It has been announced that Jon Moxley will not be defending his IWGP Championship at the upcoming AEW pay-per-view, Double or Nothing, where he is scheduled to face Konosuke Takeshita. Instead, the match has been arranged as a potential opportunity for Takeshita to contend for the IWGP title in the future, should he emerge victorious.
Dave Meltzer, in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, speculated on the rationale behind the decision for the match not to be contested for the IWGP title. Meltzer suggested that New Japan might have reservations about announcing title bouts when another is already scheduled. He highlighted Jon Moxley’s impending match against Evil at Dominion on June 9th, indicating potential challenges in scheduling a title defence before that date.
I would suspect Moxley vs. Takeshita being non-title is because New Japan controls the IWGP belt and doesn’t like to announce title bouts with another one scheduled. With Moxley vs. Evil at Dominion on 6/9, that would make it difficult for Moxley to defend before that date.
While acknowledging the situational nature of rules in professional wrestling, Meltzer expressed his viewpoint on the matter, emphasising the significance of the match being a title bout, especially given its prominence on a major pay-per-view.
In this case with a major PPV, Moxley vs. Takeshita shouldn’t be non-title, especially since New Japan won’t want their world champion to lose to a DDT wrestler.
He also alluded to potential political considerations and fan expectations, advocating for collaborative efforts between the involved parties to align the match with the significance of a title contest, unless alternative long-term storytelling objectives were being pursued.
Maybe there are political issues for them approving a DDT wrestler getting a title match But from a fan standpoint on a major PPV, both sides should have worked together to make it a title match unless the idea is for Moxley to lose to set it up for later.
How Does Jon Moxley Think His Career Will Be Remembered?
Jon Moxley discussed how he thinks his wrestling career will be remembered and stated that he believes that no one will know where to rank him on a list of all-time greats but that he will need to be acknowledged due to his achievements in pro wrestling. Jon Moxley is the first wrestler in history to hold the highest level of championship in WWE, AEW and NJPW which definitely makes a good argument that he should be included on an all-time greats list.