Based on the end of this week’s AEW Dynamite, it seems that the company is rolling towards a confrontation between the “Baddest Man on the Planet” and “Le Champion.” Somehow based on a decade-old angle from the Guest Host era of Monday Night RAW, Jericho and Tyson exchanged words and a little more at the end of the show, mirroring a similar angle with the boxer during the height of the Attitude Era.
Speaking with ESPN, Chris Jericho gave some insight into how much of that angle was planned and where it’s all hopefully leading. First things first, as you may have guessed, there’s no controlling Tyson.
A guy like him, he’s a firecracker, man. He’s a loose cannon as an entertainer, as a performer. You don’t give Mike Tyson a script. You don’t rehearse something with Mike Tyson. You just go out there. He’s gonna do whatever the f— he wants to do no matter what. And that’s cool. I have 30 years of being in the ring and I can guide that.
Jericho praises Tyson for keeping up his mystique for decades, comparing his notoriety in the wrestling world to Tyson’s in the general sporting community. “What we did last night was get headlines from every major sports publication saying Mike Tyson makes his mark in an AEW ring with Chris Jericho. All of that is company branding, where people go, “Wow, we’ve heard of this AEW, but we didn’t realize they were that big.” Or, “Who is this AEW?” Mike Tyson draws eyeballs. Chris Jericho draws eyeballs. But Tyson is gonna draw the type of coverage that I can’t get, because I’m not as mainstream as him.”
Jericho continues that an eventual match between the two titans would be huge, but that’s not the complete picture. “The match is the cherry on top. But it’s the build that’s really the most entertaining part, and the part that gets people really involved. So whatever it is that we decide to do as we move forward, it’ll be great.”
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