NJPW relationship with AEW clarified.
Late last night, new All Elite Wrestling signing Jon Moxley (formerly Dean Ambrose in WWE) revealed that he was the "Time's Up" mystery man that had been targeting Juice Robinson. Moxley is set to confront the IWGP United States Champion at the Best of Super Juniors Final on June 5.
With Moxley announced as having signed with AEW full-time, many speculated on the relationship between AEW and NJPW. NJPW General Manager Michael Craven (via SI's Justin Barrasso), clarified the relationship between the two companies.
"New Japan and Jon Moxley came to terms on an agreement some time ago, completely independently of All Elite. Our understanding is that he is free to wrestle in Japan. We wish AEW well, but have no working relationship as of now."
Moxley isn't the first top name in AEW to be announced as appearing in NJPW. At Dominion on June 9, Chris Jericho will return to New Japan to challenge Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. Jericho has it written into his contract that he can make appearances for NJPW. Kenny Omega reportedly has the same language in his contract, but as of now, a return to Japan has yet to be announced.
AEW reportedly tried to reach a working agreement with NJPW and Ring of Honor back in January, but a deal could not be reached. Instead, ROH and NJPW remained under a working agreement with AEW having no official ties to either company.
