Chris Jericho has been keeping himself busy lately, to say the least. Just this year he [one half of a double] main evented the Tokyo Dome, added Elias to The List, was announced to be wrestling the Undertaker in a casket match at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, and then suddenly was no longer wrestling the Undertaker in a casket match at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. Plus he’s got that cruise coming up!
Out of all Jericho’s projects, the one many wrestling fans (myself included) were most excited for was his return to New Japan Pro Wrestling. At New Year Dash!! (aka the New Japan After Wrestle Kingdom), Jericho ran in and attacked top antiestablishment babyface Testsuya Naito. This promised a feud with the potential to be the best of 2018, given the great matches these two men had just had the night before, their wildly contrasting personalities (Jericho NO ES TRANQUILO), and the potential for Naito’s exposure to a larger international audience.
However, while doing press for the GRR, Y2J told Still Real To Us, “It was good when it happened, but some things just don’t work out… New Japan was a lot of fun… not to say that I won’t go back there again, but as of right now our relationship is pretty much finished at this point.”
Jericho had tweeted to this effect about a month earlier, but many assumed it was a work. This was the guy who tweeted that New Japan was overrated and then started an angle there a few months later, after all.
Unfortunately yes. https://t.co/m7EdG57BzU
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) March 5, 2018
However, Jericho confirmed this statement with ESPN yesterday, and added, “Things change. That’s how it goes. Sometimes things seem like a good idea at the time, and when you look at it a little bit deeper and a little bit further, you realize it’s not gonna go the way you want it to go.”
It’s still possible that he flies directly from Jeddah to Kumamoto to challenge Naito again on Sunday (I think? I haven’t checked the travel time on that and I think the GRR’s supposed to last for about two days.), but it sounds like Jericho’s days in New Japan are sadly over… for now. If this isn’t a work.
