Jon Moxley talks deal with NJPW & WrestleKingdom 14 plans
Jon Moxley has been one of the most talked-about wrestlers in the business since leaving WWE last year. He has made quite the impact since his departure, becoming the current AEW World Champion and NJPW's IWGP United States Champion. This week, Moxley had a very interesting interview on Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer and Garrett Gonzales.
There were multiple things covered during this tell-all interview with the AEW World Champion including his reaction to the WWE ThunderDome and how the biggest problem with WWE right now is Vince McMahon. Jon Moxley also went into detail about his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling, what his contract situation is with the promotion, and how they layout plans prior to his arrival.
Jon Moxley said in regards to his current contract situation with New Japan:
“I don’t have a contract. I guess we are on a non-specific verbal agreement because they know I like going there and they like having me there. As far as the U.S. Title in New Japan, we’re working on it. I don’t know exactly when or where I will meet the winner of this tournament that is going on.”
The major plan in place for his time with NJPW was for him to have his feud with former New Japan dojo boy, Juice Robinson, before he would be facing a major returning star to the promotion.
Jon Moxley vs Karl Anderson was planned for WrestleKingdom 14
Following the official end to their 90-day non compete clause, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson of the Good Brothers had their Talk N' Shop Podcast. Among the things covered, they talked about their time negotiating with both AEW and NJPW when their WWE deals were coming up. In talking about plans for NJPW, Anderson said that they discussed plans for him to face IWGP United States Champion Jon Moxley at WrestleKingdom 14. Now with this recent interview, Moxley confirms those plans.
Jon Moxley said that his original deal with NJPW was supposed to go from June of 2019 until January's Tokyo Dome dual shows for WrestleKingdom 14. With that deal in place, the creative plans were for him to finish up with Juice Robinson before moving on to feud with another former NJ dojo boy, the returning Karl Anderson. Moxley expressed excitement with those plans. However, with Anderson resigning with WWE, those plans were nixed.
Jon Moxley's further plans with NJPW were changed when he could not make the October King of Pro Wrestling show in Japan, which caused him to be stripped of the US Title. However, Moxley won back the gold on the first night of the Wrestle Kingdom event defeating Lance Archer, before defeating Juice in their planned rematch on the second night.
If those plans would have reached fruition though, we probably would not have been gifted with what Moxley called a "Wrestle Kingdom Moment" when he went face to face with Minoru Suzuki. This is just another example of the give and take of the wrestling world.