Samoa Joe Accuses Jon Moxley Of Ducking Him

Samoa Joe has claimed Jon Moxley is doing everything he can not to face him in the ring.

At Worlds End, Samoa Joe got the better of MJF to claim the AEW World Championship. Although Joe is no stranger to championship gold, it’s the first time he’s held AEW’s top prize.

While MJF’s title defences were few and far between for much of his record-breaking reign, Joe appears ready to fight any and all comers.

In a new interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Joe took time to discuss Jon Moxley laying down a challenge to IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito. Moxley called out Naito after he defeated Shingo Takagi at NJPW Battle in the Valley. The match between the pair was later made official.

Joe said it was great that people could challenge for gold all over the world, but made sure to take a dig at Moxley, suggesting he was ducking him by going after Naito.

“Moxley doing that, it doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Joe. “If I were MOX, I’d look to take someone else’s belt, too. He wants to fight any other champion in the world but me. There was thought behind what he did. Let’s not deny that.

That gets back to the wonder of AEW: it’s a worldwide marketplace” he continued. “You can compete against champions from around the world, not just hidden in your own pocket dimension where no one else can get it.

If Mox wants to parade that belt around the real world’s champion, I’d be more than happy to give him a better perspective on where his championship reign really stands.”

Samoa Joe To Make First Defence Of AEW World Title

Samoa Joe will make the first defence of his AEW World Championship on the January 17th episode of Dynamite against HOOK. The match announcement caused much consternation on social media, with Tony Khan taking a shot at WWE and the USA Network’s social media team over the decision to have Jinder Mahal challenge for the World Championship.