Chris Jericho Talks Full Gear Main Event: ‘It Doesn’t Matter If We Go Last’
Photo Credit: Bill Pritchard
Speaking with Sports Illustrated‘s Justin Barrasso, Le Champion Chris Jericho surveys the scene a day before his AEW World Title match with Chris Jericho. Thinking back to where he was a few years ago, he doesn’t regret making the jump to the unknown in the slightest.
For me, following my WWE run in 2017 with Kevin Owens, that was one of the best moments of my career. So to be put on second at WrestleMania, that told me I had to leave. I couldn’t stay. We had the best story on the show and we went second. I’d rather go first. Second is a throwaway position, so it didn’t matter what I did there, but I knew I could do more.
One of the things to come from that 2017 run was “The List,” but Jericho is happy to discard old catchphrases and keep evolving. “When I said ‘A little bit of the bubbly,’ it was a throwaway line. I never once thought anyone would say it again or think about it. It’s a Dumb and Dumber line from Jim Carrey that always made me laugh, I just thought that would be funny.”
Justin compares Chris’ Inner Circle faction to the classic NWO, which Jericho saw emerge during his WCW run. Chris puts it plainly.
Any comparisons between Jericho and Hulk Hogan in the NWO begin and end with knowing how to get heel heat. In the ring, it’s a different story. That was one of the things that was great, and not so great, about WCW. The NWO was so huge and made so much money, but whenever it came down to the actual matches in the ring, they were never that great.
Finally, talking about Full Gear, Jericho thinks that the title doesn’t have to go on last, especially after experiencing his main event with Hangman Page. “It doesn’t matter to me if we go last. I learned this with my Hangman Page match [at “All Out”]. We had a great match, but it was on after the Lucha Bros. and Young Bucks had this crazy ladder match. I can follow any match in the world, I’m not worried about that, but let’s give every match its due.”
RELATED: WZ Daily Podcast: Is Cody’s AEW Full Gear Stipulation A Good Move?