This Friday night (Saturday morning for UK fans), Dan Lambert’s American Top Team will invade an AEW ring in an official contest.
Standing across the ring from them will be TNT champion Sammy Guevara, former WWE world champion and undefeated MMA fighter Jake Hager and, finally, one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time - Chris Jericho.
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Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos will team up with the Men of the Year, Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page. It’s Dos Santos’ first-ever wrestling match and it’s been nine years since the 37 year old was the heavyweight champ in the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
However, Jorge Masvidal will also be in attendance to back up his American Top Team brethren.
talkSPORT had the chance to talk to Jericho ahead of the physical showdown for the veteran and he is relishing the challenge of putting something good together with a pro wrestling novice, but realises the dangers.
“As you see with Jorge Masivdal, I think one of the unique things we’re doing with Dan Lambert and American Top Team here is these aren’t retired UFC fighters, these are guys still in the thick of it.
“Masvisal is probably one of the biggest names in MMA today. And the fact Junior is having the match with us as a former UFC champion, it’s a whole different thing for me because I’ve never really been on that side of it.
“When I first got to WWE a thousand years ago, I worked with Ken Shamrock briefly but this is a whole different vibe.
“When we started doing this story with Dan Lambert and American Top Team, I was really intrigued because it’s so different,” Jericho said.
Masivsal landed the brutal running knee that knocked out Ben Askren in just five seconds on Jericho himself at AEW’s Arthur Ashe show in September. For a man that’s also been knocked out by Mike Tyson, Jericho has been uniquely close to famed knockout artists.
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“It’s going to be really cool to see Jorge in there. The knee he hit me with was vicious, but I wouldn’t expect anything different,” Jericho started.
“These guys are not trained pro wrestlers doing tackles, dropdowns and leapfrogs. They mount you, they punch you in the face and knee you in the cranium. That’s what you’re buying when you get them involved.
“It’s a little more dangerous, but it’s cool and exciting and different than anything else I’ve done before so I’m really excited about that.”
Does Jericho have to talk to Masvidal about pulling the knee before he whacks him with it?
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“It’s a see-where-the-chips-fall thing. I mean those guys are tough, but there’s nobody tougher in the business than wrestlers.
“It’s one of those things like ‘how bad can it be?’ [laughs]. I’ve been knocked out by a lot tougher and I’ve been knocked out by a lot less.”
“Standing there with Mike Tyson 10 years ago waiting to get punched and not knowing what you’re going to get, you have to be pretty crazy. It’s the same thing with Masvidal and his knee but I’ve seen that knock guys out in five seconds.
“It’s almost like Kenny’s V-Trigger except this one has legit wins behind it. You just kind of grit your teeth and hope for the best.
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“If it gets people more involved and invested in the story, then it was all worth it. Doesn’t feel too good the next day, but once again, there’s nobody crazier than me so I don’t mind [laughs],” Jericho affirms.
With all the top talent in AEW these days - not to mention the new arrivals of CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole, many fans are wondering when Jericho is going to lock horns with the biggest names again.
However, for the 50-year-old, crafting stories and taking chances to do things he’s never done excite him the most.
“It’s been my mindset for years now,” Jericho began. “I have people saying ‘when are you going to wrestle CM Punk? When are you going to wrestle Kenny [Omega] again? Jericho/Omega 3? Or when are you and Sammy [Guevara] going to go for the titles?’ or whatever it may be.
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“Those things are all there and of course, I watch [Bryan] Danielson and Omega and go ‘holy s***, was that ever amazing!’ That was so great. Of course, I would have loved to be a part of that. But the great thing we do in AEW is there is something for everybody.
“I like that we’re in there with these guys that really have no idea what wrestling is. Every week, you can see them almost starry eyed because it’s completely different to being in a cage. I like doing stuff that’s a little bit different.
“There’s a lot of guys having amazing matches in AEW on a weekly basis, there’s nobody that’s wrestling UFC fighters and kind of harnessing them into putting the AEW wrestling spin on it, and I think we’ve done a great job with that.
“When I heard the reactions last week where myself, Jake Hager and Sammy ran down and then Dan Lambert started talking, that’s when I was like ‘OK, this is working. This is fun.’
“It was absolutely insane the response we got, it was crazy. And I’ll go out on a limb and say there’s not many guys in the business who could get complete strangers over that quickly, but I know what I’m doing as far as what I’m dealing with and the pieces of the puzzle.
“I love the fact that Dan Lambert is probably the most hated heel in AEW right now and he’s working with Chris Jericho, so it’s no coincidence.
“I like having a story to tell and we know where we’re going with this, but Junior [Dos Santos], once again, he’s never been in a wrestling ring. I don’t want him to come in as a trained pro wrestler, I want him to come in as a UFC champion. That’s why he is who he is.
“We’ll have some training sessions,” Jericho confirmed. “Not with me, but our guys like Shawn Spears and those guys who run their own wrestling schools because we want him to be comfortable.
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“But the last thing we want is tackle, dropdown, leapfrog, dropkick. I want punch to the face, punch to the stomach, maybe hit the ropes once or twice, learn a few kicks - something like that just to be aware of his surroundings.”
Paige VanZant has attracted a lot of attention among AEW fans with her role opposite Jericho in recent weeks. The Demo God says VanZant is a natural and there is a lot of potential for her in pro wrestling.
“Paige is part of the story. I remember the first week she came out and I was like ‘we need Paige here next week.’ And they were like ‘you want her here?’ And I was like ‘she’s part of the story now.’ She’s a natural,” Jericho buzzed.
“You can see right away. ‘This guy’s stuff looks great. This guy is into it. She’s feeling the character part of it,’ you know what I mean? She doesn’t even really have to do anything. I said to her last week ‘just come out and act like a bitch, that’s all you got to do.’ And she did, and people are booing.
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“If you get it, everyone loves being the bad guy. ‘It’s so cool, they’re booing me and telling me that I suck’ - you can’t get that in UFC. It’s a sports environment whereas AEW, especially with our amazing fans, it’s a whole different vibe and I can tell they’re feeling that.
“They all come out of the ring stoked and excited like ‘that was so great, this is awesome!’ because it’s something different for them and they’re embracing that.”
Jericho has experience working with dangerous character and the Canadian has worked with Iron Mike Tyson on several occasions.
However, Jericho says there is a secret to working with them.
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“Mike Tyson was always perfect for wrestling because we keep him as Mike Tyson. He’s a loose cannon. He does whatever the hell he wants.
“Whenever Mike is around people are like ‘you know what you should have done! You should of had him confront MJF, then MJF disappears’ it’s like no, you don't get it.
“Iron Mike will do whatever the hell he wants. If you have MJF and Iron Mike confront each other and Mike’s had enough or doesn’t want to do it, he’ll just punch him in the face and there goes our whole storyline out the window.
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“That’s what we want with the American Top Team - we want them to be themselves and keep their connection to the UFC world and we’ll do the rest with getting them over in a pro wrestling environment,” Jericho said.
Watch AEW Rampage on FITE TV in the UK where Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle take on Junior Dos Santos and the Men of the Year.
