Jon Moxley Vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi At AEW All Out ‘Derailed’
The match was long rumoured for the September 5 PPV
Aug 20, 2021
After losing his IWGP US Heavyweight Championship to Lance Archer, Jon Moxley once again called out NJPW legend Hiroshi Tanahashi, after the latter was scheduled to face Archer for the strap at NJPW Resurgence.
Rumours suggested the pair could finally face off at AEW All out on September 5, but a report from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter suggests otherwise:
“Tanahashi will make his first title defence against Kota Ibushi on 9/4 at the MetLife Dome. The impression we have is Tanahashi vs. Moxley will happen at some point, but there are political snags that will keep it from being at All Out. Tanahashi could work the MetLife Dome on 9/4 and make it to Chicago the next day in time for the show if there were no travel snags. American stars in Japan routinely, because of the time difference, were able to work the day after a major Japan show in the U.S. Because of the time difference, that doesn’t work the other way around.”
Meltzer also said:
“The reason Jon Moxley went hard on Hiroshi Tanahashi in his promo a few weeks ago and never mentioned his name in this week’s promo [on AEW: Dynamite] while mentioning a ton of other names is because the match was supposed to be imminent and that is no longer the case. Basically things changed from the New Japan side and the match will probably happen but not just yet. Most likely the idea would be for a Moxley win and right now New Japan didn’t want Tanahashi to lose based on whatever it is they have planned for the U.S. title.”