Chris Jericho has hit back at fans as well as WWE Superstars for who “bagged on” his fall at the end of AEW’s first ever Blood and Guts Match.
In the blood-soaked contest, The Pinnacle just about overcame Jericho’s Inner Circle. The two factions went to war inside the huge metal structure but it was what happened after the match that grabbed the headlines.
As the match headed towards its finale MJF and Chris Jericho climbed to the top of the cage. The pair traded submissions until MJF threatened to throw Jericho all the way to the floor. The threats eventually worked with Sammy Guevara surrendering on behalf of The Inner Circle to save Jericho. However in a shocking twist, MJF pushed ‘The Demo God’ from the cage anyway. The show went off the air with Jericho receiving medial attention after the fall.
The end of the match received a mixed reception online with many on social media saying the impact of the move was lessened by seeing the surface Jericho landed on.
Speaking on his Saturday Night Special live stream, Chris Jericho moved to address the criticism. The former AEW World Champion described how the fall was “terrifying” adding that his resulting elbow injury was legit.
I’m not even going to address the criticism for it,” Jericho began. “It was taking the bump off the top of the cage at [AEW] Blood & Guts. It was terrifying because I’ve never done anything like that before. It was not a crash pad that I fell on, there were cardboard boxes that were basically set up across the board. You fall on them and, I guess, the cardboard kind of softens the blow. The piece of plywood over the top that was not even as thick as this book — and I was scared.
“I really was because I didn’t know what to expect. You know what I mean? What’s this going to be like? When I hit, it was hard. I mean, I really did — the elbow injury is legit, just so you guys know it’s not a ‘work.’ It came from that because I hit the side of the stage and then my head missed the back by just a little bit. If you see it, there’s a bunch of spotlights and stuff.”
Going further, Jericho said that anyone bagging on the fall can “f**k their ass.”
“People that bagged on it can really f**k their ass because it was dangerous,” Jericho stated. “It was scary, I was saying prayers before. I was a little bit worried because you never know. It was a legit fifteen [foot] drop. Nestea plunge. You can’t see behind you and you hope for the best. It was something that I thought about all day.
“No one had to convince me to do it because I knew it was right for the story, but like I said, people that didn’t respect that bump really aren’t fans. People in the business that were kind of bagging on it should know better because it’s not something you would really want anybody to do because it’s dangerous and it can affect you for your life if it goes wrong.”
Following the fall, NXT Superstar Shotzi Blackheart appeared to have a little fun at Jericho’s expense, posting a clip of someone falling onto a bed on Twitter.
Without naming names Jericho addressed the tweet, hitting back at “a couple of chicks in WWE” who’ll probably be “asking us for a job” in six months anyway.
“People laugh at that sort of stuff but there’s no reason to because this is the real deal and it can happen at any time,” Jericho said. “Best of luck to anybody in our business, and anybody that bags on somebody who’s taking a chance and putting their bodies on the line can really f**k off. Especially people in the business.
“I could say some names. There’s a couple of chicks in WWE who said some stuff and they should probably not have said that. They probably weren’t trained any better and in six months they’ll probably be asking us for a job anyways and I’ll remember that. So, we’ll leave it at that.”
Shortly after the contest in May, Jericho discussed the match in detail on his Talk Is Jericho podcast. The leader of the Inner Circle revealed that while the fall from the cage was his idea, he was reluctant to go through with it.
Jericho’s comments come after fellow AEW star Eddie Kingston had a few choice words for “the competition” of his own. During a promo after AEW Dynamite went off the air, Kingston appeared to take aim at some within WWE for being happy to just collect a pay cheque.
H/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.