Chris Jericho Isn’t Concerned With Expectations Set By Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay: I’m Not Kenny

Chris Jericho isn’t worried about living up to what Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay did in their match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

Chris Jericho will face Will Ospreay at AEW All In in front of the largest AEW crowd to date at Wembley Stadium in London, England. 

The last time an AEW crowd saw Will Ospreay compete, he was involved in a critically acclaimed match with Kenny Omega at the 2023 AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door event. 

Speaking on the Casual Conversations with The Wrestling Classic podcast, “The Ocho” says there are very few other wrestlers he would have wanted to face at Wembley Stadium, again echoing his sentiments about wanting to have this match years ago in the Tokyo Dome. 

“This match would have already happened in the Tokyo Dome in New Japan had there not been a lockdown. In 2018, I was against Kenny. In 2019, it was [Tetsuya] Naito. In 2020, it was [Hiroshi] Tanahashi. 2021 was going to be Ospreay or [Minoru Suzuki], and 2022 was going to be [whichever one he didn’t face in 2021],” he explained. “I wanted to do Ospreay earlier than that. So to me, it’s one of those matches where will it ever get a chance to happen again? I don’t know, but it needs to happen. 

“The fact that it’s happening in Wembley, his home country is great, but once again, I’ve been in England probably more times than he’s wrestled in England,” he continued. “I mean, it seems like I’ve been there 50 times for different matches over the years. I think that obviously, he’s a hometown guy, but I think Chris Jericho’s name in the UK is almost like a hometown guy as well. I always love, ‘Oh, Jericho is going to be the babyface, Ospreay is going to be the heel?’ It doesn’t matter. Yeah, there’s no babyface and heel. It’s like going to the Super Bowl or going to a World Cup final, people are going to cheer for who they are going to cheer for, and they want to see a great game. That’s how I feel about it. So to me, to get the chance to face Will in Wembley at this show, I can’t think of another match that I’d rather have. I really can’t. I mean, there’s some other ones that are that are big, but that one to me just seems like a big fight feel. It’s very unique, and it can only happen at All In, in my opinion.”

Continuing on, Jericho said he’s not worried about living up to expectations that by Kenny Omega’s previous matches with Will Ospreay. In that same vein, he wouldn’t expect Kenny Omega to try to live up to one of his performances because they are different styles of performers. 

“You can try and compare Chris Jericho to Kenny Omega, and it’s not the same. We’re different performers. I think that all three of us have some merit of being three of the greats of all time,” he said. “That’s not trying to butter my own popcorn, but I think some people might think that. Whatever style it is, it’s Jericho and Ospreay. I’m not Kenny Omega, and the match won’t be Kenny and Ospreay because it can’t be because I’m not Kenny. Kenny couldn’t do a Jericho-Ospreay match because he’s not Jericho. Will couldn’t do a Jericho-Kenny match because he’s not us, either. So I can’t really worry about that. 

“If they wrestled right before us, if it was like a tournament or something, well, then maybe it’s a different story,” he continued. “I don’t really think about that. Because then it’d be saying, ‘Well, geez, maybe I should be better than Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels.’ It’s different scenarios, and I think with my track record and Will’s track record, you know it’s going to be great. I think it’s a no-brainer that it’s going to be one of the highlights, matches of the night.” 

At this link, fans can read what Kenny Omega had to say about criticism of his match with Ospreay from Forbidden Door. 

Check out the full card for the AEW All In event at this link. 

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