Various: Jon Moxley on Pre-AEW Debut Concerns, NJPW New Japan Road Night 1 & 2 Results, Indies

Jon Moxley Comments on His Pre-AEW Debut Concerns Due to His Handling in WWE

The debut episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast had Jon Moxley as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Moxley being concerned if fans had a negative perception of him due to his WWE career prior to his official debut in All Elite Wrestling.

“Double or Nothing was three weeks after my contract was going to be up. And it was in Vegas. Something about it being in Vegas made it a sign. I didn’t even find that show, that show found me. I was like, ‘Alright, I guess we’re doing this.’ I didn’t know if people would cheer, boo, or not make any noise at all. I feel like my reputation had been tarnished so bad that I had to start from scratch. Once you get popped in the ass with a syringe on TV….I remember one time standing in the ring in a bear suit and I can’t explain to you why. I DDT’d The Miz and took off the bear hat. You get the Pavlovian response of ‘yeah!’ but I remember thinking, ‘This is so stupid. This is not funny or entertaining.’ I remember standing in the ring thinking, ‘I’ve hit rock bottom. I’m just done. This sucks. What have I become in the bear suit?’ I had many moments like that. I was scared fans outside of WWE, they want an alternative. I was scared that I was so synonymous with WWE crap that I’d walk out and they’d be like ‘Oh God, the idiot from WWE. What are you gonna do, hit someone with a hot dog?’ I was scared of that. I never explained my gratitude toward the people that were in the building that night for embracing and accepting me as myself and not putting any of WWE’s crap onto me. Then it’s off the to races. I thought it was going to be a long rehabilitation process, but it came back so quickly. Like I had been asleep for years and I woke up out of a nap. It was like a guy who was in jail. ‘Oh, Jon is out of jail.’ Cool. He’s back.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

NJPW New Japan Road 2020 Night 1 and Night 2 Results

NJPW New Japan Road 2020 Night 1
February 20, 2020
Tokyo, Japan – Korakuen Hall

Quick Match Results:

1. Yota Tsuji defeated Gabriel Kidd via Boston Crab (submission 7:09)
2. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, Taichi, & Minoru Suzuki defeated Yuya Uemura, Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI, & Hirooki Goto via Deep Impact (pinfall 11:20)
3. Colt Cabana, Toru Yano, & Kazuchika Okada defeated Toa Henare, Tomoaki Honma, & Togi Makabe via Superman Pin (pinfall 9:00)
4. Tiger Mask, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, & Manabu Nakanishi defeated BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, EVIL, & Tetsuya Naito via Lariat (pinfall 20:38)
5. Bad Luck Fale, Jay White, & Guerrillas of Destiny defeated David Finlay, Juice Robinson, Kota Ibushi, & Hiroshi Tanahashi via Pinfall (11:20)
6. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship – Roppongi 3K (c) defeated Rocky Romero & Ryusuke via Strong X (pinfall 26:47)
7. NEVER Openweight Championship – Shingo Takagi (c) defeated Tomohiro Ishii via Last of the Dragon (pinfall 27:04)

NJPW New Japan Road 2020 Night 2
February 21, 2020
Tokyo, Japan – Korakuen Hall

Quick Match Results:

1. Gabriel Kidd & Tiger Mask defeated Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji via Arm Lock Cross Hold (submission 8:23)
2. Roppongi 3K, David Finlay, & Juice Robinson defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, Taichi, & Minoru Suzuki via Acid Drop (pinfall 10:27)
3. YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Toa Henare, Tomoaki Honma, & Togi Makabe via Butterfly Lock (submission 11:49)
4. Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, & Manabu Nakanishi defeated Jado, Gedo, Bad Luck Fale, & Jay White via Argentine Backbreaker (submission 12:42)
5. Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito defeated Rocky Romero, Will Ospreay, & Kazuchika Okada via Time Bomb (pinfall 12:24)
6. NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship – BUSHI, EVIL, & Shingo Takagi (c) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi, Colt Cabana, & Toru Yano via BUSHI Roll (pinfall 14:14)
7. IWGP Tag Team Championship – Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Guerrillas of Destiny (c) via High Fly Flow (pinfall 20:10)

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Major League Wrestling announced that Pagano will be making his official debut for the company at their Intimation Games 2020 event on April 18th in Cicero, Illinois.

Over The Top Wrestling announced that they have pulled NXT’s Tyler Bate from the card of their Dead On event on February 23rd in Belfast, Northern Ireland due to him recently suffering an unknown injury.

OTT also announced a new match for the card of their ScrapperMania 6 event on March 14th in Dublin, Ireland:
– Jon Moxley vs. David Starr

Joey Janela recently announced a new match for the card of Game Changer Wrestling’s Joey Janela’s Spring Break 4 event on April 3rd in Ybor City, Florida:
– Jurassic Express vs. YDNB