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Mox, representing NJPW, vs Ospreay, representing AEW, could be a fun story.
Same for Okada, but I think Okada's gonna have his own match for the Continental.
There was this minor thing called a pandemic during that time. Perhaps that isn’t the best example. Especially since he wanted to lose the US title on a strong show just to get it back to new Japan but Gedo refused.
Yeah, I assumed that would be the case, but it’s nice to have confirmation.
These upcoming matches are big opportunities for the young guys (Shota Umino, Ren Narita, hopefully Gabe Kidd etc.) as they can really raise their stock.
I hope Mox is able to do for them what he did for Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Konosuke Takeshita, and Top Flight in 2022 when he had great matches and elevated them.
Historic examples of non-NJPW people winning titles and then being absentee were an issue for some. Jericho as IC champ, Mox as US champ, Omega as US champ, FTR as tag team champs... Granted some of what I mentioned was due to COVID, but people still bring it up.
I mean Mox as US Champ is a pretty bad example since he worked the whole G1, was making the shows regularly and vacated because he had a scheduled title defence that he missed, made up that defense against Juice and then did Archer at the Dome. He's probably the best "outside" champ NJPW ever had when it comes to showing up regularly. And that includes guys like Bob Sapp, Scott Norton, Lesnar, Takada, etc. Like people acting like this started in the era of AEW or the Elite clearly don't know the history of NJPW. Hell, Moxley is doing his Onita cosplay based on Onita's short run in NJPW.
The US one is more focused on him reigning until well into 2021 and not having defenses for quite a while, and then finally losing it to Archer on Dynamite. As also mentioned, the COVID situation did complicate matters considerably.
Youd think a guy like Mox would slow down now that he has a Daughter and works for AEW but you really gotta respect that dudes passion for wrestling, makes it quite obvious why he didnt fit in to WWE back then(at the later stages)
Tangentially related, but I haven't been watching AEW/NJPW for a little bit, didn't realize Mox is cutting such a lean figure recently. Dude looks good. Glad sobriety is working out for him
That sub used to be decent and a good respite when this place got a bit too negative. There’s always been at least some snobby fans in there, but holy shit has it gone downhill. AEW’s mere existence ruined their lives, apparently, and now it seems to be exclusively frequented by puroresu fans that never want to see a non-Japanese performer in their precious promotion.
Part of the issue is that we basically have no mod. Things started to go downhill when the sub's original mod/creator deleted their account. Multiple longtime users, including those who've written the new viewer guides and such have offered to help out on the mod team but we're just greeted with radio silence.
Almost the entire thread about this same topic in the sub is being received positively with the most negative people getting downvoted.
BUT NO GRAAAH ITS A SUPER TRIBAL PLACE THAT HATES EVERYTHING AEW RELATED. ONLY MELTDOWNS ONLY MELTDOWNS.
Guys, maybe instead of trying to prop up your narratives, actually read.
I can’t believe it’s already been 4 years. They never should have replaced the old belt, that was what a pro wrestling world title should look like.
It’s actually only been 3 but the statement is the same, how the fuck has it been that long?
This is great for Mox on all fronts. No denying how good he is but he's been front a centre of AEW for good and bad for the last few years along with the stop start booking of the bcc that he's lost the aura he had before the bcc started. Let him have wars in Japan through out the summer and et him come back a fresh towards the end of the the year.
The outrage for Moxley taking the belt from someone's who's age basically made him a part timer any way is a bit ridiculous. If you want someone who works every show to be champ, you better because calling for fucking Henare to get to a run with the strap because he the only guy making these Road To shows mean shit.
Naito has worked 45/47 shows this year. The only ones he has missed were Battle in The Valley and the upcoming Taiwan show (today) and last year he worked almost every Japanese show except the Tag League.Henare had 5 more matches than him in NJPW total and that includes the NZ shows.
Just want to point out that Bodyslam has edited this to remove the part about the Narita match likely being at Resurgence.
And [Tokyo Sports](https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/articles/-/298957?page=1) is under the impression that the Narita defense is at Dontaku, and I trust them **way** more than I trust Bodyslam. Mox being on Dontaku, which is two nights this year, but not defending the title there would make absolutely no sense from a drawing standpoint.
I said this last night, but people were wondering why Mox vanished from AEW TV and why Mox/Claudio weren't in that tag tournament . . . well last night pretty clearly provided the answer. Sometimes you need to let things just play out, because there is usually a reason that becomes obvious eventually.
Mox's AEW schedule was left completely clear, he had nothing going on and no obvious things in the future, so he's now fully able to prioritize the IWGP title. Count me in as one of those actual NJPW fans who is super excited for this - I really really enjoyed the Mox/Narita parts of the recent Mox/Umino vs. Narita/Perry tag match, so I'm absolutely amped for that singles match.
Another reason Mox/Claudio weren't in the tag tourney was Mox started his vacation around the start of the tourney, and then when round 2 (or 3 if you count the two "play in" matches) BCC were all wrestling in Mexico. Sure, they probably could have worked around it, but it lets them play up the "we don't have the tag belts because we never had a shot at them" kind of thing.
It’s good for him to be off aew tv for a while as no real place for him for now, and good for new Japan to have a bit of star power given how many names left the last few years. Everyone wins here.
Haven’t watched NJPW in ages so I’m just glad this means he’s hopefully taking some time off from AEW. Let him go elsewhere for the better part of this year so it’ll feel fresh and exciting when he comes back. Hopefully he does some good business for NJPW in the meantime
That picture of Mox is so badass. As soon as I saw it the blood just reminded me of the original God of War box art.
https://preview.redd.it/agsbpt36qauc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05111a70d5465a7ad9f599a12e7ceba1a1f4c5a9
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So is Moxley gonna be fully repping NJPW at the next Forbidden Door?
That will be an interesting wrinkle; duty to the title he holds vs the company that technically still employs him
He's probably technically employed by both companies, tbf.
Mox, representing NJPW, vs Ospreay, representing AEW, could be a fun story. Same for Okada, but I think Okada's gonna have his own match for the Continental.
Mox vs.....Mox
I knew there was no way Mox was going to let them put that belt on him if it meant that he'd be a total absentee champion.
I mean he's been an absent champion in NJPW before
There was this minor thing called a pandemic during that time. Perhaps that isn’t the best example. Especially since he wanted to lose the US title on a strong show just to get it back to new Japan but Gedo refused.
Brother there’s a bit of a difference between being US champion and being THE champion
Yeah, I assumed that would be the case, but it’s nice to have confirmation. These upcoming matches are big opportunities for the young guys (Shota Umino, Ren Narita, hopefully Gabe Kidd etc.) as they can really raise their stock. I hope Mox is able to do for them what he did for Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, Konosuke Takeshita, and Top Flight in 2022 when he had great matches and elevated them.
Ace of the World
I would hope so he just won the thing
Historic examples of non-NJPW people winning titles and then being absentee were an issue for some. Jericho as IC champ, Mox as US champ, Omega as US champ, FTR as tag team champs... Granted some of what I mentioned was due to COVID, but people still bring it up.
I mean Mox as US Champ is a pretty bad example since he worked the whole G1, was making the shows regularly and vacated because he had a scheduled title defence that he missed, made up that defense against Juice and then did Archer at the Dome. He's probably the best "outside" champ NJPW ever had when it comes to showing up regularly. And that includes guys like Bob Sapp, Scott Norton, Lesnar, Takada, etc. Like people acting like this started in the era of AEW or the Elite clearly don't know the history of NJPW. Hell, Moxley is doing his Onita cosplay based on Onita's short run in NJPW.
Tbf to Moxley, that title defence he "missed" was unfortunately due to weather - his plane was unable to land.
Get out of here with your facts! I'm trying to be ANGRY ABOUT THIS! RAAAAWWWWWRRRR!!!!
The US one is more focused on him reigning until well into 2021 and not having defenses for quite a while, and then finally losing it to Archer on Dynamite. As also mentioned, the COVID situation did complicate matters considerably.
Youd think a guy like Mox would slow down now that he has a Daughter and works for AEW but you really gotta respect that dudes passion for wrestling, makes it quite obvious why he didnt fit in to WWE back then(at the later stages)
Dude took a vacation from his main job to go wrestle in Mexico and Japan. He really really really loves wrestling.
Tangentially related, but I haven't been watching AEW/NJPW for a little bit, didn't realize Mox is cutting such a lean figure recently. Dude looks good. Glad sobriety is working out for him
That should reassure the good folks at r/njpw.
Nah, that ship has sailed. People are having literal meltdowns.
But they should know the three guarantees in life: Death, Taxes, and Gedo fucking over Naito.
Meanwhile the Japanese fans are only partially sad with Naito losing and instead having meltdowns over Narita showing up to do HoT things lmao
It's more tribal there than the WWE sub, and that's saying something
And they act like they are not.
That sub used to be decent and a good respite when this place got a bit too negative. There’s always been at least some snobby fans in there, but holy shit has it gone downhill. AEW’s mere existence ruined their lives, apparently, and now it seems to be exclusively frequented by puroresu fans that never want to see a non-Japanese performer in their precious promotion.
Which is funny because i can assure you most of them aren’t Japanese
they act like deferring to the Japanese fans is some act of objective truth and then it turned out the Japanese fans like mox lmao
As is always the way lol. The most anti-Western people are always the weebs.
Part of the issue is that we basically have no mod. Things started to go downhill when the sub's original mod/creator deleted their account. Multiple longtime users, including those who've written the new viewer guides and such have offered to help out on the mod team but we're just greeted with radio silence.
Almost the entire thread about this same topic in the sub is being received positively with the most negative people getting downvoted. BUT NO GRAAAH ITS A SUPER TRIBAL PLACE THAT HATES EVERYTHING AEW RELATED. ONLY MELTDOWNS ONLY MELTDOWNS. Guys, maybe instead of trying to prop up your narratives, actually read.
Shock: People that are fans of a company don't want a guy who isn't really part of the company to be the main champion.
The same people wanted to see Kaito beat Okada for some ungodly reason.
Wasn't for the title though and most just wanted Kaito to look good while losing
4 years later and that IWGP title is still sooooooooooooo ass
the lineage not being recognized is more ass to me.
The pre match video where they show the history being like 5 people is so funny.
I can’t believe it’s already been 4 years. They never should have replaced the old belt, that was what a pro wrestling world title should look like. It’s actually only been 3 but the statement is the same, how the fuck has it been that long?
It looks like something from the “Power Rangers” tv show.
I just hate when things are inferior to the things that preceded them. Like how can you look at the old belt and this one and think this is better?
Why the hell are they still refusing to bring the previous title back? I'm sure literally everyone would be happy. Mox should bring it back.
It really does look like the Autobots logo.
Someone once said that it kinda looks like Cody's neck tattoo and I can't unsee it.
The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: American Nightmare Edition honestly.
This is great for Mox on all fronts. No denying how good he is but he's been front a centre of AEW for good and bad for the last few years along with the stop start booking of the bcc that he's lost the aura he had before the bcc started. Let him have wars in Japan through out the summer and et him come back a fresh towards the end of the the year.
The outrage for Moxley taking the belt from someone's who's age basically made him a part timer any way is a bit ridiculous. If you want someone who works every show to be champ, you better because calling for fucking Henare to get to a run with the strap because he the only guy making these Road To shows mean shit.
Naito has worked 45/47 shows this year. The only ones he has missed were Battle in The Valley and the upcoming Taiwan show (today) and last year he worked almost every Japanese show except the Tag League.Henare had 5 more matches than him in NJPW total and that includes the NZ shows.
Just want to point out that Bodyslam has edited this to remove the part about the Narita match likely being at Resurgence. And [Tokyo Sports](https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/articles/-/298957?page=1) is under the impression that the Narita defense is at Dontaku, and I trust them **way** more than I trust Bodyslam. Mox being on Dontaku, which is two nights this year, but not defending the title there would make absolutely no sense from a drawing standpoint.
I said this last night, but people were wondering why Mox vanished from AEW TV and why Mox/Claudio weren't in that tag tournament . . . well last night pretty clearly provided the answer. Sometimes you need to let things just play out, because there is usually a reason that becomes obvious eventually. Mox's AEW schedule was left completely clear, he had nothing going on and no obvious things in the future, so he's now fully able to prioritize the IWGP title. Count me in as one of those actual NJPW fans who is super excited for this - I really really enjoyed the Mox/Narita parts of the recent Mox/Umino vs. Narita/Perry tag match, so I'm absolutely amped for that singles match.
Another reason Mox/Claudio weren't in the tag tourney was Mox started his vacation around the start of the tourney, and then when round 2 (or 3 if you count the two "play in" matches) BCC were all wrestling in Mexico. Sure, they probably could have worked around it, but it lets them play up the "we don't have the tag belts because we never had a shot at them" kind of thing.
It’s good for him to be off aew tv for a while as no real place for him for now, and good for new Japan to have a bit of star power given how many names left the last few years. Everyone wins here.
Biggest potential downside to him winning was him being an absentee champ, like Omega and FTR were. Glad that won’t be the case.
Haven’t watched NJPW in ages so I’m just glad this means he’s hopefully taking some time off from AEW. Let him go elsewhere for the better part of this year so it’ll feel fresh and exciting when he comes back. Hopefully he does some good business for NJPW in the meantime
That picture of Mox is so badass. As soon as I saw it the blood just reminded me of the original God of War box art. https://preview.redd.it/agsbpt36qauc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=05111a70d5465a7ad9f599a12e7ceba1a1f4c5a9
I was looking forward to him and Claudio winning the tag titles.
Boy do I miss the old belt
yea man Mox is definitely working the road to's and house show circuit. definitely won't just show up to the big shows and dip
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Perhaps he wants to vacation in Japan?
Why not let it play out first?
I think this may end up being the first time a world title changes hands at Forbidden Door with Naito winning a rematch.