How long has Jon Moxley been the IWGP US Champion?
In April 2019, Dean Ambrose left WWE to pursue a career in AEW. His departure proved to be a blessing in disguise, as the former WWE Champion finally got the opportunity to showcase his true potential to the wrestling universe.
He brought back his Jon Moxley persona, a lone wolf-type character that only believes in violence. He impressed the fans with his work in AEW, proving that he could be a reliable main-eventer. In February 2020, he also captured the AEW World Championship and went on to have a long run with the title.
He has been one of the top faces of the promotion since his debut. Hopefully, he will continue to be so in the future. However, Jon Moxley's greatness is not just limited to AEW. Moxley is also an active member of the NJPW roster, where he is the current reigning IWGP US Champion.
Jon Moxley's US title reign has been nothing less than record-breaking. He has been the Champion for a very long time and has bagged numerous accolades. His battles against top names like Lance Archer, Juice Robinson, and KENTA have done a great job in elevating the status of the championship.
Through this historic title reign, The Death Rider has earned a lot of popularity among the Japanese audience. But when did it all begin? Who did Jon Moxley beat to become the IWGP US Champion? For how long has he been the Champion?
In this article, let's find answers to all these questions by looking back at Jon Moxley's record-breaking IWGP US title reign.
How long has Jon Moxley held the IWGP US title?
Jon Moxley is currently in his second reign as the IWGP US Champion. He first won the title in June 2019 by defeating Juice Robinson in a brutal match. However, he failed to appear at NJPW's King of Wrestling pay-per-view in October 2019, which resulted in him getting stripped off the title.
Moxley didn't let the title stay out of his hold for too long. He returned to NJPW in January 2020 and dethroned the then US Champ, Lance Archer, at Wrestle Kingdom 14. It marked the beginning of Moxley's second reign as the IWGP US Champ, which is still going pretty strong.
As of this writing, Jon Moxley has been the Champion for about 562+ days. It is a pretty brilliant feat, considering Moxley is the longest-reigning US Champion of modern-day WWE as well. His title reign has played an integral role in solidifying the AEW-NJPW partnership. No one seems to be dethroning the Death Rider anytime soon.
Jon Moxley has been spectacular as a Champion so far. He has earned some remarkable victories over veteran superstars like Yuji Nagata and Minoru Suzuki. Although he failed to fulfill his duties for the majority of 2020-21, Moxley managed to make up for that time with his recent title defenses.
Jon Moxley recently made his return at Night 1 of AEW Fyter Fest pay-per-view. He defended his IWGP US title against the Machine Gun, Karl Anderson. It was the second time in history that the prestigious title was getting defended in AEW.
After a highly competitive match, Moxley planted Anderson with a Paradigm Shift to retain his championship.
Who do you see dethroning Jon Moxley for the IWGP US title? Sound off in the comments below.