Released WWE star on why Chris Jericho didn't want to face him
Fandango believes Chris Jericho was right to have doubts about facing his “ridiculous” WWE character at WrestleMania 29.
Jericho lost against Fandango in one of the biggest upsets in WrestleMania history in 2013. In the weeks leading up to the event, Jericho was reluctant to face Fandango until The Undertaker advised him to do what Vince McMahon wanted.
Fandango said on the Such Good Shoot podcast that McMahon created his dancer gimmick after Jericho appeared on American show Dancing with the Stars. The recently released WWE star added that he understood why Jericho did not want to face him.
“Chris did an amazing job at getting me over and I don't blame him,” Fandango said. “It’s a ridiculous character. Look at it this way, guys, so Vince thought it was probably stupid that he went on Dancing with the Stars, right? Vince thought Bryan Danielson was crazy to be a vegan. So anything that Vince thinks is stupid, he'll make a character out of it, right?
“So he thought Chris going on Dancing with the Stars was stupid, so what is he gonna do? He's gonna make an evil dancing gimmick because he thinks it's outrageous.”
Watch the video above to hear more stories about Fandango’s WWE career. He also discussed the NXT game show, the original plan for his match against Chris Jericho, and much more.
Fandango on Chris Jericho’s ability to evolve
With 31 years’ experience in wrestling, Chris Jericho has adapted his character more times than almost any wrestler throughout his career.
Unlike Jericho, Fandango felt that his dancer gimmick made him a one-dimensional character who struggled to evolve over the years.
“Unless you're that tippy top guy like Roman Reigns, you're gonna kind of go into no man's land, and that's kind of what happened to me because I was just riding the wave, you know?” Fandango added. “So look at what Chris would do. So Chris was always evolving and coming up with different stuff, new characters, twists on his character, and I kind of felt stuck with that character.”
Fandango received his release from WWE in June after 14 years with the company. Aside from defeating Jericho, his biggest accomplishment arguably came in 2020 when he won the NXT Tag Team Championship with Tyler Breeze.
Please credit Such Good Shoot and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.