Chris Jericho Says Action Andretti Came “Back Down To Earth” After Shock Win
Chris Jericho opens up about the biggest upset in AEW history.
On the Winter Is Coming edition of Dynamite on the 14th of December 2022, all eyes were on the main event of MJF defending his AEW World Title against Ricky Starks and The Elite and Death Triangle doing battle in their best-of-seven series for the AEW Trios Championship.
In the middle of the show, Chris Jericho took on the relatively unknown Action Andretti who was making his debut on the show in just his fifth AEW match as Jericho looked for a quick win following his loss to Claudio Castagnoli for the ROH World Title. However, then something very unexpected happened.
Andretti was hit by the Codebreaker but somehow the young star kicked out at two to the shock of everyone, not least Chris Jericho. The Texas crowd started to get behind Action Andretti and his support grew so did his momentum and eventually, he pinned Jericho in the biggest upset in AEW history.
What did Chris Jericho think about his shocking loss?
Speaking on his Talk Is Jericho podcast, Chris Jericho opened up about the match with Andretti and says one of the major spots he planned for the match didn’t work out:
“I put it together where he looked really good, and then of course I hit him with the Codebreaker. Everyone knows that’s the finish…except for it wasn’t, and he kicks out. What I wanted to do, much in the same vein as Ishii [Tomohiro Ishii] and the chops and Mox [Jon Moxley] in the Walls of Jericho, is I wanted him to sell it through the entire commercial break, and I was just going to sit there with a surprise look on my face.
“He didn’t quite understand that, he started moving, I was desperately trying to tell him to stop moving, and we lost the moment. I still claim to this day, people were so surprised when he kicked out of the Codebreaker, if I would have sat there on my knees and had that look of surprise on my face, I could have sat there for three minutes and people went nuts.
“I tell you, it would have worked. I could probably never do it again, but at that moment, I just knew, ‘Don’t move, don’t move,’ and he moved. ‘Argh,’ but it’s okay.”
Chris Jericho then discussed the follow-up of Andretti after his big win that has seen him move back down the card in AEW and competing in Ring of Honor but Jericho says that’s how wrestling works:
“It all depends on where you go with it. After I threw a fireball in his face, we had some stuff with him and Ricky Starks, had him with Jericho Appreciation Society, get some wins.
“Then, the dust settles and now he’s working with Darius and Dante Martin, which is great, and you have to build yourself back up. He took the opportunity and ran with it, and then you come back down to earth and that’s just how the wrestling world works.”
Action Andretti last competed on the 5th of August edition of Collision where he teamed with Lee Johnson and Darius Martin in a failed attempt to challenge The House of Black for the AEW Trios Title.
Chris Jericho might face upset of a different kind on the 9th of August edition of Dynamite when he has been summoned to a mandatory meeting of The Jericho Appreciation Society.