Jon Moxley takes a subtle shot at CM Punk for stealing popular finisher

Jon Moxley was recently in conversation with Kevin Kelly on this week's NJPW Strong. During the interview, the reigning IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion mentioned that Superstars have been stealing stuff from his rival KENTA for years now.

Jon Moxley will finally defend his title against KENTA on 26th February, as part of the NJPW New Beginning in USA tour. The match will be Jon Moxley's first defense of the US title since his win over Minoru Suzuki.

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In the lead-up to the highly awaited match between Moxley and KENTA, the two men have been going back-and-forth for months. Moxley even mentioned that KENTA inspired an entire generation and recalled meeting his former WWE colleague when he first arrived in NJPW at Dominion 2019.

"The KENTA that inspired generations, if you’re around my age, let’s face it – everybody stole their s*it from KENTA."

In his short interview with Kevin Kelly, The Death Rider further explained that almost everyone has stolen moves from KENTA. The most popular example of it being CM Punk adapting KENTA's Go 2 Sleep and also using it as his finishing maneuver, the Go To Sleep.

Another instance of Superstars taking moves out of KENTA's arsenal is Daniel Bryan using the running knee. The former WWE Champion is no stranger to KENTA having shared the ring with him back in Ring of Honor.

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Due to Jon Moxley's absence from NJPW, the promotion decided to crown the first-ever New Japan Cup USA winner in the form of KENTA. With the Rights To Challenge for the IWGP US Championship briefcase in his grasp, KENTA will finally get his one-on-one match against Moxley later this month.

In a preview of the title match between the pair, KENTA and Jon Moxley are set to cross paths on AEW Dynamite in a tag team match. The Bullet Club star will team up with former Bullet Club leader and reigning AEW World Champion, Kenny Omega. Whereas, Jon Moxley will be teaming with the man from whom he won the IWGP US Championship, Lance Archer.

About the author

Soumik Datta is a professional wrestling journalist who has been following the business for more than a decade.

In 2017, Soumik joined the Sportskeeda Wrestling team and is best known for his work with the WWE team. He has previously contributed to the Sportskeeda AEW, MMA, and the football team where he specifically covered the Major League Soccer.

In 2024, Soumik crossed 50 million reads for Sportskeeda WWE. While working under Sportskeeda MMA, he interviewed prominent UFC fighters, including Justin Gaethje, Sean O'Malley, and Cory Sandhagen, among others. He is also being followed by John Cena on X (formerly Twitter).

In 2025, Soumik became an Assistant Content Manager at Sportskeeda, but continues to cover and write about the hottest and trending news topics.

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Edited by Kaushik Das