Chris Jericho might be intending to stay in Japan a little bit longer, and he made his intentions known when he blindsided Tetsuya Naito.
After he and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) superstar Kenny Omega clashed at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in what was probably one of the best matches of the night, many thought that Jericho was done with his stint in the land of the rising sun — until "New Year's Dash."
Naito, fresh off a victory, was standing in the center of the ring during the event, doing his signature "eye" pose when Jericho suddenly emerged and attacked him. Y2J then proceeded to corner Naito with knees and pounded on the Japanese star relentlessly. This prompted the referee to call security and try to separate the two but to no avail.
The staff finally managed to pin Jericho to one side of the ring, but he immediately broke free when Naito taunted him, causing his "Los Ingobernables de Japon" (LIJ) teammates to step in and pull Jericho off their leader.
The bad blood between the two started when Kenny Omega replied to a tweet describing his match between Jericho as the co-main event of "Wrestle Kingdom 12." Naito lambasted Omega, saying that their scheduled match is nothing but a "semi" main event and the true headliner is Naito vs Kazuchika Okada for the International Wrestling Grand Prix (IWGP) heavyweight title.
Chris Jericho responded to Naito by saying "Naito, not sure who you are but make no mistake — on a worldwide basis, there is only ONE main event for wrestle kingdom 12," referring to his match with Omega.
Naito, not sure who u are but make no mistake-on a worldwide basis, theres only ONE MAIN EVENT for #WrestleKingdom12 pic.twitter.com/Fmax6ALP8u
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) December 3, 2017
Jericho and Naito both lost their title bids at WK12, with Jericho having the more severe loss due to his match with Omega being a no-disqualifications match resulting in Omega hitting his "one-winged angel" finisher on Jericho, who landed head-first on a steel chair during the move.
The American wrestler then tried to vent his frustrations on Naito the following night.
Jericho is a welcome sight to the Japanese fans as he was once a fixture in NJPW earlier in his career. With the revelation that his contract with the WWE expired in 2017, many fans will expect the superstar to have more exciting matches with some of the biggest names in the promotion. His feud with Naito might even be a setup for a potential Jericho-Okada dream match.
It looks like WWE fans might not see Jericho return at the Royal Rumble or any of the company's following programs any time soon.
