What’s the story?
Chris Jericho recently appeared on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast (H/T Wrestling Inc), where he talked about potentially joining Impact Wrestling or Ring of Honor.
In case you didn’t know…
After wrestling on and off for WWE since his debut in 1999, Chris Jericho has taken a different route in the past year to go out and wrestle for promotions all over the world. It started with his epic match against Kenny Omega at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12. Then he returned to the WWE for their Greatest Royal Rumble event before going back to NJPW and winning the IWGP Intercontinental Championship by defeating Tetsuya Naito.
Jericho also has his own project called ‘The Cruise of Jericho’ coming up in October of this year. it is going to be a four-day wrestling event to be held on a cruise ship travelling from Miami to Nassau. It is going to feature stars like Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and many others.
One interesting fact about this event is that both Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling are acting as partners. It has only intensified rumours of Chris Jericho going to wrestle for Impact Wrestling in the near future. But can the WWE veteran really be on his way to Impact Wrestling?
The heart of the matter
Jericho has been very smart over the years with his wrestling schedule and it feels he is looking to maximize the potential of this run on the independent circuit, before he goes back to the WWE for one final time and calls it a career.
While a stop over in Impact before that does not seem impossible, it is hard to think of a name he could face that would make a run in Impact worthwhile. The only one that comes to mind is Austin Aries and even that would not be the most high profile match in the world.
When asked on Wrestling Perspective Podcast about the possibility of a move to Impact Wrestling in the near future, this is what Jericho had to say.
He said that he had not spoken to anybody at the promotion, and was not saying that he would ever go to Impact, but he also refused to admit if he would go to New Japan or WWE. He talked about how big the Independent scene is, and how he felt that he would fit into it.
Independent wrestling at this point in time is bigger than it’s ever been. And that’s a good place for me to be in, for James Ellsworth to be in or Kenny Omega, everybody else that’s kind of ‘independent guy.”
He admitted that he knew that it was now possible for the first time in a long time to make a good living by wrestling outside the WWE, reminiscing back to the days of WCW.
“Now’s the time to be independent because you really can go make a real good living and make a difference outside of the WWE bubble which hasn’t been something that you could do for years since the highlight of WCW back in ’98-’99. So it’s an exciting time for everybody involved.”
What’s next?
It is hard to say what is next for Chris Jericho. He is a kind an enigma at this point and is enjoying his last few years in wrestling doing whatever he can. While a move to Impact Wrestling is not completely off the table, a run in Ring of Honor would be much more rewarding.
It feels like at this point of his career, Jericho just wants to go around and wrestle for multiple organizations knowing fully well that these might be his last few appearances in a wrestling ring. While he can still perform at a very high level, the fact of the matter is that he is going to turn 48 this November. There’s only so much the human body can take before it starts to break down.
Source : Sportskeeda
