Chris Jericho had to complete four labours before he could step foot in the ring with MJF as the fifth labour.
After getting past Shawn Spears and Nick Gage, Jericho faced his old rival Juventud Guerrera as the third labour. The two men had famous battles in WCW, including Jericho defeating Guerrera to take his mask at WCW SuperBrawl VIII.
Speaking on Talk is Jericho, Juventud and Jericho reflected on everything that went into their AEW bout.
"Obviously, I wanted to be (brought back) to a major company. I was looking to find the right moment, the right spot, the right position. It's very difficult for everyone to ask somebody for help, more in this business, because everyone is so busy. I don't take it personally, I just think it's difficult to do so because I'm a wrestler too. When somebody asked me that, I was in the right position to do so because I was fighting with my own demons. I was trying to be healthy and not get hurt. In this business it's very difficult to be healthy and not to get a little crazy. All wrestlers are crazy, if you become a wrestler, you're a little out of your mind," said Guerrera. "It was the right moment. I was so happy to see your success in AEW and I message you to tell you how happy and grateful I am to be part of this rivalry. Suddenly, you told me, 'I think there's a spot,'" said Juvi.
Jericho recalled reaching out to Juventud to gauge the initial interest and figure out if they could make things work while also recalling the promo with MJF two years ago.
"I started asking a couple of questions like, 'Do you have any recent matches?' I didn't tell you right away. You know the business, you're probably thinking, 'why is he asking me these questions?' Two years ago, the first time MJF and I did a face-to-face promo, it was in Nashville and we were going back and forth and I needed some type of joke or jab at him. I couldn't think of anything so I called Brian Gewirtz. I said, Brian, 'Do you have any jokes about MJF?' He said, 'How about your parents were watching me beat Juventud Guerrera, they got horny, had sex, and you popped out.' They started chanting 'Juvi' and off the fly I said, 'Google it.' I planned saying 'Juvi,' but when they were chanting, that's what I said, 'If you don't know him, google it.' Right away, you started texting and making challenges. We always thought, 'Maybe some time, we can do something with Juvi.' That's why, when this came up, MJF and I were writing this and we thought, 'What about Juvi? We mentioned him two years ago, so that fits.' We had such a great rivalry 20 years ago, nobody has seen you for awhile and I was thinking it was perfect. People that know you would be excited, people that don't will hear about it, and that's where it all came together. Then we had to try and figure out if you had a visa and help you legally," he said.
Juventud said, "It was crazy, the last couple of months. My girlfriend was like, 'This is a Rocky story. You get another chance in a major state with a major rivalry.' I haven't been constantly like I was, working every week. I was still training. I do different type of training right now that is keeping me healthy, alive, and focused. I was sending oyu different videos of training with my boys in Mexico. It was a big challenge. It was a big challenge for me to be like back on live TV."
Of course, putting the deal together wasn't so easy as there was the visa issue at play, which nearly ended in disaster.
"I was saying to Aubrey [Edwards], just make sure you tell us the times because Juvi has done lots of live TV, but I don't know how long it's been since he's been on live TV and it's a different situation. It was funny too because two weeks before when MJF announced Nick Gage and he came out on the stage, I thought it would be great if Juvi could come out, but the visa wasn't ready in time. The people really wanted to see Juvi, and so did we, but we couldn't get the visa done before the date," said Jericho.
Guerrera noted that his custom gear was ready the week before the match either.
Speaking on the visa situation, Guerrera said, "I feel very grateful and I want to thank you for the opportunity. They really give us the respect we deserve. I had to go through the paperwork for the visa. It was a lot of paperwork, interview with immigration lawyers. It was important because if you have a company as strong as AEW backing you up, I'm like, 'Why not get a visa myself, a tourist visa?' No, this is a business visa. They did a good job and sent me translated documents and a lot of effort. I had to do fingerprints, go back one day, go back another day for a final interview. It was 'hopefully he gets it.'"
Jericho concluded by saying, "There was no guarantee you would be here. This was not an idea that came up two weeks ago. We had been working on this for months and you got their visa on Monday. It's not easy to get a visa just to get on Dynamite."
Jericho was victorious in the bout, setting up the fourth labour against Wardlow, which was also won by Jericho.
Though Jericho would lose to MJF in the fifth labour, he got his revenge at AEW All Out, saving his AEW career in the process.
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