New Japan Pro-Wrestling conducted a two-part interview with their current IWGP United States Champion, Jon Moxley and in the first part of the chat, Moxley covers three main topics: wrestling in Japan, wrestling in trunks rather than jeans and wrestling his former FCW comrade Juice Robinson in his NJPW debut. Quotes from the interview are below:
When you came to the ring at Best of the Super Juniors, it was much like your WWE entrances; through the crowd rather than the entrance ramp. What was the reasoning behind that?
“That idea was presented to me and at first I did think it was leaning a little on things I’d done in the past. But thinking a bit about it, it was definitely the right thing to do. I don’t want to be ‘too cool’ and ignore the things I’ve done. It is a cool entrance, and something I helped trail-blaze. The best thing about it was that it was a mood changer. The atmosphere instantly changed and I could feel that change.
“Plus, Sumo Hall is such a cool arena, so historic, and to have that view from the top of the stairs, that was a really cool sight.”
A lot of fans were surprised at the change in gear to short tights.
“I wanted to change my look, for sure. When I was in WWE, I always wrestled in jeans, and there was a reason for that; everybody else had fancy tights and I wanted to be the opposite. More grungy, a street fighter type. But wrestling in jeans, honestly, it sucks. They’re hot, sweaty, hard to move in. I’m done with wrestling in jeans! It’s so much easier to wrestle in tights.
“My boots situation was a nightmare before I wrestled. I had a pair I bought that I was trying to break in, but they didn’t fit right. I tried another pair, they didn’t fit, either. They were too clunky. So I just went with regular wrestling shoes.
“When I looked in the mirror before I went out, I felt naked because I was so used to wrestling in jeans. So I knew then that it would cause a reaction, and be a bit of a shock.”
You first met Juice in FCW. Juice told us you’d spent time in the bar together. Can you talk about that?
“Yeah, many drinks were had in FCW. He was younger than me. Like the Young Lions are in NJPW, he was like that, whereas me and my partner, Seth Rollins, were more experienced. He latched onto us, rode in a car with us and tried to learn. We were pals going through the same experience, of training, of being stressed about whether you’re getting called up… we shared that experience together. We hadn’t seen each other for four years (when we wrestled) and when you wrestle, business is business. I’d been playing mind games with him too, you know. So for me, business is business and when the bell rings we can go for a beer, but I don’t think he wants that. He wants to come after me, and that’s fine.”
It was quite an intense, hardcore style of match. How do you feel about the match itself?
“I loved the whole thing. I love being in intense blood and guts stuff like that. It was a tooth and nail fight, and I loved that. When the crowd and the announcers are saying to each other ‘this is crazy!’ I love that. Those matches where you just go all out, everything on the line, be it for five minutes or 20 minutes. Just wild stuff. I love watching that.
“The whole experience was great. I’ve been watching NJPW, and New Japan is professional wrestling. I love professional wrestling and I feel for a few years that I had been relegated to being an entertainer. So I was excited to just go in, no pre-conceived notions, no baggage of thinking about who this new Jon Moxley is. Just going out and seeing what happened.
“It was all like an acid trip to be honest. With the jet lag, the new environment, the new fans, this friend I used to have now being a guy I’m fighting, this new gear that makes me feel naked… it was just madness. But I started to feel my groove. I started to get in the zone, and that felt really good.”
Do you feel that Juice has progressed as a wrestler since you last saw him?
“Oh, definitely. Juice is a totally different guy now that he’s grown up in Japan. That fight we had is a testament to how much he has grown. If that match happened four, five years ago, I would have run over him in five minutes, but it took 20. That’s how much he has grown.”
