Jon Moxley’s involvement in this year’s G1 Climax tournament has fans chomping at the bit to see this year’s installment of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s month-long round robin tournament. Unfortunately, he won’t be around for two key portions of this year’s tournament — the annual press conference and the opening day.
New Japan put out a press release announcing Moxley’s absence on Monday night.
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“Jon Moxley has been confirmed as a participant of G1 CLIMAX 29,” the release read. “Unfortunately, Moxley will miss the G1 CLIMAX 29 Opening Day taking place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX on July 6, 2019. Additionally, he will not be in attendance at the G1 CLIMAX 29 Press Conference taking place on July 5, 2019. Moxley will join the G1 tour on July 13 in Tokyo. We appreciate your understanding.”
This announcement stings for many New Japan fans, as this year’s tournament will have its opening night of matches in Dallas, Texas as part of New Japan’s expansion into the West. Luckily it won’t hurt Moxley’s chances of winning, as his side of the tournament (the B Block) wasn’t scheduled to compete that night.
Bouts that have been announced for the show at the American Airlines Center include Will Ospreay vs. Lance Arhcer, Evil vs. Bad Luck Fale, Sanada vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Kenta vs. Kota Ibushi and Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi.
If Moxley were to win the tournament, he would get a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at New Japan’s annual Wrestle Kingdom event at the Tokyo Dome on Jan. 4, 2020. The former WWE Champion made an impact in his New Japan debut, winning the IWGP United States Championship by defeating Juice Robinson at the Best of Super Juniors 26 finale.
On top of his run in New Japan, Moxley will start up his multi-year contract with AEW once the company’s weekly television show with TNT starts this fall. He’s currently booked to compete at the Fyter Fest event against Joey Janela at the end of the month and at All Out against Kenny Omega.
Cody Rhodes spoke about Moxley’s arrival in AEW in a recent interview with ComicBook.com.
“I think he kind of brought himself in,” Rhodes said. “I think he had heard one line from me about playing your music how you want to play it. The wrestlers we hire, we trust they know how to play their own song and we will not tell them how to play their song. I think when he heard that he was sold on the type of wrestling we want to showcase. Really it’s his journey. All I’m hoping to do is turn on the red light for this story because Jon Moxley is a worldwide star.”
