NJPW has confirmed that the IWGP US Champion Jon Moxley will be defending his title against the #1 contender Kenta on February 26 at The New Beginning USA 2021. This announcement came after the former AEW world champion made his NJPW Strong debut earlier this week and confronted the Bullet Club member.
Kenta had been calling out Moxley for a while. The confrontation between the two finally took place during the main event segment of the show. Kenta, El Phantasmo, and Hikuleo were in the ring and the lights went out.
Mox was there when the lights came back and the US champion quickly got rid of El Phantasmo and Hikuleo so he can take on his challenger alone. The segment ended with the AEW star delivering a Death Rider to the NJPW star.
The company announced the details of their match alongside several other bouts for The New Beginning USA 2021 after this confrontation via the following tweet:
Huge matches are coming up February on #njpwSTRONG!
Feb 5: Rey Horus vs TJP: first time ever!
Feb 12: Chris Dickinson & Danny Limelight vs TJP & Ren Narita!
Feb 19: El Phantasmo vs Lio Rush!
Feb 26: THE match: #MOXvsKENTA!https://t.co/wzfWsVoQcp#njnbgusa pic.twitter.com/cqRAqQPV8h
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) January 31, 2021
Jon Moxley won the IWGP United States Championship by defeating Lance Archer at Wrestle Kingdom 14. Kenta then became the #1 contender for the title when he won the New Japan Cup USA tournament in August last year.
Credit: Anutosh Bajpai