Chris Jericho: Action Andretti Took The Opportunity And Ran With It, Then You Come Back Down To Earth

On the December 14, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite, Action Andretti scored a major upset victory over Chris Jericho in what was billed as “tune up” match for Jericho. 

Jericho was looking to get back on track after losing the ROH World Title to Claudio Castagnoli, and saw Andretti as an easy victory. 

Andretti ended up catching Jericho off guard, winning the match, and earning an AEW contract. 

Speaking on his Talk Is Jericho podcast, Jericho reflected on the match, and detailed one moment he wished was different. 

“I put it together where he looked really good, and then of course I hit him with the Codebreaker. Everyone knows that’s the finish…except for it wasn’t, and he kicks out. What I wanted to do, much in the same vein as Ishii [Tomohiro Ishii] and the chops and Mox [Jon Moxley] in the Walls of Jericho, is I wanted him to sell it through the entire commercial break, and I was just going to sit there with a surprise look on my face. He didn’t quite understand that, he started moving, I was desperately trying to tell him to stop moving, and we lost the moment. I still claim to this day, people were so surprised when he kicked out of the Codebreaker, if I would have sat there on my knees and had that look of surprise on my face, I could have sat there for three minutes and people went nuts. I tell you, it would have worked. I could probably never do it again, but at that moment, I just knew, ‘Don’t move, don’t move,’ and he moved. ‘Argh,’ but it’s okay,” recalled Jericho. 

Andretti continued to have a presence on AEW Dynamite, but following his feud with Jericho, which ended with multiple losses to Sammy Guevara, he has been more featured on ROH TV. 

Speaking about the follow up, Jericho said, “It all depends on where you go with it. After, I threw a fireball in his face, we had some stuff with him and Ricky Starks, had him with Jericho Appreciation Society, get some wins. Then, the dust settles and now he’s working with Darius and Dante Martin, which is great, and you have to build yourself back up. He took the opportunity and ran with it, and then you come back down to earth and that’s just how the wrestling world works.“

Andretti has become a fixture on AEW Collision, but he has yet to win on the program. He most recently teamed with Lee Johnson & Darius Martin in a loss to House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black). 

Jericho is set to be part of the Mandatory Jericho Appreciation Society meeting on the August 9 episode of AEW Dynamite. 

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