When The Shield's music hit at WrestleMania 40, fans around the world thought one thing and one thing only: holy crap, Jon Moxley was back in WWE to help Cody Rhodes defeat Roman Reigns?

Now sure, Moxley is one of the top performers in AEW right now and was gearing up for a massive match with Tetsuya Naito at the Windy City Riot with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on the line, but hey, Jordynne Grace appeared at the Royal Rumble as the TNA Champion, Charley Dempsey wrestled in All Japan, and Shayna Baszler worked Josh Barnett's Bloodsport one the very same weekend as WrestleMania 40 so hey, maybe Triple H reached out to Tony Khan, made a deal, and got Moxley booked for another appearance in WWE. Crazier things have happened, right?

Well, as it turns out, that was never in the card, as Moxley was pre-disposed, which he explained in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

“I was asleep in Japan when that was going on,” Jon Moxley explained to Sports Illustrated. “When I woke up, I had these messages saying, ‘I thought you were coming out!’ And I was like, ‘Coming out where?’ It’s cool that people thought it was me. But I was asleep.”

Jeez, Mox not only wasn't invited to return for the segment – something Tony Khan confirmed in an interview with Comicbook.com – but he didn't even bother to watch the show live? Goodness, talk about a lack of solidarity among The Shield fraternity. Still, Moxley did have some complementary things to say about Reigns and Rollins, noting that they have more-or-less accomplished everything thing they set out to do when they initially linked up.

“What they’ve done, it’s a really cool thing,” Moxley explained. “We were nobodies. We came in with attitudes, and we pretty much said, ‘We’re coming in, f**k you, and we’re taking this s**t over.’ The more time that passes, the more it becomes evident that we did exactly what we said we were going to do.”

Ranked one, two, three in the PWI Top-500 in 2023, it's clear The Shield really has taken the professional wrestling world by storm, even if they've all done it in different ways, with each performer holding a world championship in April for one promotion or another. Granted, only Moxley will enter May with a belt in his possession – unless Will Hobbs beats him this week on Dynamite – but in the end, it's hard to argue that The Shield don't still run professional wrestling in 2024.

Jon Moxley is proud to be the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.

Elsewhere in his interview with Sports Illustrated, Jon Moxley was asked about becoming the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, a belt he's been pursuing for over five years now. After a few close calls in the past, Moxley is beyond excited to hold the belt in NJPW and vows to defend it with his life.

“Those moments in the ring are like a drug. It was a great atmosphere, it was a crazy moment. I was all f**ked up with blood in my eyes. There was absolutely nothing that was going to stop me. Not giving up in the face of adversity, the will to not be denied,” Jon Moxley told Sports Illustrated.

“All the long-a** plane rides, all the injuries, all of that went away at that moment. I’m still here. So much of decision-making in pro wrestling is out of your control, but I have this one shot. I may never get another one. Plus, I’m a father now. At first, it didn’t seem so realistic. It wasn’t even a goal. I just embraced every moment in Japan. I love being there, training there, and wrestling there. All I’m focused on there is wrestling. That’s it. So it’s a state of mind that allows me to grow as a pro wrestler. It’s all about the pursuit of pro wrestling.

“I’m the first guy to hold all three–WWE, AEW, and IWGP. It feels so humbling to be put in this position. It’s a different world with the IWGP title, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So I’m going to storm the f**king castle.”

After working his tail off in AEW, becoming the promotion's MVP during the CM Punk era when everything was up in the air in the promotion, it's nice to see Mox getting to lead NJPW as their top title holder too, especially since he's also allowed to keep working matches for Tony Khan's company and in CMLL too, where the Blackpool Combat Club is currently feuding with the promotion's luchadors. All in all, a win-win-win for professional wrestling.