Before Jon Moxley showed up in AEW at Double or Nothing 2019, vignettes aired in New Japan for a man targeting Juice Robinson. That man turned out to be Jon Moxley, who would have his first NJPW match at Best Of The Super Junior XXVI, where he defeated Robinson to capture the IWGP US Heavyweight Title.
Since then, Moxley has regularly worked big events in NJPW and is on his second run as IWGP US Champion. While it was initially stated that AEW talent could work NJPW events in Japan, they did not work NJPW USA shows and NJPW talent wasn't appearing on AEW shows.
That changed when Moxley showed up on the January 29 episode of NJPW Strong and KENTA attacked Moxley on the February 3 AEW Dynamite.
Speaking on Fight Game Media, Moxley discussed the AEW-NJPW-IMPACT relationship and how it benefits all parties.
"Obviously, I have a contract with AEW, but I work other places. An actual independent contractor who basically does whatever the fuck I want. The pandemic might've helped shit out too as far as people getting creative and trading talent. There would be a door open between us and IMPACT, which is really cool. What if a team or a wrestler is between stories or doesn't have anything real specific going on, especially a younger guy who needs to work and get more experience. They can go to IMPACT and do something, or if someone in IMPACT isn't doing anything, they can come over and help us out here. New Japan, the door has been open for me the whole time. If it wasn't for the pandemic, I would've had a full schedule in Japan, the same way I was in January and February [2020]. The possibility is there for younger guys to get experience working there or for their bigger names to do a showcase here. Nobody has to be married, just the doors being down. People need to get more creative in the pandemic and it's opened people's minds to get out of their normal rut. It's gonna be more common for people to work for multiple companies," said Moxley.
Moxley is set to defend the IWGP US Title against KENTA at NJPW New Beginning USA on February 26.
He's also set to face Kenny Omega in an exploding barbed wire deathmatch at AEW Revolution.
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