United Empire’s latest member speaks
Of the four names making their Best of the Super Junior debuts this May, the biggest sense of mystery surrounds Dan Moloney. While Lio Rush and Kevin Knight are known to the NJPW fanbase, and Mike Bailey has years of experience under their belt, the newest member of the United Empire is a true wild card, and one whose power and work ethic is set to turn more than a few heads. Before the tournament gets underway, we spoke to Moloney himself in his first NJPW interview.
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(Photography courtesy Beyond Gorilla & Brit Wres Pics)
It’s not usual to see a f***ing massive junior
–Before we got started here today, I took a look through your Instagram, and saw a shot of you from Royal Quest II back in October.
Moloney: Yeah.
–You lost in the opening match to Gabriel Kidd, but pointing at the Lion Mark afterward it was clear that this was something you wanted, and now you’ve had this long journey pay off. How does it feel to be heading to Japan?
Moloney: It’s… I want to say it’s surreal. For the last five years, this is what I’ve been thinking of every single time I head to the ring. It was a big goal to me before the pandemic, and it felt like I was getting closer and closer in RevPro, but then the pandemic happened and it was two years down the drain. When business got going again, I had to change up the gameplan.
–And part of that was moving weight classes.
Moloney: I dropped from heavyweight to junior, and I think it was the best thing I did to get closer to my goal of Japan.
–It’s pretty rare to hear about guys that move down from heavyweight to junior; what sparked that decision?
Moloney: The heavyweight scene in Britain.. I’ll be honest, it didn’t have the fire that the junior heavyweights had. Especially in RevPro, the wrestlers I liked to face were all junior heavyweights. In wrestling you see a lot of small heavyweights, but it’s not usual to see a f***ing massive junior, you know? I thought that becoming the biggest junior would be something that would make me stand out and run through the roster.
This weight is the optimum when it comes to me hurting people
–If you can, how would you sum up what you bring to the table when it comes to Best of the Super Jr. 30 that none of the other entrants do?
Moloney: An older Japanese legend last year, I won’t say who, he talked about me as ‘the ultimate power junior.’ I like that label. I’ve packed 125 kg of heavyweight power into a 90kg body. So everyone in that tournament is going to feel like they’re facing a heavyweight. I’m not the risk taker that some of these guys are- I like to hurt people and I like to throw people around. That’s what you can expect.
–For the people seeing you for the first time, where does the Drilla nickname come from?
Moloney: It was a nickname given to me on the housing estate where I lived as a child. The older kids called me it, and it just stayed with me. When I came back to independent wrestling I had this finisher, but I didn’t have a name for it, but everyone on commentary, the fans, the press started calling it the Drilla Killa, so it just writes itself.
–Being near the cut line between junior heavyweight and heavyweight, is it hard to stay right at that point of being the biggest junior you can be?
Moloney: When I decided to make the cut during the pandemic, I got into figuring out my body and mind and how it all works to me. It’s relatively easy for me to be in the 90-100kg mix, and if I need to I can easily drop 2,3 kilos in a week, or maybe add one or two if I need to. I tend to find where I am right now in that 90kg range to be the most comfortable for me with the way I like to wrestle and I think it’s the optimum when it comes to me hurting people.
There’s no way me and Ospreay don’t wrestle again sometime
–There are obviously very strong British origins to United Empire as a group, but you get the feeling that you and Will in particular have a very similar mindset. You’re both streetfighters, both not afraid to get into a fight, both very aggressive. Is that fair?
Moloney: Yeah, I’d say that’s accurate. We’ve lived different lives, but we have similar mindsets. We’re very defensive people, I think, to the point where we can get very offensive as a result. That bad attitude is something we have in common; we both feel like we always have something to prove, and that keeps us up at night sometimes. So we’re both wanting to bite at something when we can.
–You and Will were scheduled to wrestle in RevPro before his shoulder injury, and then you faced Francesco Akira instead.
Moloney: Yeah.
–After that match you were invited into United Empire. It felt like that was another journey that was a long time in the making.
Moloney: Me and Will goes back to six years ago. I’d just been fired from another company, and I didn’t- I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t think I was good enough to get the job in the first place. I felt like I’d got lucky, so when I was let go I thought, well, that’s it.
–You didn’t feel like you had a future in wrestling anymore.
Moloney: Then I turned up to wrestle Will in the summer of 2018. I was terrified; I had this knot in my stomach. Will was coming into this era where he was becoming the best in the world, and I thought I didn’t belong with him. But the match we had ended up changing my life. Ever since then I was chasing that match.
–You wanted another shot at Will.
Moloney: That’s all I wanted. I came into RevPro, kept building momentum, used the Drilla Killa as my finish. I wanted to wrestle him again so that I could say ‘if you saw something in me then, you should see me now.’ I had that same knot in my stomach, but it was from a place of confidence now, not fear. To get so close, and then for him to get injured… it’s another part of the journey. I have no doubt we’ll face each other again, even if it’s as friends rather than enemies, but there’s no way we don’t wrestle sometime.
They know this place better than I do, but they don’t know who I am
–Let’s look at your Best of the Super Jr. schedule. You’re in B Block, and your first match will be on May 12 against BUSHI. Do you have any idea of how you expect your first NJPW match to go?
Moloney: I know that BUSHI’s one of the most experienced wrestlers in the lineup, but I can’t let that or the spot get to my head. He knows this place a lot better than I do, but he doesn’t know who I am. I’m prepared for him, the question is whether he’s prepared for me, and that’s the important thing.
–Night two is another veteran in Yoshinobu Kanemaru- someone who knows every dirty trick in the book.
Moloney: Well, this is where I think I’m at an advantage in this thing coming in as an unknown. Kanemaru might come in thinking he can be that Heel Master, but I’m not above getting my hands dirty either. I’m telling you, whatever it takes. I know who Kanemaru is. Does he know who I am? If not he’s going to slip up.
–May 14 in Nagoya, YOH. Since teaming with Lio Rush, he’s gotten a lot more confidence, he’s enjoying himself more, and he could be a threat to make the finals.
Moloney: If he wats to enjoy himself and have a bit of fun, be happy to be there in the other matches then good on him, but he’s making a mistake bringing that s**t to me. I hope he comes riding the party train, bells whistles and confetti. That’ll make a short night for me.
The one person who put a taste in my mouth is Robbie Eagles
–May 16 you face your United Empire teammate, Francesco Akira, so a rematch from RevPro.
Moloney: I needed to beat him in England, and I need to beat him again here. I’m not going to take a 14 hour flight to Japan only to take a step backward by losing to him, and even though we’re teammates there’s no friends in that ring. You could put my mum in there, I’d still lawnmow her (laughs). I still have to get a win over Frankie one way or another.
–From there, it’s Master Wato. We talked about you undergoing changes during the pandemic; Wato debuted in the pandemic, and he’s made steady improvement since.
Moloney: Anyone who can debut in a pandemic, make your return with no people or clap crowds is incredibly tough, that’s worthy of respect. But it’s a walk in the park compared to being thrown out your boots by me. The worst is yet to come for him.
–The next night, it’s Kevin Knight. He recently took the IWGP Jr. Tag titles away from your teammates TJP and Francesco Akira, and that aerial offence is dangerous.
Moloney: Sure. He has incredible hops. Maybe better than anyone in the business. But the longer a wrestler is in the air, the easier it is for me to pull them out of it. Every single second he spends in the air, he’s at risk, because the higher you jump, the harder you get thrown to the mat.
–On the 19th it’s El Desperado. One of the favourites in the tournament, he’ll be a target for most.
Moloney: I got to sit pretty close to the ring in October at Royal Quest, and I saw Desperado up close in person. He’s a phenomenal wrestler, he’s got that great mask, that star aura. But there’s an aura about me too.
–May 21 in Korakuen, it’s Robbie Eagles.
Moloney: I’m coming into this tournament fairly neutral on everyone, but the one person that put a taste in my mouth is Robbie Eagles.
–How so?
Moloney: When he joined TMDK, I saw him talk to the NJPW website talking about how they accepted me as a junior when he thought they had their eyes on him, and he gave a little laugh didn’t he?
–He did joke that it was convenient you joined United Empire right after he joined TMDK.
Moloney: I don’t get where that comes from. I don’t know whether he’s just embarrassed that he didn’t get chosen to be in the United Empire, I don’t know if he thinks that I’m a clown. But I do know that giving a little chuckle after you say my name is not a good idea. It might be one of the most dangerous things you can do. So he’s the only one really where I’m coming in angry, and we’ll see whether he wants to have a little laugh in Korakuen.
–Ending up B block in Osaka, it’s Clark Connors. The newest member of BULLET CLUB and someone who has quite a similar power junior stance to you.
Moloney: Clark Connors is an interesting one. In 2018, he came over to England for a short while as a Young Lion, and I wrestled him then. Now, I have to not mistake him for a Young Lion. I’ve seen what he’s done since, I know he’s part of BULLET CLUB, but the result has to be the same as if he was a Young Lion. He has to land on his head.
I got called in to be a hitman
–The A Block lineup includes last year’s BOSJ winner and the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion in Hiromu Takahashi. Usually when we do these interviews and wrestlers don’t have the champion in their block, they’ll inevitably say that’s who they want to meet in the semis or the final; are you the same way?
Moloney: Yeah. One million percent. That’s the image I already have for this tournament; me opposite the Time Bomb in Ota, him looking to sail to his fifth BOSJ trophy. I noticed there’s a wave of fans in Japan that want a new champion. They’re screaming for something new, and I plan on being that. And it would be fun to cause him misery, to be the one to take that fifth title away from him. After that, I’m coming for his title.
–Once more for the fans seeing you live for the first time in the arenas from May 12- what can fans expect from Dan Moloney?
Moloney: Physically, and I’m willing to bet my life on this- I am pound for pound the most explosive, and the strongest wrestler in the world. Nobody anywhere has this much strength in this size and frame. Mentally, I might be a bit moodier than the fans are used to. Especially compared to the rest of this block, and in A Block as well- I’m not the colourful guy that Hiromu is. I carry myself different. I’m a hitman. Ospreay called me in to be a hitman, this is his gameplan for me, and that’s the mentality I’ll have.
