Subscribe
Follow Us
When Chris Jericho took the ring on February 28th for a match on AEW Dynamite, it was just another day at the office.
The 2,653rd match of his illustrious career, according to Cagematch, babyface Jericho just sort of did his thing, working a 12-minute match in the middle of the Dynamite card and securing the win as he inched towards his Pay-Per-View angle, a “friendly” fight for the FTW Championship in March.
But for his opponent, Atlantis Jr., the match meant so much more because it was literally a lifetime in the making.
Taking to WGN Radio 720 to talk about wrestling against one of his father's great rivals during his time in CMLL, Atlantis Jr. recalled how excited he was to land a match against a man he used to play in the WWE video games, and how much he hopes to land a rematch in the future.
“I’m very excited because CMLL has great alliances. Now with MLW and AEW, I’m very happy because we’re going to take Mexican wrestling [and] the Mexican wrestling style do another territory where wrestling is also growing a lot in the United States. To have a match with Chris Jericho was a big dream,” Atlantis Jr told WGN Radio 720 via 411 Mania.
“When I was a kid, I used Chris Jericho in the WWE video games. When CMLL told me, ‘You have a singles match with Chris Jericho,’ I said, ‘This is a big joke. Two, three hours pass, and CMLL, on social media, [posted the match graphic]. So, a lot of adrenaline, [I was] nervous. [I was] very happy and I want to have more opportunities, more matches in AEW because I want to have more experiences. The Mexican style of wrestling is so different [from] the American style. Mexican wrestling is so fast and [there’s] jumps a lot. The American style is more punches, clotheslines, dropkicks. So, to have that experience with Chris Jericho, a big legend of wrestling, it’s a big dream for me, and thank you very much, Chris Jericho for this opportunity.”
Fortunately for Atlantis Jr., AEW is still in a working relationship with CMLL, and the Mexican promotion might even take part in Forbidden Door this year after being absent over the first two editions of the show. If that happens and Jericho wants to get down in some multi-man tag team action, inviting Atlantis Jr to take a seat under the “Learning Tree” might just be in the second-generation performer's future.
Maven talks taking a painful Walls of Chris Jericho.
Speaking of Chris Jericho, the “Learning Tree” is in the news once more for a very 2024 reason: Maven's YouTube channel.
Discussing which moves were the most painful to take during his time with WWE, Maven specifically called out Jericho, noting that his Walls of Jericho finisher remains one of the most painful maneuvers he's ever experienced.
“I had never been placed in the Walls. I had no clue what the Walls felt like. I obviously have seen him put this move on other competitors, but you don't know how something feels until it happens to you,” he began. “I would learn this lesson that night. Now the best way to describe what the Walls feels like for those of you who will never be a wrestler is: I know you've all jammed or bent your finger back and you get it to the place where it won't go any further. Well, that's what the Walls felt like that night as I saw my boots from an angle. I've never seen them before. Chris locks it in and goes back to a specific point, a point he probably does with other guys, and then from that position, he sat back a little bit further and I'm sure it was to teach me a lesson. You can see on my face as I tap out, that I completely am done. That's not an act, that's not me selling, that is sheer pain. That is the most pain I was ever in in that ring. I still can remember it,” Maven explained to his YouTube audience via Fightful.
“Three years later, I would wrestle Chris again. By this time, I was no longer just the ‘Tough Enough' kid. I had successfully paid some dues at this point. Again, I would lose to Jericho, and again, I would lose from the Walls of Jericho. This time, he didn't put it in nearly as tight as he did the first time. I remember getting backstage. I didn't tell him prior to the match, because I didn't want him to try to even put it in tighter than he did the first time, but once we got backstage after the match was over, I did tell him that first match, ‘Yeah, I'm glad this one didn't resemble that one.' In true Chris form, he grinned at me. Just to tell me, ‘Yeah, of course, kid. I have to make you earn it, kid,' and he laughed and walked on. Chris did me a favor that night.”
When you consider the Walls of Jericho is nothing more than an Elevated Boston Crab, which wrenches back on a performer's back and hamstrings, it makes sense that the match could seriously hurt an opponent if they have any issues in the area. All things considered, it sounds like Maven is lucky he made it out in one piece.
