While he's signed to All Elite Wrestling, Jon Moxley is currently competing for New Japan Pro Wrestling and taking part in the prestigious G1 Climax. According to the former WWE Superstar, both Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes inspired his decsion to try performing in Japan.
"I tried to follow [the careers of Chris Jericho and Cody Rhodes]. When you travel in WWE, you're kind of in a bubble and it's difficult to follow along, but I did watch what I could," Moxley explained. "Then, when I knew I was leaving - Japan in general was definitely on my bucket list. I wanted to have a good run in Japan, and of course NJPW was the goal."
"So when I got the call from them, I was just like, 'let's go, put me on the airplane.'"
Moxley added that a number of NJPW turned WWE stars like Shinsuke Nakamura and Karl Anderson encouraged him to take part in this year's G1 Climax. "Well, Shinsuke Nakamura is in WWE and doing very well. I never got to wrestle him sadly, but he heard that I was likely going over to be in the G1, and he was very pleased. [He] said it was a great life experience."
"Karl Anderson, who I've actually been friends with since I was 18, since we're both from Cincinnati, I asked him about the G1. A few others as well, and everybody was great and said, 'yeah, go for it'."
As for his thoughts on Nakamura's run in WWE, he added: "I think [Nakamura is] doing great there. Fans love him. It's a different style, but he fits in well because he is charismatic, he is flamboyant. He can go, so whether it's a New Japan ring or a WWE one he can do well anywhere."
Many fans believe Nakamura is being wasted in WWE but he does seem happy with the company so it's sadly unlikely that Moxley will get that match with the King of Strong Style in the near future.