Few people know that when Eddie Kingston dropped Chris Jericho on his head at AEW Full Gear, Jericho told him to do it.
Ring of Honor World Champion Chris Jericho was the latest guest on AEW Unrestricted with Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about why he enjoys opening up an All Elite Wrestling pay-per-view, Jericho said if you aren’t last, you always want to be first.
“I’ve always said that because it’s the best position to be in unless you’re on last if you have a title or whatever it may be,” Chris Jericho said. “Absolutely. I’ll go last every night. If I can’t, I’ll go first every night. With Eddie Kingston, that was one of my favorite matches that I’ve ever had. And we started it off like, ‘We’re on first. I want you to just dump me on my head.’ It was a terrible bump. And I’ve only taken one other bump like that in my life, and it was from our broadcast colleague Taz back when I was 25 years old, and I’ll never do it again.
“Was it scary? Yeah, I was scared, but it was also like, I want to start to show off and have some people go, ‘Holy shit. What the f*ck just happened?’ And once we did that, it changed the dynamic of everything. I’m an artist. So I’ll take the risk. That’s what we do. I will never take another bump like that again. But I never thought I’d take a light bulb or fluorescent light bulb over the head from Nick Gage last year, but once again, why did I do it? Because the story warranted it.
“It’s why we did Barbed Wire Everywhere this year. It’s not just a bunch of guys falling in barbed wire because we’re marks. It’s because the story worked, and it really made a difference to do things that way. And that’s what I think keeps my longevity or keeps me where I think it should be because I understand that you let the story lead you. You don’t lead the story because then it becomes shoehorning. Where is the story taking us? What is the crowd doing? You have to listen to that, and you can’t do it if you don’t have the experience, and even guys with experience, some can’t.
“I’ve always been very good at listening to — not the crowd, like they used to say that Wayne Gretzky could kind of feel where the puck was going, not where it is and not where it’s been. Because if you go where the puck is or has been, you’re behind the play; he was always ahead of the play. And I’ve been very good at, once again, at the risk of sounding egotistical, it’s staying ahead of the curve just a little bit. This is going to really work even if it seems strange, and nine times out of ten, it does. And that was one of those nights where we’re really fit.
“The funny thing is, to wrap it up is that was never the plan. The plan was going to be me and Eddie, he can’t win the big one, and then he does. And then we maybe become partners, maybe become a six-man with Moxley. But then I got hurt. It’s much documented; I had a pulmonary embolism in December of 21 and had to push back the match. Then Eddie broke his orbital bone and pushed back the match. Now we’re just trying to figure out stuff to do to keep it hot.
“And he brings up this thing with Santana and Ortiz that maybe Jericho is holding you back, and then it suddenly becomes like, what if those guys stay with Eddie Kingston, and what if I turned on them? What if I started a whole new thing? And Danny Garcia, Ang, and Daddy Magic were involved with Eddie, and they’re involved with me. And Danielson wanted to take Danny Garcia away. And I was like, why take away Danny from those two guys? It would suck for those two. Those three should stay together. Why don’t those three come with me?
“I’ll keep Jake because he’s the heater. Sammy’s already gone. And we got a whole new thing. Let’s call it the Jericho Appreciation Society. [And the fans said] that’s a terrible name. It sucks! It’s the same thing they said that The Inner Circle was a terrible name. Just shut up. So that’s kind of all those things. Just think ahead of the curve rather than behind it, and you can usually find some magic.”
READ MORE: Tony Khan: It’s Scary How Good Chris Jericho Is Right Now, He Has Found The Fountain Of Youth
What do you make of Chris Jericho’s comments? Do you understand his philosophy when it comes to professional wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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