NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Fred Rosser says AEW Interim World Champion Jon Moxley is his ideal AEW opponent.
Rosser recently spoke with Alfred Konuwa of Forbes and was asked who would be his ideal opponent from AEW.
“Jon Moxley,” Rosser said without hesitation. “I believe he’d bring the best out of me, and vice versa. I don’t think people would expect us to have a banger match, but I really feel deep in my heart that we would have a banger.
“Working with Tom Lawlor—a lot of people don’t like competition. A lot of people do not like competition, but I love competition. I take it head-on. I like when an S.O.B. is better than me because it’s going to push me to go further, it’s going to push me to be sharp in the ring and to be in the ring and to be on my game. So I love Tom Lawlor, and I love Jon Moxley so I’d love to share the ring with them. We would both bring the best out of one another.”
The former Darren Young continued and said he’d like to work in Japan for NJPW, work the next Forbidden Door event, and maybe work with AEW, who has turned him down twice. He noted that WWE turned him down more than 40 times before he got the job there.
“A bucket list of mine is definitely working in Japan, doing Forbidden Door in Japan and maybe someday working with AEW. I’ve made it public that they said no to me, not once, but twice. And WWE also said no to me over 40 times. I did not take no for an answer, I put my head down and went to work,” he added.
While the inaugural AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door event came and went with no sign of Rosser, he says he’s not particularly salty about being left off the card. He also expressed interest against fellow LGB athlete Anthony Bowens of AEW.
“As Vince McMahon would say, ‘never say never in the World Wrestling Entertainment.’ That’s my worst Vince McMahon impersonation, but never say never,” Rosser said about a potential match against Bowens. “Anthony, he’s making moves in AEW. I would love him to scissor me, but you’ve got to understand that when he gets in the ring with Mr. No Days Off, I’m a different breed. My style is different. You can’t prepare for me.”
Rosser became the second-ever NJPW Strong Openweight Champion by defeating Tom Lawlor at Collision In Philadelphia on May 15, which didn’t air until June 25. His first title defense will come against Big Damo (fka Killian Dain) at NJPW Music City Mayhem on July 30 during Starrcast V weekend in Nashville.
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