Chris Jericho is nearly 30 years into his pro wrestling career at this point, and he is currently in the midst of reinventing himself once again. This time, he’s playing the role of globetrotting household-name icon hellbent on proving to the best wrestlers in Japan that he can still go.
On Thursday, Jericho made his eagerly-awaited New Japan return, as he took on Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12, in a co-main event that was dubbed “Alpha vs. Omega.”
(You can find the full Wrestle Kingdom 12 results here, but in the event that you’re waiting to watch the AXS TV broadcast of the event on Saturday, or if you haven’t had time to watch the lengthy event yet and are hoping to avoid spoilers, I am giving you this parenthetical paragraph to hastily close the tab, lest your eyes rocket further down the page and then you blame me or With Spandex for spoiling your good time. Bless you.)
In that co-main event, Jericho fell short of defeating Omega and capturing the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, but he certainly proved his “can still go” talking point. In the actual main event, Tetsuya Naito also fell short of his goal of capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, as Kazuchika Okada continued his historically dominant reign by retaining the title. And now it looks like these two runners-up will now be on a collision course.
At Friday’s New Year Dash event at Korakuen Hall, the main event was a star-studded 10-man tag team match, as Los Ingobernables de Japon of Naito, EVIL, BUSHI, SANADA, and Hiromu Takahashi defeated the Chaos team of Okada, Gedo, Hirooki Goto, Will Ospreay, and YOSHI-HASHI, with Naito pinning YOSHI-HASHI after the Destino.
LIJ beat down Okada after the match, and were taunting him and Chaos when none other than Chris Jericho hit the ring, and made a beeline straight for Naito.
Oh!My God!! @IAmJericho surprises @s_d_naito and the Korakuen crowd at New Year's Dash! The legend seems to have had enough of Naito's attitude! Watch Now（English Commentary）▶︎https://t.co/fEh4jA7fML#njpw #njpwworld #njdash pic.twitter.com/b3KeNBcEL0
— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) January 5, 2018
The two men had to be separated and Jericho was forcibly removed from the ring and restrained, although he did manage to lift and fling the announcer’s table, which is apparently his new signature move in New Japan. (I approve.) While Jericho was being restrained by New Japan personnel at ringside, Naito retrieved a chair from a fan at ringside and … showed Jericho the true nature of Tranquilo.
It looks like we’re headed for Naito vs. Omega at some point soon, and I believe that’s a match we can all get behind. It’s also a great way to keep Naito and Okada apart for a while so a new challenger to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship can make himself known. New Japan fever is spreading, and Jericho has clearly caught a terrible case of it.
