Backstage News On Chris Jericho And Kenny Omega Almost Signing With Impact Wrestling
Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega almost ended up signing with Impact Wrestling, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Impact Co-Executive Vice President Don Callis, who is good friends with Jericho, was reportedly very close to signing Jericho and Omega to contracts before All Elite Wrestling brought their offers to the table.
Jericho recently revealed that his AEW contract is the best deal of his pro wrestling career. Omega is expected to sign with AEW once his New Japan Pro Wrestling contract expires on January 31, however his signing has not been confirmed.
The Observer notes that before AEW was the plan, the idea was for Omega to keep working for NJPW and then do 30 dates per year for Impact. Jericho would have worked for Impact while working another year for NJPW since he would have had so much input on his creative plans. Jericho recently confirmed that he will continue to work with NJPW in the future.
As we previously reported, Jericho recently spoke about signing with AEW on his "Talk Is Jericho" podcast and discussed his talks with Impact. Jericho praised Callis and Scott D'Amore for what they've done with the company, adding that he really enjoys the product these days.
"I've gotta tell you guys, man, I've been really impressed with Impact over the last year," Jericho said. "I thought Don Callis and Scott D'Amore have really turned things around in that company, and I really, really enjoy it. And I thought long and hard about doing some shows there. I even had a meeting with Scott and Don in Toronto, and Ed Nordholm. The offer they made was a great offer. That's something that's funny when I hear all these companies are vying for the talent, for the free agents – WWE, AEW, Ring of Honor, New Japan, and someone mentioned MLW. Dude, what about Impact? They've got money. They were going to spend some money on Chris Jericho. We had some great matches planned. Jericho vs. Sami Callihan maybe, or with Johnny Impact, Brian Cage, Rich Swann. I'd love to work with Rich Swann. I did honestly talk to Impact and really, really thought about going there. And then Tony Khan came in with this offer, that's the biggest offer I've ever been offered in my career."
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
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