WWE News: Chris Jericho on why he's wrestling Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12
What’s the story?
Earlier today, former WWE Champion Chris Jericho released a podcast called "Wrestle Kingdom 12 Preview - Alpha vs Omega Unveiled" talking about exactly why he agreed to face off against Omega, and how they set the whole thing up.
In case you didn’t know…
Jericho is scheduled to wrestle his first match outside WWE since 1999 when he co-headlines Wrestle Kingdom 12 tomorrow with fellow Canadian Kenny Omega.
Now, many would say WrestleMania isn't really WrestleMania without Chris Jericho, but in the podcast, Y2J even goes into why he won't be at Mania, and why he thinks his match will eclipse almost any potential match WWE could put on the card.
The heart of the matter
Chris Jericho was speaking with Don Callis, a current commentator for NJPW and formerly known as wrestler Cyrus, about the build-up to the match and why exactly he agreed to do it.
Jericho stated that Callis called him to discuss the idea of the match, and that it was probably a truly once in a lifetime offer as he was at WWE the year before and he states that Omega could be in WWE next year and that Japan is a special place to him, so he couldn't say no - especially as he left before potentially having the chance to headline the Tokyo Dome.
Speaking on Talk Is Jericho during the debut episode of the podcast's new home at Westwood One, Y2J continues to say that he knew he wouldn't be headlining WrestleMania if he stayed at WWE, while dismissing staying as an option as he wanted to tour with his band Fozzy, but said the headliners were already set, and that he'd wrestled everyone hundreds of times, so nothing was really exciting in WWE for now - aside from perhaps wrestling Braun Strowman or Brock Lesnar, which didn't seem possible.
Jericho also states that he and Omega is the biggest match of the year, stating that only John Cena versus The Undertaker could trump it - as WWE have already dealt their hand of the two biggest matches they have just now, which he believes to be Lesnar versus Strowman and Cena versus Reigns.
Even more interestingly, Jericho goes on to talk about the creative behind his rivalry with Omega, stating that his initial tweet when calling The Cleaner overrated was both pre-determined and accidental.
He got a friend to tweet that Kenny Omega was the best in the world at Jericho at a set time while online so he could strike the match on the feud, but apparently tagging the wrong username on Twitter was a complete accident.
Callis adds that it only fuelled the flames and added to the brilliance of his character as it looked like he was so ignorant, he didn't even know who Omega really was - and played into Jericho's WWE character of calling Mike Rome by a different name every week.
Callis also reveals that he didn't know Jericho was going to use the line he pitched for the rivalry, about Omega not even being the best in Winnipeg never mind the best in the world.
Chris Jericho also spoke about Vince McMahon's reaction to the news that he would be wrestling for another promotion, which you can read about here.
What's next?
Well, the culmination of the rivalry! Chris Jericho is set to take on Kenny Omega tomorrow at the Tokyo Dome. Chris Jericho has no other immediate plans involving wrestling as yet following Wrestle Kingdom 12.
Author’s take
While Chris Jericho is already seen as one of the greatest of all time, and this match and the build-up has been pretty much perfect, it's great to get a glimpse behind the scenes with Jericho pulling back the curtain on the creative and business ends of the deal.
The match is bound to be a classic in every sense of the word.