Chris Jericho Reveals Scrapped Plans For His NJPW Run

Following the end of his WWE contract, Chris Jericho headed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2018 and The Painmaker was presented as one of the top stars in NJPW, having widely-praised matches against the likes of Kenny Omega, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, and Hiroshi Tanahashi. 

Jericho's final NJPW match - outside of the joint Forbidden Door pay-per-view with AEW - was at 2020's Wrestle Kingdom 14, but The Ocho has revealed there were plans in place for him to do more with New Japan. Those plans were ultimately scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though. 

Speaking about his upcoming match with Will Ospreay at AEW All In, Jericho revealed on the Casual Conversations with The Wrestling Classic podcast: 

"This match would have already happened in the Tokyo Dome in New Japan had there not been a lockdown. In 2018, I was against Kenny. In 2019, it was [Tetsuya] Naito. In 2020, it was [Hiroshi] Tanahashi. 2021 was going to be Ospreay or [Minoru Suzuki], and 2022 was going to be [whichever one he didn't face in 2021]. I wanted to do Ospreay earlier than that. So to me, it's one of those matches where will it ever get a chance to happen again? I don't know, but it needs to happen."

All In will emanate from Wembley Stadium in London, England on Sunday, August 27. Jericho has been set up as the babyface for All In while Ospreay, who is from the United Kingdom, has been positioned as the heel. Jericho stated that ultimately doesn't matter, though, comparing the match to the FIFA World Cup final. 

"The fact that it's happening in Wembley, his home country is great, but once again, I've been in England probably more times than he's wrestled in England. I mean, it seems like I've been there 50 times for different matches over the years. I think that obviously, he's a hometown guy, but I think Chris Jericho's name in the UK is almost like a hometown guy as well. I always love, 'Oh, Jericho is going to be the babyface, Ospreay is going to be the heel?' It doesn't matter. Yeah, there's no babyface and heel. It's like going to the Super Bowl or going to a World Cup final, people are going to cheer for who they are going to cheer for, and they want to see a great game. That's how I feel about it. So to me, to get the chance to face Will in Wembley at this show, I can't think of another match that I'd rather have. I really can't. I mean, there's some other ones that are that are big, but that one to me just seems like a big fight feel. It's very unique, and it can only happen at All In, in my opinion," Jericho added.

H/T to Fightful