There can be no denying that Chris Jericho is a man who has been there and done it all. One of the greatest of all time in a ring. A multiple-time champion the world over and known for some of the best fights we have seen.
Talking during a recent interview with Busted Open Radio the G.O.A.T of professional wrestling discussed his time wrestling in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Many will think of his iconic match with Kenny Omega from WrestleKingdom 13. Yet it was a match the following year that Jericho spoke about. Likening his match with Hiroshi Tanahashi to the first time he fought the Undertaker.
“When you get in the ring with him (Tanahashi), wow,” Chris Jericho said. “He is so good, I’m smiling just thinking about it. What it actually reminded me of was the first time I ever worked with Undertaker, who I did not work with until I had been in the WWE for about ten, twelve years. We just never were on the same show and never really crossed paths. And to be in there with a guy like that was just unbelievable, like ‘oh my gosh it’s all true. It’s true! Everything you hear about The Undertaker is true! He’s really that good.’ And that was the same way I felt about Tanahashi. We just had so much fun being in there together and it was such a blast.”
Chris Jericho Understands the Importance of Chemistry
Chemistry is essential in wrestling. You can have two of the best wrestlers around but if they have no chemistry with each other, the audience will pick up on it in a heartbeat. There are a lot of parallels that could be drawn between Chris Jericho and Tanahashi. They both hold legendary status in their individual promotions and in the eyes of fans around the world.
“He’s so smooth. People think that the Japanese style is dumping each other on each other’s heads and all that stuff, it’s not the case at all. It was really just a great match and as I said, it helped sell out the Tokyo Dome that year. When we did the two nights in Tokyo, it was the second night My last match in New Japan, maybe ever. Who knows if we’ll ever go back. But if that’s the last one, what a way to go out.”
With the pandemic slowly ebbing away, and the forbidden door well and truly open, we can all hope that we will get another chance to see Chris Jericho and Tanahashi square off once more. The G.O.A.T versus the Ace, just one more time.
