Chris Jericho has done a lot of innovative things in his 30-year professional wrestling career, but no one expected him to tap out to Claudio Castagnoli‘s Giant Swing at ROH Final Battle.
All Elite Wrestling‘s Chris Jericho was a recent guest on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about not wanting to be one of those guys who sticks around the industry for too long, Jericho said there are people already saying that about him now.
“People are already saying it about me,” Chris Jericho admitted. “You’ve got to have a thick skin to be in show business because just by the fact that I exist — whenever I lose a match, it’s the greatest match ever. Whenever I win, it’s ‘Jericho holding down the young guys.’ I was the champion and won a bunch of matches and people were bagging on me for winning. It’s like, I’m the champion but how dare you win as the champion so that when someone beats you and becomes the champion it’s a big deal!”
Chris Jericho lost the Ring of Honor World Championship to Claudio Castagnoli at Ring of Honor Final Battle in December, the finish saw The Ocho tap out to Castagnoli’s Giant Swing in a very memorable moment. Jericho spoke about how his thought process came about to do that finish.
“We have for years been trying to figure out how to get out of that move because when he does it, people react. When he stops, the people come down again,” Chris Jericho said. “I’ve been working with him since WWE. We could never figure out what we were going to do. Finally, this Giant Swing [would work in this spot]. Then I was like, f**k, can I tap out? So I actually had him do it do see when you’re swinging, can I move my hand around to tap out? I was [tapping the mat] as I was spinning around, but what a great f**kin’ way to go out.”
This isn’t the first time that Chris Jericho took the Giant Swing from Claudio Castagnoli recently as he took it on top of the steel cage during AEW Blood and Guts last year.
“I took that Giant Swing, what, 40 feet up on the top of a cage? And the only reason I did it was because Claudio, the guy we’re talking about, is the strongest guy and I knew there was no way in hell he’s ever going to even have one wavering second of dropping me. But as soon as he started giving it to me, I’m up there, and all I see is these people upside-down, and down this far, I took about six [swings], and I’m [yelling], ‘I’m done, I’m done! Stop! Stop!’ Now watching it back on camera, I could have taken it 50 times, but when you’re up there, it was terrifying! It was freaking me out, man.”
READ MORE: Tony Schiavone: Chris Jericho Is A Great Leader Because He Jobbed For Andretti And Starks
What do you make of Chris Jericho’s comments? Did you enjoy seeing him tap out to the Giant Swing against Claudio Castagnoli? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit WTF with Marc Maron with a link back to this article for the transcription.
