Doesn’t seem like we will be seeing Chris Jericho in a WWE ring soon as he still has unfinished business at NJPW.
During the recently concluded NJPW special Wrestle Kingdom 13 (January 4), Jericho lost his IWGP Intercontinental Championship to Tetsuya Naito,
Jericho had held the IWGP Intercontinental Championship since June of last year, when he defeated Naito at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall.
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After losing to Naito, Jericho commented on Yahoo! Japan that he would be back to NJPW, but this time he was aiming a little higher. This time he wants to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
The current IWGP Heavyweight Champion is Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi became the champion by beating Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
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The original comments Jericho made on Yahoo! Japan are in Japanese, but reports say Jericho said it would be a “big mistake” for people to think his time with NJPW was over.
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Jericho’s comments have been translated as follows: “I kept the [Intercontinental Belt] for the longest in 2018. So, let me tell you, I want to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Belt. … Chris Jericho will challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and you will understand!”
NJPW has also released a video of a post-match interview with Jericho and Naito. In it, Jericho rants about losing to Naito and calling him a “dishonorable son of a bitch”. In the video he once again states that he is not done with the NJPW and that he wants a chance to be IWGP Heavyweight Champ.
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Check out the NJPW video below:
