Chris Jericho discusses his WrestleMania 33 bout with Kevin Owens.
Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens is one of the greatest pieces of WWE storytelling in the last few years. From the unlikely partnership to a bond that seemingly couldn't be broken to the outstanding Festival of Friendship segment, Owens vs. Jericho was built to near perfection and set to culminate at WrestleMania. Unfortunately, the match could not live up to the hype created by the two in the months leading up to the event.
In the latest clip from Inside The Ropes, Chris Jericho reflected on the bout.
"The build-up to the Owens match, that's one of the best years of my career. The match happened and, I thought it was good, but a little bit missing. We were on after Shane (McMahon) and AJ (Styles), which is funny because the year before was me and AJ and were on after the ladder match. I was second both years and I wish I was first. The second (match) is hard, no matter who you are," said Jericho. "I thought the (Kevin Owens match) was good. I was very surprised when I saw KO after and he's like, 'Vince said it's one of the worst matches in WrestleMania history.' He wanted Kevin to be 'this type of heel' and Kevin was doing a lot of flashy moves and Vince didn't want that. I think Vince had a hard on for him at the time. Vince never said anything to me about the match. Ever. Kevin was very sad. Vince told him to lose weight and 'this is terrible' and 'you don't know anything.' I've been through it, way back in 1999. I told him, 'you're now going through the Vince boot camp.'"
Jericho continued, "Do I think it was a great match? No. Do I think it was the worst match in WrestleMania history? Absolutely not. It was very hard to put on a match that would live up to the hype but it's all about the story of getting there. I'd rather have a great story and an okay match than an okay story and a great match."
WrestleMania 33 marked the last time Jericho appeared at WrestleMania. He is now signed to AEW and won't be appearing at this year's WrestleMania. As for Kevin Owens, he is currently without a match at WrestleMania 35.
You can view the entire interview with Jericho in the video above.
