The worlds of New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling clashed tonight, as Jon Moxley defended the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Yuji Nagata on AEW Dynamite. In a match between living legends, Moxley came out on top and retained his title.
Jon Moxley makes his #AEWDynamite entrance to some new music – ‘Wild Thing’ by The Troggs!
— Gary Cassidy (@TheGaryCassidy) May 13, 2021
From the very start of the match, the live crowd added even more electricity to the bout while both superstars went at it. Moxley and Nagata began with a bit of a shoving contest, hitting each other with stiff forearms to start the match. The physicality escalated from there, as the two competitors began to get increasingly brutal. Nagata hit Moxley with some vicious kicks to the chest and head, and he even made the champion bleed.
.@JonMoxley doesn't care who you are there's no mercy #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/3tkAUQBtqo
— AEW on TV (@AEWonTV) May 13, 2021
As the match came to a close, Nagata began to concede some of the momentum to Moxley, who was getting his wind back after he kicked out of a nasty running kick. The former AEW World Champion then floored Nagata with an emphatic sliding lariat for a near fall. Moxley then locked in a bulldog choke and put Nagata down, but the challenger broke free.
In the end, Moxley landed a series of knee strikes and the Paradigm Shift for the decisive victory.
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