Former Champion believes Chris Jericho was "not too excited" to wrestle him in WWE

In what is regarded as one of the biggest shocks in WWE history, Chris Jericho surprisingly lost to the ballroom dancing star Fandango at WrestleMania 29 in 2013.

Given Jericho's iconic status in the business, many were stunned when the former Undisputed WWE Champion lost to the slightly cartoonish performer in what was Fandgango's debut match.

During a recent interview with Wrestling News, Fandango said that despite him and Chris getting along backstage, he did sense that Jericho was not all that excited to face him at the biggest show of the year:

“I’m working with a guy that I looked up to, a legend. I don’t want to disappoint him, and I’m Vince’s pet at the time. You know he’s producing the vignettes and the montages and stuff. So I feel like I’m kinda stuck in the middle here where, like, I think Chris personally likes me, but he’s not too excited about wrestling a ballroom dancer at WrestleMania. Which I can understand, you know.” [From 1:59 to 2:29]

Check out the full interview below:

Following the match, Fandango would remain a WWE Superstar until 2021. During his time in the company, he found great success as a tag team star alongside the charismatic performer Tyler Breeze.

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Chris Jericho discusses his match against Fandango

The year prior to his WrestleMania match with the ballroom-dancing superstar, Jericho was in a marquee match against CM Punk for the WWE Title on Tthe Grandest Stage of Them All. Many would assume that the wrestling legend would not have fond memories of his match with Fandango.

Despite losing the contest, Chris stated on his podcast Talk is Jericho that the financial rewards for putting over the debuting star at WrestleMania were extremely lucrative:

"We made this huge babyface in one night, so it did go the way I was hoping. I did my job. When I got my check for the Fandango match, it was at the time the second biggest paycheck I’d ever gotten for any match ever, was that match against Fandango – which was second on the show." [H/T Sportskeeda, 1:09:45 onward]

Chris Jericho is undoubtedly still one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling today. During his iconic career, he has won championships in Ring of Honor, WWE, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, ECW, WCW, and AEW.

Where does Chris Jericho rank amongst the greats in wrestling history? Let us know in the comments section below.