Jon Moxley Calls Popular Pro-Wrestling Expression It’s ‘Over’

Jon Moxley is confused about the “forbidden” nature of the “Forbidden Door” between All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling.

“I’m really past this term myself,” Moxley told his wife, Renée Paquette, on her podcast, The Sessions.

“Everyone uses it,” Moxley said of the term, coined by Hiroshi Tanahashi. “But now it’s not ‘forbidden’ anymore, because now there’s a nice little working relationship.

“So the door is not ‘forbidden’. There are ‘forbidden doors,’ but there aren’t between AEW and New Japan.” Moxley explained that the two companies had a frosty relationship for a few years, but even then, the moniker “forbidden” didn’t feel right to him , because “I’ve been in New Japan for three years and I’ve been with AEW for three years. I was in both all the time.

“…The relationship hasn’t been good, so I’ve been a good neutral party, I think, to bridge the gap over the last few years,” Moxley said of splitting time between AEW and NJPW since his split from WWE in 2019 . Because I love them both and I owe them both so much.”

Moxley signed a six-month contract before signing with AEW, although he debuted in AEW programming before NJPW programming. The original NJPW contract ran from his debut in June 2019 to his two nights at the Tokyo Dome where he wrestled on both nights of Wrestle Kingdom 14. “Well, I was there all the time. I thought a bunch of people would too.”

Although both companies worked with Moxley, Moxley soon learned the relationship was “not good” and left him as the main channel of communication between the two promotions, leaving him with a sense of pride in the event. “I was such a proponent of, ‘We should have some kind of relationship with each other. This is stupid.’

“…There were a lot of people telling me to stop going to New Japan,” Moxley said, saying many felt the relationship was never really going to warm up, but everything changed when “this one.” Harold was fired from New Japan has it really opened up or whatever,” referring to the departure of NJPW manager Harold Meij.

“The benefit for me was not having this big super show,” Moxley continued, saying that an open-door policy would ultimately be good for AEW’s young talent. “I said years ago that we have all these young people and we don’t have a plan for house shows or whatever and they need to gain experience.

Moxley continued that it’s not just young talent that wants the experience, as “a lot of times you just want replay to try things out”.

“We don’t have Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then do a show for TV on Monday. We only have TV.”

Moxley went on to explain how he understands the delicate politics of sending a contracted talent to another promotion, but he felt it ultimately worked to their advantage. Moxley cited the example of Darby Allin.

“I understand he’s your type, and you pay him, and you don’t want him to get hurt, and you probably wouldn’t want him to overpower everyone in Japan either, but at the same time, send him over there.” Who cares how many matches they win and how many matches they lose?”

It was this mentality that led Moxley, along with his fellow Blackpool Combat Club members, to push Wheeler Yuta into entering NJPW’s prestigious Best of Super Juniors tournament. The young wrestler had pointed out that the tournament was being held at the same time as AEW’s Double or Nothing PPV, and the group told him, “Go, not even a question.”

“Ten games against the best Jr. heavyweights in the world versus one game” seemed like an easy choice for the young talent, as Moxley felt Yuta “is a young guy that we need to build into something better “, with the losses matter about the experience. “Who cares what his record is at the end of the tournament?”

Forbidden Door’s upcoming PPV feels like a moment when Moxley comes full circle after being a lone Pioneer signed for two less-than-friendly promotions. “It was hard working for both of them in 2020,” Moxley concluded, “I did everything on my own.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the podcast “The Sessions with Renée Paquette” and type Wrestling Inc. for the transcription ah/t.

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