NJPW General Manager won’t commit to AEW

With Jon Moxley set to make his New Japan debut at Best of Super Juniors Finals on Wednesday and Chris Jericho returning to face Kazuchika Okada at Dominion on June 9, many have wondered about the relationship between All Elite Wrestling and New Japan. According to NJPW GM Michael Craven, there is no relationship.

“NJPW has a long and rich history with our international partners, including CMLL in Mexico, Ring of Honor in America, and RevPro in the United Kingdom,” said Craven in an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. “Loyalty is a big virtue, especially in Japanese culture. Loyalty to our partners is of utmost importance to us as we continue to foster the premiere network of wrestling talent in the world. We wish everybody at All Elite Wrestling nothing but the best in their ongoing endeavors, though we must stress we have no working arrangement at this time. Again, we think our partners seek and deserve loyalty and an appropriate amount of care. We want our relationships to be mutually beneficial over the long haul, rather than just thinking in the moment.”

It was previously reported that Jericho, and Kenny Omega, have it written into their AEW contracts that they can take dates with NJPW. AEW President Tony Khan revealed that Moxley could also take international dates while AEW remains on a monthly schedule until the fall.

AEW reportedly tried to reach a working agreement with NJPW and Ring of Honor back in January, but a deal could not be reached. Instead, ROH and NJPW remained under a working agreement with AEW having no official ties to either company.