"I thought maybe I would get the call" - WWE legend discloses misconception about taking Jon Moxley's spot at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door
Former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho has opened up about his feelings towards Jon Moxley facing Hiroshi Tanahashi at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door. It seems that the leader of the Jericho Appreciation Society thought he was going to be the one to face the ace of New Japan.
Moxley and Tanahashi will fight to become the Interim AEW World Champion after current champion CM Punk went down with a foot injury on the June 1st edition of Dynamite. It will also be the first official singles meeting between Moxley and Tanahashi, with both men having only encountered each other in a four-way match at the NJPW "Capital Collision" event in May 2022.
One man who thought he was going to be involved in the interim title scene was Chris Jericho. The former AEW World Champion recently spoke to TSN about how he thought he was going to get the call to face Tanahashi over Jon Moxley:
“To be honest with you, when [CM] Punk got hurt, I thought maybe I would get the call to work with [Hiroshi] Tanahashi. Obviously, Mox is a great choice as well, but that to me is the status of what I should be doing in a New Japan situation. Don’t forget, we’ve got Blood and Guts three days later, so if I do something at Forbidden Door, it has to be something that leads to Blood and Guts. It has to be the next step in the story, so where does that fit in? Well, we have to use our heads and figure something out to make it fit in somewhere."
It's official!
June 26 sees Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jon Moxley collide for the Interim AEW World Championship!
LIVE on PPV, B/R Live and FITE!
#AEWxNJPW #ForbiddenDoor https://t.co/Dq5EO4ijMN
Jericho went on to admit that due to the nature of the stories being told in both AEW and NJPW, his match at Forbidden Door was always going to be more of a faction-based bout:
"You can’t really have a pay-per-view without Chris Jericho on the show or Eddie Kingston on the show or Bryan Danielson on the show at this point, especially with Punk and other guys out. I’m sure I’ll be involved in some capacity, but it’s going to have to be more of something that fits together with what’s going on at Blood and Guts, which probably means not so much a singles match and more of a faction-based match with the Jericho Appreciation Society at the crux of it versus the BCC or whatever New Japan guys we decide could fit in there.” (H/T: Wrestling Inc.)
This was later confirmed on the June 15th episode of Dynamite, when Jericho revealed that he would be teaming with Sammy Guevara and Minoru Suzuki to take on Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta and Shota Umino.
Jon Moxley will be in action this Friday on AEW Rampage
To get himself warmed up for his showdown with Tanahashi, Jon Moxley will have a warm-up of sorts on the upcoming episode of AEW Rampage against rising star Dante Martin.
It will be the third time Jon Moxley gets the chance to wrestle Martin, with the first two occasions being in tag team and trios action. Moxley picked up the win on both of those occasions, taking his record to a perfect 2-0 over Martin.
#AEWRampage: #RoadRager is THIS FRIDAY 10/9c on @tntdrama!
-@JonMoxley v @lucha_angel1
-TBS Title @Jade_Cargill (c) v @Willowwrestles
-@DarbyAllin v @thebobbyfish
-@PlatinumMax/@TheAustinGunn/@ColtenGunn v @bearbronsonBC/@bear_boulder/@LEONRUFF_ https://t.co/KQvC4D0eZg
Elsewhere on the Rampage card this friday, Darby Allin will take on Bobby Fish, Max Caster and The Gunn Club will take on Bear Country and Leon Ruff, and Jade Cargill will defend her TBS Championship against Willow Nightingale.
Just what will go down on AEW Rampage? You will have to tune in to find out!