Chris Jericho speaks on heading to Saudi Arabia as a part of WWE's 'Greatest Royal Rumble' event.
In what has been a stellar 2018 thus far for Chris Jericho starting off the year wrestling at NJPW's biggest event of the year which is 'Wrestle Kingdom', then a few weeks later appearing on WWE programming at the 'RAW 25' show, and just three months later Y2J will be present at WWE's 'Greatest Royal Rumble' event that will air on the WWE Network live from the King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Jericho joined CBS Sports' 'In This Corner' podcast recently and stated that having the chance to travel with WWE to Saudi Arabia for this massive event is a "once in a life time opportunity".
"It's just one of those things where it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Jericho stated. "Obviously, you are getting a chance to work with Saudi Arabia at the highest levels. We have been there in 2015 and had some great shows but it seems like they are kind of trying to change the way things are done over there, and it's really cool to have been asked by WWE to be a part of it. As you know, I'm not working there full time right now but still part of the family."
Following the breaking news that Chris Jericho would be making the jump to NJPW to compete against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12, the questions reeled in regarding Jericho's relationship with Vince McMahon and WWE seeing as how he was a part of the sports-entertainment company for a great portion of his career. As he's stated on numerous platforms, he put the Chairman of WWE on notice that he was going to be wrestling in Japan, and shared that the current relationship between the two parties is in good standings.
"It's good enough that they called me when this show came up," Jericho said. "I have a really good relationship with the company and with Vince in that I've been working there for 17 years pretty much, on and off. Up until this year when I did the show with New Japan, I have never wrestled in any other ring other than the WWE ring since 1999 and Vince knew about [NJPW] right from the start. It's one of those things where WWE is my home base for wrestling. I'm not a full-time performer in the wrestling world, nor have I been since 2010."
Recently, the former 9-time WWE Intercontinental Champion was announced as the replacement for Rusev at the 'Greatest Royal Rumble' to challenge The Undertaker in a 'Casket Match'. Just days later Y2J was removed from the match and Rusev was swapped back in. Regardless of what he is doing at the event Jericho expressed that he is just happy to be a part of it.
"Whether they want me to be part of the Royal Rumble or work against The Undertaker or work against Funaki in a lingerie match — whatever needs to be done, I'm happy to do it," Jericho said. "That's the good thing about kind of my legacy and where I am at this point in my career is I can come and do whatever needs to be done; opening match, main event, whatever it is and it's going to be good. Things change, this is part of the world of WWE and happens all the time. For me, until I actually walk into the ring, sometimes you never know what is going to happen. Things get changed during the show sometimes. I think sometimes fans get a little bit too excited about certain things that happened."
The laws and traditions in Saudi Arabia is what is preventing the female superstars of WWE from competing on the card. Jericho reflected on his past experiences in the country and how traveling elsewhere outside of the United States can be a bit "different" for lack of better words.
"Last time we were there, the show started at 5 p.m. and we had to stop at 6 p.m. so the entire audience; who were all made up of males by the way, there were no women allowed in the show — could go out and pray at 6 p.m.," Jericho said. "So that was kind of weird. It's one of those places where you go to Jeddah, it is very Saudi Arabian in that you go over there and things are very different than they are in the States," Jericho said. "Whereas when we went to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, it was much more of kind of a United States holiday area, but when you go to Saudi Arabia, it is Saudi Arabia. You are in the desert and you are living by their rules and their culture. It's one of the things I enjoy so much with traveling and seeing the world is how different countries work and how different countries operate. It's almost like Star Trek with the prime directive in that you don't go in there and change the culture, you go in there and adapt to the culture and live amongst that culture. It's not up to us to change it or to mess with it so you respect the way things are done over there and act accordingly."
"The Ayatollah Of Rock N'Rolla" also joked about WWE needing him more than he needs them, and more. To listen to the full interview featuring the former three-time World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho, click here.
