Chris Jericho Wanted Several Other NJPW Matches Before Pandemic Shutdown

Chris Jericho had plans for other matches in NJPW after Wrestle Kindom 14, at least until the pandemic shut things down. Jericho faced Hiroshi Tanahashi at the 2020 NJPW show, and he talked with Monthly Puroresu about how his hopes for other matches were shot down by the lockdown that started in March of that year. Highlights are below:

On wanting other matches after his match with Tanahashi: “Right after, I had ideas like, ‘Well I want Minoru Suzuki, I want to do something with Will Ospreay. I want to do something with Kota Ibushi.’ But if you remember January 4th, 2020 was Jericho vs Tanahashi, what happened two months later? A f***in’ pandemic..”

On the pandemic killing his momentum: “It stopped the momentum that I had in New Japan. Like if I go back there, I would have to start from scratch. But it’s a different thing now. It’s not the same as it was when it was like, because then AEW just started and now you know, once again I could still go back tomorrow and have some of these matches. But it’s a different vibe now than it was when it was kind of this independent Jericho.”