NJPW Booker Jado Talks About Chris Jericho’s Arrival To Japan, Match With Omega At Wrestle Kingdom, and More

New Japan Pro Wrestling booker Jado recently sat down and did and interview with NJPW’s website. They discussed Chris Jericho’s arrival in NJPW to face Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12, Jado’s history with Jericho, and much more.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

— So, Chris Jericho has made a huge impact in New Japan. You and he go way back..

Jado: Right. We first met in Mexico so.. it must be about 26 years now.

— Would Jericho have been in Mexico with Ultimo Dragon at that time?

Jado: No, no. I was over in Mexico as a freelancer and had a match with Jericho. Then I went to W*ING but he stayed in Mexico. Then it was around 1994 and WAR that Dragon brought Jericho to Japan.

— After all that time, on November 5, Jericho appeared on the big screen in Osaka. How did seeing that video message make you feel?

Jado: It was a huge shock, and not just to Japanese wrestling, but the whole world. I mean, here’s this guy that unified the WCW and WWE heavyweight belts… do you know what the most important thing in wrestling is?

–What?

Jado: It’s timing. Just the combination of absolute best time and absolute best place to do something nobody would think possible. Jericho, with the influence he has on the wrestling world, and Omega. This year it couldn’t happen; Omega was with Okada. 2019 maybe they couldn’t do it. Jericho just has a great sense of timing, of knowing ‘2018 is the time to do this’.

— You mentioned timing. Do you think Jericho’s wild, unpredictable side is another special talent of his?

Jado: Right. Jericho’s always been a hungry guy. And he really feels right now that he needs to face Omega. He said it himself, it’s Alpha versus Omega. He’s put together such a huge match for the worldwide audience.

— You and Jericho seem to get along well on Twitter, too..

Jado: (laughs) Well, he’s absolutely an old friend.

— Do you and he ever talk on a personal level?

Jado: Well, I think if we want to we can.

— Did he get in touch with you when he showed up in Osaka?

Jado: No, not really. If he came to me it would be ‘shall we go out for dinner’? That kind of thing. He’s the same way. But when he was touring Japan with WWE, we’d definitely meet up. Once a year or so.

— When he was in Japan for WWE, you’d always tweet out a photo with you and he going for dinner. Did you ever talk much about what was happening in New Japan over those dinners?

Jado: Not in much detail; he didn’t have a clear vision of coming to wrestle here at the time. But he was pretty clued in. He’d know Okada was champion, ask about Tanahashi and if he was hurt or not. These days you can find out about all sorts of things online pretty easily, so he’s definitely keeping up I think.

— His antenna is always working, so to speak.

Jado: That’s Jericho. I think his radar picked up that Kenny’s doing big things and that they’re from the same hometown of Winnipeg, so he decided something had to happen.

— The ‘big superstar’ Jericho being a challenger is an interesting situation.

Jado: Again, I thought that it’s really like him, to have the intuition to choose Kenny who’s on such a rise. And he did it on NJPW World so the whole world could see. He wanted to send that message, ‘I’m number one in Canada, and I’m number one in the world’.”

The full interview can be read here.