Jon Moxley Says He Has Waited Years To Face Tetsuya Naito

Jon Moxley has faced some of the best in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and after several years of waiting he finally gets to face IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito when the two clash at Windy City Riot.

Ahead of their bout on April 12, Moxley said the following at NJPW Battle in the Valley:

"I said in Tokyo that the year 2023 basically sucked, and that was for a multitude of reasons. I said 2024 was gonna be the year of Jon f****** Moxley. This was gonna be my year. Well, I think of the last four or five years, I think of all the limitations that people have tried to put on me, tried to tell me who I am, what I do, what I’m capable of. Five years ago, I was pronounced dead and buried, and I rose from the grave and defied expectations one time after another. Still, people want to put me in a little box and tell me exactly who I am, exactly what I’m capable of, exactly what I can achieve. You all act like you know me. Y’all don’t f****** know me at all. If you’re gonna be the absolute best in professional wrestling, if you’re truly gonna prove to the world and to yourself who you are, there’s only one place to do it, and it’s in New Japan Pro-Wrestling," Moxley said.

Moxley continued, noting how Naito is his ‘last mountain to climb’, in New Japan:

"I’ve been waiting like a wharf in the brush for four years, waiting for the right time. I look up at the stars tonight, I know it’s time. Naito, fans in Japan, fans I love and respect, love you like a member of their family. So out of respect to them, I will not say anything negative about you, about what you stand for, about what kind of wrestler you are, what kind of person you are. I don’t need to. Naito is just the wrong guy at the wrong place at the wrong time. There’s only one more mountain left to climb, and the time has come," Moxley said.

The two previously wrestled as part of the 2019 G1 Climax, with Moxley getting the win.

H/T: Fightful