Chris Jericho Says Canadian City Blows Other Wrestling Cities 'Out Of The Water'
On Tuesday, Chris Jericho may have been trying to stoke some intra-Canadian tension with his appearance on Winnipeg Sports Talk, where he was interviewed by host Andrew Paterson as part of his publicity tour for AEW's Winnipeg debut on March 14, 2023. AEW will be taping Dynamite and Rampage at the Canada Life Centre. With Jericho being a Winnipeg native, one of the natural questions was to ask him about "Winterpeg's" history as a wrestling city and how it compares to others, both in Canada and abroad.
"Winnipeg's always been a wrestling city," Jericho explained. "I think it's one of the reasons why I fell in love with the wrestling so early on with the AWA coming to town so much, and then WWF kind of taking that over. And even when I started wrestling in Winnipeg myself with WWE, you could always go there...I think one of the last matches I had there was against John Moxley and I was a really hated bad guy. And he was a really adored good guy. But the moment I walked out there, I mean obviously I'm the hero of the city, so we switched it on the fly, switched roles."
Jericho: 'I think [Winnipeg]s] four best beat any four best from any other city'
Jericho continued by comparing Winnipeg to other great wrestling cities, taking particular aim at another Canadian city in the form of Calgary, Alberta, the home of the Hart family and Stampede wrestling.
"I think Winnipeg is just one of those cities," Jericho said. "I don't know what it is. It's like Milwaukee or Chicago or Detroit or Dallas, just kind of rich in wrestling tradition. People talk about Calgary being a great wrestling city; Winnipeg blows Calgary out of the water. I would say you take our four best pro wrestlers from Winnipeg, Kenny [Omega], Don [Callis], [Chris] Jericho, and Roddy Piper, and I think our four best beat any four best from any other city, including Calgary. Take Owen and Bret Hart out of the equation, and Calgary kind of falls by the wayside. Winnipeg has the best wrestlers. Winnipeg is the best fans. And Winnipeg is probably the best wrestling city."
It's unclear if the inclusion of Callis was meant as a joke or not, as his greatest success as an in-ring wrestler was on the local independent scene in Manitoba. As for Jericho, though he received his initial pro wrestling training at Keith Hart's wrestling school in Okotoks, Alberta, a Calgary suburb, his formative years as a Canadian independent wrestler were generally spent closer to his hometown of Winnipeg.
Jericho recently hinted that he could see some kind of interaction with fellow Winnipegian Kenny Omega at AEW's Winnipeg debut next year.