Chris Jericho is set to face Hiroshi Tanahashi at night two of Wrestle Kingdom 14 on Jan. 5. But if his original plan had gone through, the two would have met at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
Following his loss to Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12, Jericho showed up at New Year Dash 2018 and attacked Tetsuya Naito. The attack led to Jericho facing Naito at Wrestle Kingdom 13. Orginally, Jericho wanted to attack Tanahashi at New Year Dash 2018.
“I wanted to work with Tanahashi last year,” Jericho told Sports Illustrated. “When I attacked Naito in Korakuen Hall, I wanted to attack Tanahashi, but Gedo wanted it to be Naito, which turned out to be great. This is a main-event, money match, and there is a lot of buzz about it. I just watched the match Tanahashi had with Kenny from last year in the Tokyo Dome, and it was amazing.”
Tanahashi defeated Omega in the headlining bout from Wrestle Kingdom 13. Should Tanahashi defeat Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom 14, Jericho has said that he will give him a shot at the AEW World Title.
But a rematch with Tanahashi might not be all on Jericho's list.
"I came to work with Omega, Naito, Okada, and Tanahashi,” said Jericho. “Will I come back after the Tana match? I don’t know. I’d love to work with Ospreay and Ibushi. It might be mission accomplished after this, it might not, but it’s really cool to go back as a main event heavyweight after being a junior heavyweight."
Will Ospreay lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title to Hiromu Takahashi on night one of Wrestle Kingdom 14. Meanwhile, Kota Ibushi failed to capture the IWGP Heavyweight Title on night one against Kazuchika Okada.
If you missed anything from night one, check out Fightful's full report by clicking here. Fightful will have live coverage of night two beginning at midnight on Jan. 5.
