Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley's history together goes well beyond the Blackpool Combat Club.
From November 2012 until June 2014, Jon Moxley was in one of professional wrestling's most iconic factions, The Shield. At the time, the man then known as Dean Ambrose was on a path that would eventually see him crowned WWE Champion. His journey to AEW, however, wasn't taken alone. In addition to Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, Moxley has stated that Castagnoli (then Cesaro) and Bryan Danielson (then Daniel Bryan) were also integral parts of The Shield.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Castagnoli, who is the reigning Ring of Honor Champion, reacted to Moxley's comments, sharing that they two of them were riding together long before Jon got called up to The Shield.
“For Jon to say we were like extra members is very kind. I was riding with Jon before he got called up with The Shield but was on the road for almost a year. Then we were all riding together when they became The Shield. So our ways have been intertwined for a long time. I learned a lot from Jon, and we have a lot of memories from the road. We were joking yesterday before the show about the two of us walking around Tokyo looking for a wrestling store on our first WWE tour in Japan. And now we’re here doing what we do best in NJPW," Castagnoli said.
Elsewhere during the interview, Claudio discussed his NJPW debut. Click here to read his comments.
Castagnoli's stablemate, Bryan Danielson, challenged Kazuchika Okada to a match at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door during a surprise appearance at NJPW Dominion. More information is available here.
Click here to check out the card for the June 7 episode of AEW Dynamite. Fightful will have live coverage of the show as it airs.
