In July 2021, Chris Jericho fought death-match veteran Nick Gage at the company’s Fight for the Fallen event, in a match that would go on to live in infamy.
Using staples of death-match wrestling, the bout saw the inclusion of panes of glass, baseball bats and light tubes, making it one of the most graphic AEW bouts in the promotion’s history.
The most infamous weapon in the match was a Pizza cutter, which Gage used to slice Jericho’s biceps and later on his forehead.
Clearing the Air
After the Pizza cutter was used, reports came out that many big names were furious at the spot being shown on TNT programming.
At the time, it was claimed that Domino’s had threatened to pull their advertising from all AEW shows, as the spot with the Pizza cutter aired during an ad for their deep-dish treats.
Speaking on the latest Talk is Jericho, the former AEW World Champion recalled the spot, and said that despite what was reported, nothing happened between AEW and the veteran pizza chain.
“So right when Nick is carving my forehead with the pizza cutter, there is a Domino’s Pizza commercial where the guy is cutting the pizza with what? A pizza cutter. Apparently, Domino’s was furious. [Everyone was] like ‘AEW’s gonna lose all their sponsors. This is it. This is the end of the line.’ Nothing ever happened.”
Jericho added that rather than be furious about the spot, Domino’s should have capitalised on a potential advertising idea.
“I was like ‘If I was the Domino’s guy I would have filmed a Chris Jericho – Nick gage commercial the next f*cking day.’ I mean it’s right there. Pizza cutters – Domino’s. They go hand in hand.”
It was later reported after the match that WWE had allegedly called wrestling media outlets, encouraging them to pick up the story.
