Lance Archer beats Jon Moxley for IWGP U.S. title at AEW Fyter Fest
Jon Moxley’s 18-month reign as IWGP U.S. Champion has come to an end as Lance Archer regained the title in a Texas death match at Wednesday’s AEW Fyter Fest.
After being jabbed repeatedly with a fork in the head, Moxley was thrown through a table adorned with barbed wire and was unable to make it back in the ring at the count of ten, giving Archer his second reign as champion.
Archer won’t have to wait long to defend the title as he will face New Japan’s Hikuleo on next Wednesday’s AEW Fight for the Fallen. The son of Haku, Hikuleo will go into next week’s AEW debut on a two-match win streak.
Moxley defeated Archer for the title back at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in January 2020, also in a Texas death match. He defended the title five times with defenses against Juice Robinson, Minoru Suzuki, KENTA, Yuji Nagata, and Karl Anderson. The last three defenses were either on New Japan Strong or AEW Dynamite.
The win is Archer’s sixth straight in an AEW ring. The loss is Moxley’s first in an AEW ring since March’s Revolution pay-per-view when he failed to defeat World Champion Kenny Omega in an exploding barbed wire death match.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.