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All Elite Wrestling is creating its own traditions in North Texas.
In what’s become an annual December trip to the metroplex for the wrestling promotion, AEW will run three shows over four nights in Arlington and Garland.
Former AEW world champion Chris Jericho told The Dallas Morning News this week the company has “staked its claim” on Dallas by bringing back the “Winter is Coming” editions of Dynamite and Ramage, this year taking place on Wednesday at UT-Arlington’s College Park Center. AEW will then head to Curtis Culwell Center in Garland for Ring of Honor: Final Battle, a pay-per-view event which will be held on Friday, and an episode of AEW: Collision on Saturday.
The events in North Texas are set to host a handful of local tie-ins, including the Von Erich family making an appearance on Dynamite — which comes nearly a week before the Dec. 22 national premiere of The Iron Claw, an A24 biopic about the Von Erich family — and Garland native Athena will be defending her Ring of Honor women’s championship in the main event on Friday.
Meanwhile, Jericho — who main evented the ROH: Final Battle one year ago in Arlington — is on a new path alongside former foe Kenny Omega. We spoke to him about last year’s match, his relationship with Omega, other Dallas memories and much more:
On defending the ROH world title last year at Final Battle in Arlington...
Jericho: “I think it was pretty cool time for Ring of Honor. It was a good idea for Tony to have me as the champion because I think he put a lot of eyeballs on the company, and kind of really put that title under the spotlight with defending it as much as I did.
“I remember I’d been running ragged because I had done so much with a Fozzy tour and I was filming a movie in Edmonton, I had to fly on a private plane straight from Edmonton to Dallas to do this match. So I was really kind of tired. But we did the match and Claudio is obviously amazing. That’s when we did the finish where I tapped out to the giant swing, which I thought was so creative. I don’t know if anyone has done it since, but I just thought it was the best way to lose the title. I think the whole Chris Jericho as Ring of Honor champion experiment was a huge success culminating in this great match at Final Battle.”
When Chris Jericho comes to Dallas, is there one story that sticks out in your mind from the many times you’ve been here?
Jericho: “I mean, there’s so many. Whenever I think of Dallas, I think of [Pantera drummer, co-founder] Vinnie Paul, and all the great times that we had here in his home city. But from a wrestling standpoint, you mentioned the Final Battle match with Claudio. I think the one that stands up for me more than anything that was probably the Last Man Standing match with Triple H, way back in maybe 2000. That was a real kind of coming-of-age party for me. I think that’s where people realized — more specifically Vince [McMahon], probably Triple H as well — that I was, you know, something special, a force to be reckoned with and somebody that they can count on to have great matches, get great crowd support and tell some good stories.
“But there’s so many. Dallas is an amazing wrestling city. It’s an amazing Fozzy city, we’ve had so many great shows here. And then AEW has really staked its claim with ‘Winter is Coming.’ Like you mentioned, Final Battle as well being kind of a Texas tradition. So a lot of really cool things have happened here. And it’s always fun for me to come to Dallas, for sure.”
Have you seen the Von Erich movie yet?
Jericho: “I haven’t seen the movie yet. I think it’s going to be really interesting. I think a lot of times Hollywood does a terrible job of making wrestling movies. They one exception, of course, is The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. I think this one, from what I’ve heard, it’s done a good job of that as well.
“I’ve never met a Von Erich. I know the story as much as anybody else does, just from reading about it. So, I’m excited to kind of see that interpretation. ... And I’m actually excited because the Von Erichs are going to be at Dynamite, and that’ll be the first time I’ve ever met a Von Erich ever, in any way, shape or form. So, you know, that’s pro wrestling royalty and such an uplifting story in a lot of ways, such a tragedy in other ways. So it’ll be cool to kind of get a chance to say hi to Kevin and pay respect.”
On Kenny Omega going from being one of his biggest rivals to his new tag team partner in the ‘Golden Jets’...
Jericho: “I mean, there wasn’t a lot of matches in Japan, there was just one, the Tokyo Dome in January of 2018. And I think that kind of might be one of the most important matches in pro wrestling history. I think, just the business that we did within New Japan really turned people’s heads. Match was obviously a classic. But more importantly, I think it’s the match that people here [in the U.S.], including Tony Kahn, realized that there was a market for another wrestling company because the business in North America for that match was huge. … I think the foundation of AEW was kind of built in a lot of ways in Jericho and Omega.
“So it really was just the natural progression of the storyline for Kenny and Jericho to become a team at some point. … Wrestling is all about stories. And I think when we started this thing with Don Callis on my end, and then he had the whole history with Kenny on his end, the bottom line would always be the two of us kind of aligning against him.”
Are there any other similar long-term stories out there you’d want to tell? Adam Copeland just joined AEW, for example...
Jericho: “There’s no timeline on what I’m doing. So there’s really, probably no rush. I have a different opinion. I’ve wrestled Adam Copeland so many times and Christian so many times that I would rather not wrestle against those guys. I mean, obviously, we could and have a great match. But I really enjoy working with kind of everybody that I haven’t worked with before. I think Swerve Strickland is amazing. I think Mark Briscoe is amazing, just off the top of my head of guys I’ve never stepped in the ring with. Both of those guys would be a lot of fun to have matches with, you know. So I think right now, that’s kind of a cool place to be looking at.
“But we’ve got a lot of stuff going on with the Golden Jets with Big Bill and Ricky Starks, and Will Hobbs and Takeshita. ... And I’d love to have a match with FTR. That’d be great. I’ve never done a tag team match against them before. I think Jets versus FTR would be amazing. So there’s kind of a lot of matches in the chamber that you could have with with Kenny and I before we decide to go to the next step.”
The Continental Classic rolls on with the shows here this week. Would you ever consider competing in that? Could be a way to knock out a whole list of opponents...
Jericho: “I mean, I’ll do whatever, man. Whatever my boss wants me to do, I’ll make it great. And the Continental Classic — I didn’t know about it until I think Tony told me a little bit before [it began] and didn’t ask me to be in it. And I didn’t ask to be in it. Because we’re doing the storyline with Kenny and with Don. And with that sort of side of the coin, and the thing with the Young Bucks going on, it really wouldn’t have made sense right now for me to be in it. But it’s been great. I mean, I think every match has been good to very good to excellent. I think everybody in the tournament is really showing who they are and whether you’re winning or losing, everybody wins when you have a great match. So is it something that I would be interested in doing next year? Of course, I think it’d be awesome to do next year. If it comes around that Tony wants to be in it, I’ll be in it.”
In what’s become an annual December trip to the metroplex for the wrestling promotion, AEW will run three shows over four nights in Arlington and Garland.
Former AEW world champion Chris Jericho told The Dallas Morning News this week the company has “staked its claim” on Dallas by bringing back the “Winter is Coming” editions of Dynamite and Ramage, this year taking place on Wednesday at UT-Arlington’s College Park Center. AEW will then head to Curtis Culwell Center in Garland for Ring of Honor: Final Battle, a pay-per-view event which will be held on Friday, and an episode of AEW: Collision on Saturday.
The events in North Texas are set to host a handful of local tie-ins, including the Von Erich family making an appearance on Dynamite — which comes nearly a week before the Dec. 22 national premiere of The Iron Claw, an A24 biopic about the Von Erich family — and Garland native Athena will be defending her Ring of Honor women’s championship in the main event on Friday.
Meanwhile, Jericho — who main evented the ROH: Final Battle one year ago in Arlington — is on a new path alongside former foe Kenny Omega. We spoke to him about last year’s match, his relationship with Omega, other Dallas memories and much more:
On defending the ROH world title last year at Final Battle in Arlington...
Jericho: “I think it was pretty cool time for Ring of Honor. It was a good idea for Tony to have me as the champion because I think he put a lot of eyeballs on the company, and kind of really put that title under the spotlight with defending it as much as I did.
“I remember I’d been running ragged because I had done so much with a Fozzy tour and I was filming a movie in Edmonton, I had to fly on a private plane straight from Edmonton to Dallas to do this match. So I was really kind of tired. But we did the match and Claudio is obviously amazing. That’s when we did the finish where I tapped out to the giant swing, which I thought was so creative. I don’t know if anyone has done it since, but I just thought it was the best way to lose the title. I think the whole Chris Jericho as Ring of Honor champion experiment was a huge success culminating in this great match at Final Battle.”
When Chris Jericho comes to Dallas, is there one story that sticks out in your mind from the many times you’ve been here?
Jericho: “I mean, there’s so many. Whenever I think of Dallas, I think of [Pantera drummer, co-founder] Vinnie Paul, and all the great times that we had here in his home city. But from a wrestling standpoint, you mentioned the Final Battle match with Claudio. I think the one that stands up for me more than anything that was probably the Last Man Standing match with Triple H, way back in maybe 2000. That was a real kind of coming-of-age party for me. I think that’s where people realized — more specifically Vince [McMahon], probably Triple H as well — that I was, you know, something special, a force to be reckoned with and somebody that they can count on to have great matches, get great crowd support and tell some good stories.
“But there’s so many. Dallas is an amazing wrestling city. It’s an amazing Fozzy city, we’ve had so many great shows here. And then AEW has really staked its claim with ‘Winter is Coming.’ Like you mentioned, Final Battle as well being kind of a Texas tradition. So a lot of really cool things have happened here. And it’s always fun for me to come to Dallas, for sure.”
Have you seen the Von Erich movie yet?
Jericho: “I haven’t seen the movie yet. I think it’s going to be really interesting. I think a lot of times Hollywood does a terrible job of making wrestling movies. They one exception, of course, is The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. I think this one, from what I’ve heard, it’s done a good job of that as well.
“I’ve never met a Von Erich. I know the story as much as anybody else does, just from reading about it. So, I’m excited to kind of see that interpretation. ... And I’m actually excited because the Von Erichs are going to be at Dynamite, and that’ll be the first time I’ve ever met a Von Erich ever, in any way, shape or form. So, you know, that’s pro wrestling royalty and such an uplifting story in a lot of ways, such a tragedy in other ways. So it’ll be cool to kind of get a chance to say hi to Kevin and pay respect.”
On Kenny Omega going from being one of his biggest rivals to his new tag team partner in the ‘Golden Jets’...
Jericho: “I mean, there wasn’t a lot of matches in Japan, there was just one, the Tokyo Dome in January of 2018. And I think that kind of might be one of the most important matches in pro wrestling history. I think, just the business that we did within New Japan really turned people’s heads. Match was obviously a classic. But more importantly, I think it’s the match that people here [in the U.S.], including Tony Kahn, realized that there was a market for another wrestling company because the business in North America for that match was huge. … I think the foundation of AEW was kind of built in a lot of ways in Jericho and Omega.
“So it really was just the natural progression of the storyline for Kenny and Jericho to become a team at some point. … Wrestling is all about stories. And I think when we started this thing with Don Callis on my end, and then he had the whole history with Kenny on his end, the bottom line would always be the two of us kind of aligning against him.”
Are there any other similar long-term stories out there you’d want to tell? Adam Copeland just joined AEW, for example...
Jericho: “There’s no timeline on what I’m doing. So there’s really, probably no rush. I have a different opinion. I’ve wrestled Adam Copeland so many times and Christian so many times that I would rather not wrestle against those guys. I mean, obviously, we could and have a great match. But I really enjoy working with kind of everybody that I haven’t worked with before. I think Swerve Strickland is amazing. I think Mark Briscoe is amazing, just off the top of my head of guys I’ve never stepped in the ring with. Both of those guys would be a lot of fun to have matches with, you know. So I think right now, that’s kind of a cool place to be looking at.
“But we’ve got a lot of stuff going on with the Golden Jets with Big Bill and Ricky Starks, and Will Hobbs and Takeshita. ... And I’d love to have a match with FTR. That’d be great. I’ve never done a tag team match against them before. I think Jets versus FTR would be amazing. So there’s kind of a lot of matches in the chamber that you could have with with Kenny and I before we decide to go to the next step.”
The Continental Classic rolls on with the shows here this week. Would you ever consider competing in that? Could be a way to knock out a whole list of opponents...
Jericho: “I mean, I’ll do whatever, man. Whatever my boss wants me to do, I’ll make it great. And the Continental Classic — I didn’t know about it until I think Tony told me a little bit before [it began] and didn’t ask me to be in it. And I didn’t ask to be in it. Because we’re doing the storyline with Kenny and with Don. And with that sort of side of the coin, and the thing with the Young Bucks going on, it really wouldn’t have made sense right now for me to be in it. But it’s been great. I mean, I think every match has been good to very good to excellent. I think everybody in the tournament is really showing who they are and whether you’re winning or losing, everybody wins when you have a great match. So is it something that I would be interested in doing next year? Of course, I think it’d be awesome to do next year. If it comes around that Tony wants to be in it, I’ll be in it.”
All Elite Wrestling returns to Dallas, which brings back many memories for Chris Jericho
Former AEW world champion Chris Jericho told The Dallas Morning News this week the company has “staked its claim” on Dallas bringing back the “Winter is...
www.dallasnews.com