Jon Moxley makes New Japan debut, wins US Title

Jon Moxley made his NJPW debut on June 5 and has already won his first title in the company as he beat Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship.

“Explicit Mox Violence” hit Ryogoku Sumo Hall at the finals of The Best of the Super Juniors as Jon Moxley had his first post-WWE match.

Moxley’s debut was teased in New Japan for weeks with “The Death Rider” vignettes, and it was made clear in those videos that IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson was his first target upon arrival.

Moxley entered the arena from the stands, a la The Shield, and exhibited a swagger that fans haven’t seen from him in years.

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Robinson entered in an usual way as well, as he showed none of his regular pep and emotion and also revealed that he had cut his signature dreads off in a symbolic way of showing how much attention he was giving the match.

The match was vicious.

Both men came out of the gate with palpable intensity and an energy both men haven’t showcased in quite some time. Robinson seemed to give Moxley more of a fight then the former “Lunatic Fringe” was expecting, but Moxley had quite a few dirty deeds up his sleeve to pull out when the tide turned too far in Robinson’s favor. Moxley employed biting, chair shots and tables to sway the match back his way while also targeting Robinson’s leg.

Moxley was able to secure the win by debuting his new super finisher, The Death Rider, which is an elevated brainbuster-like Dirty Deeds DDT.

Moxley is now the sixth man to hold the IWGP US Title and is the first man to hold both the WWE and NJPW US titles.

Moxley, in a backstage promo, thanked New Japan and Robinson for the opportunity and also called out anyone to try and take his newly won belt from him. Moxley’s next opponent will be NJPW Young Lion standout Shota Umino at NJPW’s biggest show of the summer, Dominion, on June 9.

To watch Moxley vs Robinson and Moxley’s future match against Umino sign up for njpwworld.com. Moxley vs. Robinson will also be a featured match on this week’s episode of AXS TV’s New Japan Pro Wrestling, which will highlight two hours of the very best of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, beginning at 8:00 PM Eastern on Friday, June 7.