Watch: Jon Moxley Returns to New Japan, Announces Wrestle Kingdom 14 Match

Jon Moxley made his surprise return to New Japan Pro Wrestling on Sunday, and made it clear he [...]

By Connor Casey

Jon Moxley made his surprise return to New Japan Pro Wrestling on Sunday, and made it clear he wants the IWGP United States Championship back. The AEW star arrived in New Japan over the summer, revealing that his contract with All Elite Wrestling allows him to compete for the Japan-based promotion. He quickly won the US title and held it throughout this year's G1 Climax tournament, only for the company to strip him of the belt when he was unable to travel to the country for the King of Pro Wrestling event due to Typhoon Hagibis. With Moxley out of the picture, Lance Archer captured the title by beating Juice Robinson at the pay-per-view event.

Moxley arrived on the final day of the World Tag League event and attacked both Archer and Minoru Suzuki. He then challenged Archer to a title match at Wrestle Kingdom 14 with a special stipulation — a Texas Death Match.

"I want my belt back," Moxley said. "And I will take my belt back, Tokyo Dome. Wrestle Kingdom, Texas Death Match!"

He then pulled out a table from under the ring and teased sending Archer through it, but the pair wound up brawling their way out of the arena.

Moxley was well-known for his ability in Death Matches on the indie scene prior to signing with WWE. He's since brought that side of him back by competing in two Lights Out Unsanctioned matches in AEW, including a particularly violent bout with Kenny Omega at Full Gear.

Wrestle Kingdom 14, New Japan's WrestleMania equivalent, will take place inside the Tokyo Dome on both Jan. 4 and Jan. 5, 2020. This marks the first time the show has stretched across two nights, and so far the top matches from both include Chris Jericho vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jyushin Thunder Liger's retirement match and a four-man tournament for both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships, including Kazuchika Okada, Jay White, Tetsuya Naito and Kota Ibushi.

During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, Moxley said he plans on wrestling in Japan for the rest of his career.

"As long as I'm wrestling, I'll still wrestle in Japan," he said.

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