Chris Jericho calls his current rivalry with Cody one of the best of his career.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated, Le Champion, Chris Jericho discussed his current position in All Elite Wrestling, specifically talking about comparisons to Hulk Hogan‘s position in WCW in 1996. While he can acknowledge similarities between the faction warfare back then and the faction warfare that is going on right now in AEW, Chris feels that his work rate as compared to Hogan‘s back then separates the two groups completely.
He said, "The NWO worked because Hogan was the catalyst, but the original crux of NWO was made of big-name, legit stars. You had Hall and Nash, who were huge stars in their own right, and Hogan, who, at the time, was the biggest name in the business. The difference with us in The Inner Circle is, it’s Jericho and four young guys that haven’t yet reached their potential as main event stars. Now they are. Hulk definitely played the heel, as I do, but the difference is I can still have great matches, too. Any given night, a Jericho match can be considered the best match of the night. So that’s another difference—Hogan was never known as a great performer in the ring; he knew how to get the audience. He was a great worker. Jericho is a great worker and a great wrestler, combined with knowing how to get that heat and get guys over."
Chris then talked about his match at Full Gear with Cody. Jericho speaks about the similar paths both men have traveled and calls this story one of the best he's ever created in his career.
"When you think about the Full Gear match between Jericho against Cody, you have a great babyface that people believe in. You can believe in Cody," Jericho began. "He is genuine, there is a lineage, the family connections, and he’s up against a great heel that knows how to get under people’s skin. Maybe I’m entertaining, but people still want me to lose. You can’t beat the story or the build we’ve done the past six weeks to Jericho-Rhodes. It’s one of the best storylines I’ve ever been in. Every week we’ve done something different that stood out and was classic. Now it’s the fun part of having the match, and nobody knows who’s going to win. You might say, ‘Well, no one knows who’s going to win any of the matches,’ but as a fan, you know. There is a lot at stake here."
Full Gear goes live on pay-per-view Saturday, November 9, on traditional pay-per-view and B/R Live.
