on NJPWWorld this coming Wednesday, June 5th at 2:30AM PST.
