AEW's Jon Moxley Wins IWGP World Heavyweight Championship At NJPW Windy City Riot

By Sam Palmer
Jon Moxley, looking ready to get violent Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

When Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins lost their respective championships at WrestleMania 40, it marked the first time since January 2020 that all three members of The Shield weren't holding a title. That period of time lasted a grand total of five days, as Jon Moxley became the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion at NJPW's Windy City Riot event in Chicago.

Moxley had already been booked to face former champion Tetsuya Naito at the event, but it was originally booked as a non-title bout. However, Naito managed to retain his belt in matches against SANADA and Yota Tsuji in recent months, leading to Moxley challenging Naito to put the championship on the line for their scheduled bout. Naito accepted the challenge, but he might have wished that he hadn't, as Moxley was motivated and ready to fight for his life in order to become champion.

After a back-and-forth affair that saw Moxley unsurprisingly don a crimson mask, the AEW star hit a Death Rider on Naito to become the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. With the win, Moxley has not only become the first American to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship since the belt's new lineage was established in 2021, but he is the first American to win NJPW's top prize since AJ Styles won the previous version of the championship in 2015. Moxley has also become the first man to win the world title in WWE, AEW and NJPW with his victory, and his next known defense of the title will be at the Resurgence event on May 11. However, there are many more events in both NJPW and AEW before then, and given how active Moxley has been over the past few years, it's very likely he will be a fighting champion.

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