Jon Moxley Defeats KENTA To Retain IWGP United States Title

By Sai Mohan

AEW star Jon Moxley retained his IWGP United States Championship Friday night by defeating KENTA on NJPW Strong.

The hard-fought battle saw KENTA dominate in the early going, hitting a DDT on Moxley on his briefcase and then sending the champ through a table with a driving elbow. However, Moxley eventually put KENTA away by countering a flurry of offense with a DDT, followed by his Death Rider finishing move.

Moxley first won the title in his debut match for NJPW back in June 2019. After being forced to relinquish the title due to travel issues, he regained it by defeating Lance Archer at Wrestle Kingdom 14. He successfully defended the title against Juice Robinson and Minoru Suzuki before the pandemic stopped him from traveling overseas.

Moxley will now attempt to reclaim his AEW World Championship when he faces Kenny Omega in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch at AEW Revolution on March 7.  Moxley has assured fans that the match will be "incredibly violent" and will bring back "an element of danger" to pro wrestling – which he feels has been missing for over a decade.

See below for highlights from Moxley vs. KENTA, and post-match comments.

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