Chris Jericho seemed to surprise a lot of people in 2019 when he was announced as a member of the AEW initial roster. The former WWE Superstar seemed firmly entrenched and loyal to the company, often taking breaks to chase other creative projects before returning to the WWE.
Jericho opened up on his decision to jump to AEW to Inside the Ropes, and it seems like a snub over a WrestleMania main event may have played a factor. Jericho specifically spoke about his match against Kevin Owens from WrestleMania 33.
“There’s no bitterness when I tell this story or no anger; it’s just the way it is. I’ve been working in this business for a long time. So you mentioned Kevin Owens and Jericho and we had the best story on the show for months. One of the original plans from Vince’s (McMahon) mouth to my ears directly was the main event of WrestleMania, was going to be Jericho vs Owens for the world title, and Jericho wins the title, for the first time ever as a babyface. I’ve never been a babyface World Champion ever. Weird to think of it, right? Seven-time champion as a heel.”
“Next week the plans changed, which Vince did not tell me, Goldberg vs Brock for the title, because that’s what they wanted to do. That’s fine. Maybe from a marquee standpoint, that might have been a bigger money match, but from a story standpoint ours was worth more. But the difference was we went from the main event to being put on second. That’s an insult, because the second match is just another match. Either you’re on last or you’re on first, and maybe the semi-main event. But that’s it, those are your big money spots at WrestleMania.”
Jericho and Owens still had quite the entertaining match at the event, but it’s clear to Jericho the match would have meant far more had it been the promised World Championship match Jericho had been told it would be. Perhaps it will be addressed more on Jericho’s upcoming Broken Skull Sessions.
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