AEW Star Chris Jericho Reveals Potential NJPW Matches Nixed By Pandemic

When Chris Jericho wrestled and defeated Konosuke Takeshita in DDT Pro Wrestling earlier this month, it was a momentous occasion for the AEW star. Not only was it another victory for Jericho in Japan, where he has wrestled on countless occasions ever since first touring there in 1991, but it was also his first trip to Japan since early 2020 when he wrestled and defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 14.

Jericho could've possibly been even more of a staple in Japan, particularly for New Japan, over the past few years if not for the pandemic. While discussing his match with Takeshita on "Talk is Jericho," the first-ever AEW World Champion talked about potential plans that were discussed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which ultimately prevented him from traveling to Japan till now.

"I had so much momentum with New Japan from 2018 with Kenny [Omega], co-headlined the Tokyo Dome," Jericho said. "2019 with Naito, co-headlined the Tokyo Dome. 2020 with Tanahashi, co-headlined the Tokyo Dome. And then the lockdown came, and everything was kind of shut down. There were plans for two or three other Tokyo Dome matches in that meantime afterward. There were talks of doing Ospreay, which we, of course, have done at Wembley. There were talks with Kota Ibushi, who was our tag team partner for the 'Like a Dragon' street fight. And then, of course, Minoru Suzuki."

As Jericho noted, he has since gotten to work with both Ospreay and Ibushi, though a singles match with Ibushi hasn't happened yet. The same can be said for Suzuki, who has teamed with Chris Jericho at the past two AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door events, defeating Eddie Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, and Shota Umino in 2022, and losing to Sting, Darby Allin, and Tetsuya Naito in 2023.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Talk Is Jericho" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription