Chris Jericho Reveals How A Fellow AEW Star Saved His Life

Chris Jericho has been one of the biggest sports entertainers in the world for three decades, but if not for a member of the Jericho Appreciation Society, it might have only been two.

On the latest episode of the "Talk is Jericho" podcast, which featured the JAS, Jericho told the story of how Jake Hager saved his life while they were with WWE. The former AEW World Champion had previously hinted at the incident during a promo on "AEW Dynamite" back in April 2021, when both he and Hager were members of another faction, the Inner Circle. "This man had my back when I was threatened with assassination in Abu Dhabi in 2012," Jericho yelled during that promo, pointing at Hager.

Jericho elaborated on the podcast, explaining that WWE traveled to Abu Dhabi to perform three shows over the course of a week. He claimed that the crowds there was small, but filled with oil barons, princes, and other high profile people in the country who had paid good money to be there. And when they weren't wrestling, Jericho and the rest of roster would hit the clubs, which is where the trouble started.

"There's this guy who's being an asshole," Jericho said. "He's yelling and screaming..."

"Getting a little touchy, grabbing people," Hager added,

Jericho had apparently had enough — the next he passed the loudmouth, he sent him flying with a hip check. Hours later, when the superstars had finished partying, they left the club to find the man waiting for them with a group of friends.

"He goes 'My dad owns 27% of this company," Jericho recalled. "And I'm putting a bounty on your head. In the next 24 hours, you are going to be killed and I'm gonna pay them $7 million.'"

As things started to escalate, Jericho was ready for a fight, even slipping his room key between his fingers in preparation for the upcoming brawl.

"I remember Jake going, 'Don't do it man. This is the wild west. They will kill you here. They'll f*cking string you up, they'll hang you.' The only reason I didn't take a wild swing with my stupid key was because Jake told me not to ... If had not told me not to fight this guy, I would have [fought] him, and who knows what would have happened, so therefore, in pro wrestling logic, Jake Hager saved my life!"

There is a record of the three Abu Dhabi shows on Cagematch that match up with Jericho's 2012 timeline. Jericho had recently started a feud with CM Punk that would culminate at Wrestlemania XXVIII, while Hager was the reigning WWE United States Champion.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Talk is Jericho", with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.