The following highlights are from tonight’s new WWE Off The Top Rope segment on ESPN featuring special guest Chris Jericho:
Coach welcomes Chris Jericho to the show and talks about his Money in the Bank history, and asks Jericho if he’s surprised at how successful the match has been.
Jericho says he originally thought the match would be a contract for a title shot the next night on RAW, but it evolved to the briefcase and it’s own pay-per-view and it’s really become a big must-see WWE event. He talks about each match he’s been in Coach asks if one match or moment stands out. Jericho recalls a spot in the 2012 (WWE Championship contract MITB) ladder match where he was hanging on the briefcase without a ladder under him, and he felt the case starting to slip and it almost broke before he got back on the ladder. He says it felt right before John Cena could grab the case, and if he would’ve been hanging on any longer he would’ve crashed down to the mat, highlighting how dangerous the match can be.
Jericho next talks about working with AJ Styles at Wrestlemania 32, and says he wanted to be there ever since they found out about Dallas hosting the event. Jericho says Styles is really unknown to WWE fans, but they worked well together and Styles became #1 contender the next night, which is a heck of an accomplishment for a newer guy in WWE. He says Styles has been working for 15 years, but he was more than ready, and Jericho says he takes pride in working with a guy like.
Coach asks if Jericho is looking at any WWE stars who are ready to be top stars in WWE, and Jericho highlights his Money In The Bank ladder match opponents. He references Kevin Owens’ unique look helping him, then he talks about Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura, and AJ Styles being the next big stars, and says WWE is in a great position to succeed for years.
Coach references Shawn Michaels calling the Y2J/HBK match at Wrestlemania 19 being a career highlight. Jericho talks about how it really meant a lot to him because he was a Michaels fan and it was a classic match between two guys with great chemistry. He calls Michaels one of the best he’s ever been in the ring with, and says they put the match together in about 20 minutes, and it led to one of their all time best feuds in 2008.
Coach asks about Jericho’s debut and working with The Rock, and Jericho says people might forget how good The Rock really was. He says Rock is probably underrated as a worker, but he was so good on the mic too and they matched each other. Jericho says they had a lot of fun together, mostly as rivals, but they worked well together, and he’s sure Rock still says their match in Hawaii was his favorite.
Coach thanks him for coming on the show, and Jericho tells Coach he wanted to talk about his scarf. He brags about how much it costs, and Coach laughs and thanks him and closes out the segment.
