At the climactic ROH Final Battle pay-per-view event of 2024, Chris Jericho successfully retained his ROH World Championship title by defeating Matt Cardona.
In a fascinating session with “Z100 New York,” Jericho elaborated on Tony Khan’s decision to pick Cardona as his competitor.
The remarkable excerpts from the interview are as follows:
Jericho’s insights on the selection of Cardona: “It’s interesting because Tony Khan, during our discussions about Final Battle and my stance as the Ring of Honor World Champion, suggested a few candidates that I could go up against, Matt Cardona being one of them. It seemed like an excellent choice because it was unexpected. Tony appreciated the diverse range of competitors I faced during my last stint as the Ring of Honor Champion, lovingly called ‘The Ocho,’ which included professionals from different organizations, even from Japan.”
Jericho’s take on the suitability of Cardona, given the show’s location: “Another interesting aspect was the fact that we were stationed in New York City for three shows spread over a significant duration. We came with the ‘King of New York’ concept, and then it struck me to challenge someone native to New York. Matt Cardona was an unexpected choice.”
Nick Gage, after announcing his exit from GameChanger Wrestling (GCW) in October, conversed with “MuscleManMalcolm” about his current association with the organization and Brett Lauderdale. His words were,
“Honestly, Malcolm, I cannot tell. We text, I receive responses. There is a bit of communication, but that’s it. Neither of us is pleading or begging, it’s just status quo.”
Gage went on to say, “I am hopeful that with time, we will mend what’s broken and realign as we should, organically and naturally. When the time is right, we will iron out our differences at dinner discussions. But it’s uncertain when that will transpire.”
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