During a recent interview with NJPW1972.com, NJPW Superstar and former two-time IWGP US champion Juice Robinson commented on Jon Moxley, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On how he’s the only person who defends the US title: “Of course. It’s like with Cody. I’m the only one who defends that title. Cody had it for a cup of coffee, now Moxley. They win the title and just sit at home. How many times did Cody defend it?”
On Moxley’s run as US champion: “And what’s Moxley done? Sat on his ass, getting his triceps stapled up. Injuries happen, but at least when I had that belt I defended it as much as I could. I was on the road up and down Japan, a fighting champion, and damn it, I should be the champion again. Forever. When you think of titles, you think of people. Like when you think of Ricky Steamboat you think of him as an Intercontinental Champion. Think of the IWGP title and you think of Okada, or Tanahashi. I want people to think of me when they think of the US Championship.”
On the NJPW talents talking about winning two titles at Wrestle Kingdom 14: “Well, that’s why I said the US title is looked at by the company and the fans as the number three belt. All those guys are talking about combining the IC and the heavyweight belts. But if you throw in the US Championship, throw in all three and in the end there’s two fewer champions walking around. So I think everything’s fine the way it is. Jay, Ibushi, all those guys can do what they want, but the US Championship should stay as it is. And it should be defended in America, not held by guys who apparently can’t defend it in America.”
On the US title and journalists crowning Moxley as champion before their matchup: “I would say it’s the number three championship, as far as significance. Right under the Intercontinental I would say. Perhaps equal. It’s not the granddaddy of them all, not the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but it’s up there. I know I said I never thought about the US when I had the title. That was right after the match, and I was angry. I had a lot of critics after that, people that were only talking about Moxley and crowning him champion before the match happened. A lot of those people were American so-called ‘journalists’ and ‘experts’ and people that think they know everything. When I said that I was talking directly to those kinds of people. The IWGP means a lot to me because this was the place that gave me the platform, and an actual chance to be a successful pro-wrestler, so that’s why those letters maybe mean more than the USA to me. Or, that’s what I meant when I said it.”
