WWE News: AEW’s Chris Jericho Will Be Next Guest on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions on April 11
This is kind of a shocking news item. It was announced today by WWE that the next guest on Steve Austin’s popular “Broken Skull Sessions” on WWE Network is going to be AEW’s Chris Jericho. It would be the first time Jericho would be on any kind of WWE programming since he signed with AEW in January 2019.
The episode will premiere on Sunday, April 11th, which is the second day of WrestleMania 37. Normally the Broken Skull Sessions episode are on-demand at 10am ET and then they usually air after a PPV, so it will probably be after WrestleMania.
You can see the video announcement below where they used the countdown clock that WWE had used for Jericho’s WWE debut in 1999 and return to WWE in 2007 as well.
No foolin' around here. You're gonna get … IT! 🤯 @IAmJericho joins @steveaustinBSR on the next #BrokenSkullSessions, premiering Sunday, April 11 on @PeacockTV in the U.S. and @WWENetwork everywhere else! pic.twitter.com/fQPzQ3QBDW
— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) April 2, 2021
Austin talked about booking Jericho on Broken Skull Sessions in an interview with Sports Illustrated that was published today.
Austin explained how it was set up:
“I was having a beer one night after my Broken Skull Sessions interview with The Undertaker aired, and out of the blue, Chris Jericho reached out and said, ‘Man, that was a great interview. I sent him back a couple of those emojis, one of a beer mug and the other of an eagle, and then he called me right then and there.”
“We got to talking. I’ve always respected the hell out of his career, and I’m glad they’re (AEW) around—it gives the guys and girls in professional wrestling more places to work. I said, ‘I’d love to have you on the show.’ And he said he’d love to do it, so I checked with Vince about it.”
Austin detailed how he reached out to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon for his approval:
“I texted Vince (McMahon) and said we had this badass idea about Jericho coming on the show. Vince goes, ‘It’s cool. Go ahead.’ But me and Vince don’t always do well with phones and texts and all that, so I texted one more time, ‘Are you sure it’s OK to have Chris Jericho on the show?’ Vince gave me the thumbs up, and Chris came out to do the show.”
Austin noted that they “go into everything” and he’s excited about it:
“We go into everything. Jericho is one of the all-time greats, and it’s going to be cool to have someone from AEW on a WWE show. To bottom line it, I’m excited for people to watch this show.”
Jericho tweeted this and posted it on his Instagram as well.
Kickin open the #ForbiddenDoor! #AustinVsJericho April 11 on @peacockTV! #BrokenSkullSessions@steveaustinBSR@AEW@wwepic.twitter.com/oLBtQVZaI0
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) April 2, 2021
TJR Thoughts: I’m shocked by the news, but I certainly welcome it. Since Jericho spent nearly 20 years for WWE (minus a few breaks), there’s a lot to talk about if they only focus on his WWE run. I would imagine that they don’t talk about AEW at all. As a fan of Austin and Jericho, I love it. This will be awesome.