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What’s the story?
In a recent exclusive interview with Inside The Ropes, WWE legend Chris Jericho revealed that he had previously pitched the idea of a match against former Universal Champion Finn Balor. Jericho also discussed the amount of success he had received during his latest WWE run.
In case you didn’t know…
Chris Jericho’s last run in the WWE saw him engage in an intense feud against his former ‘JeriKO’ tag team partner Kevin Owens.
For months Owens and Jericho were by far the most entertaining part of Monday Night Raw, however, at last year’s Festival of Friendship, Owens turned his back on Y2J and brutally assaulted the former United States Champion.
The two men would also collide at last year’s Wrestlemania 32 in the US Title match, which was eventually won by Owens who captured the belt from Jericho.
The heart of the matter
During his interview with Inside The Ropes, Chris Jericho revealed that he had originally pitched the idea of facing Finn Balor in a singles match, at the 2016 Summerslam pay-per-view. Moreover, Y2J claimed that he had first pitched the idea of the match to Vince McMahon back in 2015, when Jericho wrestled Balor for the first time during a WWE live tour in Japan.
“Anytime I go to Japan, I come back and tell Vince, 'why do you have these guys wasting their time in NXT? Bring them to the main league.' So it was going to be me and [Finn] at SummerSlam and then Vince changed his mind. Then, put me and Kevin together as a team against Enzo and Cass."- Jericho stated.
What’s next?
Chris Jericho, who recently wrestled in a gruesome match against Kenny Omega at NJPW: Wrestle Kingdom 12, is scheduled to make his return to WWE at Monday Night Raw’s 25th Anniversary special episode which takes place later this month.
However, there have been many speculations that have suggested that Jericho will indeed return to New Japan Pro Wrestling later this year and face-off against Los Ingobernables de Japon leader Tetsuya Naito, who was attacked by The Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla at this year’s New Year’s Dash event.
Author’s Take
I think a match between Finn Balor and Chris Jericho at a pay-per-view like Summerslam would have been off the charts. Both Jericho and Balor are two of the top stars in the Pro Wrestling world today and a singles match between the two men would’ve definitely been a tremendous contest.
