Following previous uncertainty, Chris Jericho vs. Bandido has been announced for AEW Dynasty on April 6th,
Ahead of the pay-per-view, Jericho issued the challenge to Bandido that would see the ROH World Champion put the title on the line against Bandido’s mask. However, despite the match being teased on TV, it was not officially announced when Excalibur ran down the card on the go-home episode of Dynamite.
On the Dynasty media call, Tony Khan was asked about the status of the match and said the following:
“Chris Jericho put the challenge out. We’ve never officially announced the match. Chris Jericho has issued a challenge to Bandido, and it’s a standing challenge for a title versus mask match and I hope to hear Bandido’s response here. Obviously we still have another show before Dynasty with Collision this weekend.
“But certainly Jericho has put that challenge for a championship versus mask match out to Bandido. It’s been an exciting rivalry between those two in recent weeks, and we saw Bandido is extremely fired up after what has become a really personal situation involving his family after what transpired in Los Angeles ahead of AEW Revolution that day.”
“I have never confirmed the match for good reasons, and I think it makes a lot of sense, and it’s a great challenge Chris has put out and we have every intent on Bandido following up and answering Chris, but for good reasons, and frankly, the availability of Bandido to do the match and have the match play out safely for him and for us. I expect Bandido to answer the challenge when the time is right, and that’s all I can really say. But I always try to look after the well-being of the wrestlers as best as possible, if that makes sense.”
Later that day, the match was officially announced on social media, ending the uncertainty. According to a follow-up report, the reason for the delay has been revealed.
Chris Jericho Match Back On
As reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the issue was said to be due to Bandido’s representatives. While the issue was not disclosed, it was described as “ridiculous.”
“Right now, we were told earlier in the day and it was still up in the air due to an issue involving Bandido’s representatives. That has all been worked out and the match was back on the show as of the evening of 4/3, but it was described as a ridiculous actually few weeks in finalizing the match for the show.”