Chris Jericho Describes Taking Claudio Castagnoli’s Big Swing On Top Of AEW Cage

It's one thing to take Claudio Castagnoli's Giant Swing in the middle of the ring; it's a whole other beast to take it on top of a cage. Not only would Chris Jericho do as much at AEW "Dynamite Blood and Guts" a few weeks ago, but Jericho also revealed that he suggested Castagnoli hit the move in a recent interview with "Inside the Ropes." He revealed what inspired him to suggest the idea for the swing atop the cage and Castagnoli's reaction to the picture.

"I just said, 'Fuck it, man, when you come up there, you've got to give me the swing,'" Jericho said. "Because people love it. He gave Zack Sabre Jr. twenty spins at Forbidden Door, and people went wild for it. When he got there, he said, 'I can't do it.' I said, 'Why?' 'Because everywhere I spin, the chain that lifts the cage is in the way.' So I was like, 'Dude, you've got to give me this spin on top of the cage.'

"And I was like, 'Well, we can do it on edge.' 'You can't do it on edge; that's insane.' I said, 'Why? You're the strongest guy.' I would not have done that with anybody else on the planet. But with him, I took that spin many times. I said, 'Dude, you're in total control. We can do it. We're not that close to the edge [laughs].'"

Naturally, Jericho's tune regarding the spot changed when they finally got to it in the match's later stages.

"When I got into position for the spot, I was like, 'Oh my fu*king god.' And then he starts spinning," Jericho said. "Now, there were seven rotations, which seemed like a thousand hours to do those seven. It was ten seconds. [For] the first three, I was cool. Then I started to lose my mind cause all I could see were these little people sitting in the crowd like this. And I'm like, 'Oh my gosh. How high up are we?! This is terrible!' And I remember looking at him in the eye because that's the secret, you've got to look them in the eyes, and I was like, 'Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!' And he put me down."

Now nearly a month removed, Jericho feels much better about the moment than he did when it was happening.

"Watching it back on TV, he was so in control, and he didn't move out of this one little semi-circle," Jericho said. "And we were probably this far from the edge, so there was no way I could fall unless he lost his balance, and he wouldn't lose his balance. Watching it back, I could've taken it fifteen times because it was completely safe. Doing it, I was losing my mind, like, 'Oh my god, I'm going to fall off the edge!' It's funny because I knew people would respond to that spot. I didn't realize just how insane it was until I watched it back, and people told me how insane they thought it was. And I was like, 'You know what, that is pretty crazy.' Because all anybody is thinking is one false step, and you're done."

If you use quotes in this article, please credit Inside the Ropes and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.