There is a lot of excitement surrounding All Elite Wrestling‘s debut in Canada, but there are few more excited than Chris Jericho.
Ring of Honor World Champion Chris Jericho recently sat down with Graham Isador of Now Toronto to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked how it will feel to perform in Toronto this week with All Elite Wrestling for the first time, Jericho said it’s a long time coming, and he’s really excited about it.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Chris Jericho admitted. “Right out of the gate we were a big hit in Canada. I know our numbers on TSN are really good. But we had this little thing called the worldwide pandemic that delayed getting here. I was always asking, ‘When are we hitting Canada? When’s Toronto?’ Now that it’s almost time… it’s really exciting.
“Toronto wrestling fans are off the charts. Whenever someone asks about the best wrestling cities in the world I always say London, Chicago, Tokyo and Toronto. Toronto is loud. You cheer for who you want to cheer for… sometimes that would drive WWE heads of state crazy. They would call it bizzaro land. But that’s the Canadian way. We’ll go nuts for who we like and we’ll boo who we hate. We don’t care what we are “supposed” to do. I’m excited to see the reaction we get.”
When asked if he thinks he’ll be booed in Toronto on Wednesday when he defends the Ring of Honor World Championship against Bryan Danielson, Jericho believes as long as the fans are making noise, it doesn’t truly matter either way.
“The great thing about AEW is: it really doesn’t matter. People are going to cheer who they’re going to cheer for,” Chris Jericho said. “I mean Jericho Appreciation Society are the heels. We’re sports entertainers and we’re going to desecrate the legacy of the championship. I’m facing Bryan Danielson, who is one of the most popular wrestlers in the world. But it’s Chris Jericho in Canada for the first time with AEW. I expect a monstrous reaction for both of us. As long as they’re making noise, it’s all I care about. But if you had to ask me, gun to the head, I think I’m probably going to be pretty popular in Canada. Even though Toronto is thousands of kilometers away from Winnipeg.”
While some fans have called Chris Jericho the best wrestler to ever come out of Canada, The Ocho gives that honor to Bret and Owen Hart instead.
“It’s pretty hard to beat Owen Hart and Bret Hart as the greatest professional wrestlers from Canada. I’ll give it to them,” Chris Jericho said. “If people want to give it to me, I appreciate that. Most important thing, though, as long as people get their money’s worth when they come see Chris Jericho… that’s all I care about. Mission accomplished.”
READ MORE: Chris Jericho: Think Ahead Of The Curve Rather Than Behind It, And You Can Find Some Magic
What do you make of Chris Jericho’s comments? Are you looking forward to All Elite Wrestling’s Toronto debut this week? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
