Jon Moxley began his in-ring WWE emancipation with New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
First, Moxley defeated Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship. Then, the former WWE Champion entered the fray of the G1 Climax Tournament.
In an interview with the official website of NJPW, Moxley would call the tournament one of the toughest series he's personally been through.
Perhaps his standout match, the first match of his to earn 5 stars from Dave Meltzer, with against Tomohiro Ishii. When speaking of the match, John good remark that Ishii was probably his perfect matchup, "that's right. Ishii was really the perfect opponent for me. In the first place, I hate to bring strange tricks, gimmicks, and other guys into the game. I hate playing with each other! I just want to fight a simple 1 on 1. In the ring, one of them will fall, whoever will fight faster. Even though there is a place for it, I don’t want to think about an intrusion from outside, not even a little bit," said Jon. "I only want to fight. Two men start to fight each other in the middle of the ring, saying, 'Fuck the lame shit, this shit is real!' It's just that. And the person who can do that was Ishii. We were the perfect opponents for each other. The two of us showed off a very beautiful violence to our fans."
John would also say that this is the style of wrestling he prefers overall, calling the squared-circle a battlefield.
"There wasn't a single guy who wasn't injured when I got down with them in that ring. Perhaps it was Yano (Toru Yano), a guy who did not take much damage, but after fighting with me in the ring, everyone said, 'were we fighting on a battlefield?' It was a series of hard games that seemed like an illusion."
Jon Moxley's next Japanese appearance will be when he defends the United States Championship against Juice Robinson in a No Disqualification Match. Moxley had some very harsh words for the former CJ Parker in this interview, "I'll bury Juice and will continue to be the US Heavyweight Champion in this ring."
Outside of Japan, Jon Moxley has commitments with AEW. He will take on Shawn Spears on October 9, and face Kenny Omega on November 9 on pay-per-view at AEW Full Gear.
Translation/transcription credit goes to Berry Meijer.
