Talk is Jericho – All In to Fozzy Kansas City – Chris & Jack’s Excellent Adventure
Release date: 8/7/2018
Recap by: Caitlin Lavelle
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5:10 – Jericho on traveling to and from All In
Chris Jericho and Jack Slade (Fozzy’s Production Manager) explain that in roughly the past 24-hours, they flew from the Fozzy Show in Little Rock, Arkansas to Chicago, hid in Cody & The Young Bucks’ office at All In, made an on-screen appearance at All In, flew in a private jet to Fozzy’s Kansas City show and performed.
6:45 – Jericho on deciding to appear at All In
Jericho says, “Months ago when All In was announced, Cody called me and said, ‘Do you want to be involved?’ and I said, ‘No, I’m not really wanting to work any shows in the United States that aren’t WWE shows.’ For various reasons, I just didn’t feel like it was where I was at career-wise. I told him I appreciated the offer, but I just wasn’t going to do it. I also got asked to do Long Beach and those New Japan shows as well.
“Over the course of the last few months, my mindset has kind of changed a bit to where I’m enjoying being a part of this new revolution of wrestling that’s going on. I thought, well, I’ll consider it, but the idea has to be right.
“Cody called me again, and originally asked me if I wanted to be Bernard the Bear…The idea was maybe do something in the main event, where the Bucks come down with Bernard the Bear and I attack Kota Ibushi.
“I was like, ‘Why don’t I attack Kenny?’ and they were like, ‘It’s not really an angle match.’ We just couldn’t figure it out, and I was like, ‘Nah, I’m not really interested in it,’ again.
“Then Cody called me again, and I started thinking, I wonder if I could make this work. We started kicking around some ideas. The idea was, what if I could come in and attack Kenny? That’s the idea, of keeping this angle alive from the Tokyo dome to the cruise and maybe elsewhere.”
11:40 – Jericho on the decision to dress up as Pentagon, Jr. to attack Kenny Omega
Jericho says he pitched the idea of the blackout after the Omega/Pentagon Jr. Match, but that Jericho originally thought he would appear in the ring when the lights came back on unmasked, attack Kenny Omega, and tease their match on the Jericho Cruise. He says it was actually Nick Jackson’s idea for Jericho to be dressed as Pentagon, to attack Omega, and to then unmask and reveal himself.
Jericho says, “I was like, ‘That’s amazing. That’s even better’”, and says he had done something similar both in New Japan and in WWE (against Seth Rollins as Sin Cara).
15:50 – Jericho and Slade on the flight and the fan who almost spoiled the All In surprise
Jericho and Slade say their plane to Chicago landed late (after All In had already started), and that a defective break caused their plane to move very slowly down the tarmac to their gate. Once they made it to the airport, Jericho and Slade noticed that a nearby fan in a Bullet Club T-Shirt was taking photos of Jericho. Jericho says he instructed Slade to “Got get him.”
Slade says he approached the fan, who immediately copped to taking pictures of Jericho, and asked him to delete the pictures. Slade says the fan quickly showed him the pictures he had taken and deleted them.
27:05 – Jericho and Slade on secretly getting Jericho into the Sears Center
When Jericho got to the Sears Center, he sent Slade into the building to scout out the route to the office where Jericho would be held. Because the route was visible to fans and many people backstage, Jericho decided to disguise his appearance. Nick Jackson brought a mask out to Jericho’s car, and Jericho borrowed Slade’s sweatshirt and shirt and a security guard’s jacket to walk into and through the building.
31:10 – Jericho on his payment deal for All In
Jericho says, “I told Cody, ‘My rule and my deal is, this is not about money. This is about making a statement and making waves, and doing something pretty damn cool.’
“I said, ‘Arrange transportation, arrange the ground transportation, pay me what you think is fair and give me a lollipop.’ And they screwed me on the lollipop, by the way. They still owe me a lollipop.”
31:45 – Jericho and Slade on issues with Pentagon, Jr.’s costumes
Jericho says, “Kenny (Omega) comes in, who I haven’t seen for a while, and then Pentagon comes in, who I’d never met. I think they might have filled him in at that point.
“I had texted (Cody and the Young Bucks) the week before and said, ‘This is obvious, but I’ll just say it anyways – please make sure Pentagon brings an extra costume.’ What I didn’t say was, ‘Please make sure he brings a costume that’s the same as the one he’s wearing.’
“We never even thought about that. We probably could have had another one made. But here we are at 7 o’clock, 7:10, and (Pentagon) has a gold costume and a silver costume. They’re not matching in any way, even in the design, but the colors are completely different.
“In the back of my mind I’m like, what the f—k are you guys thinking? Did nobody think of this? But I’m the vet. I’m the pro. I come from the Vince McMahon school of, well, we better think of something.”
Jericho says he looked at both of Pentagon’s costumes and decided that they needed gold paint or tape. Slade initially tried to find something in the building, but eventually went to a nearby Home Depot and bought gold sharpies and spray paint.
Meanwhile, Pentagon Jr. painted Jericho’s face. When Slade returned to the venue, Jericho quickly spray-painted the silver on Pentagon’s costume gold and hand-fanned the costume dry.
Jericho says, “(Pentagon) was super cool about it. If someone took my gear and basically ruined it, I’d be like ‘Hey, come on guys.’ He was ‘all in’, no pun intended.”
42:50 – Jericho on getting to the ring during All In
Jericho says, “I haven’t been to the venue. I don’t know where I’m supposed to run through, where I’m supposed to go.”
Jericho says that the security team was going to rush him out to the ring when the lights went out, and that he asked Slade to let him know when the match was finishing. Slade gave Jericho the cue to go out to the Gorilla Position a bit too early, so Jericho waited for a little while at Gorilla with Slade and a security guard standing in front of him.
When the lights were out, Jericho says one of the security guards tripped and fell in the crowd on the way to the ring. Jericho says he broke out on his own and made it to the ring, but that he was on the wrong side, standing in front of Kenny (Omega) instead of behind him.
52:50 – Jericho on leaving the Pentagon Jr. make-up on for the Fozzy show
Jericho says he said hello to a few people after his All In run-in, but quickly left to head to Fozzy’s show in Kansas City. Jericho and Slade hopped on their private plane and travelled to the venue.
Jericho says, “I had the (Pentagon Jr.) make-up on. I had bought make-up removers. I was just like, You know what? I’m just going to keep the makeup on. I wanted the people to know in Kansas City, because it’s a late show, but I want them to know it’s a part of history. You’re seeing something no one else is going to see.”
Timestamps:
0:30 – Introduction
4:25 – All In discussion begins
5:10 – Jericho on traveling to and from All In
6:45 – Jericho on deciding to appear at All In
11:40 – Jericho on the decision to dress up as Pentagon, Jr. to attack Kenny Omega
15:50 – Jericho and Slade on the flight and the fan who almost spoiled the All In surprise
23:42 – Advertisement
27:05 – All In discussion resumes
27:05 – Jericho and Slade on secretly getting Jericho into the Sears Center
31:10 – Jericho on his payment deal for All In
31:45 – Jericho and Slade on issues with Pentagon, Jr.’s costumes
42:50 – Jericho on getting to the ring during All In
52:50 – Jericho on leaving the Pentagon Jr. make-up on for the Fozzy show
1:02:25 – Outro (Clip from un-aired Talk is Jericho WrestleMania 35 Review)
Rating: 9/10
This episode is a really interesting in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at one of the coolest surprises from All In. Go ahead and give it a listen if you liked the moment and want to know more about the process that made it happen.
Writer Bio
Caitlin is a wrestling fan who hopes to one day discover that she is the illegitimate daughter of Vincent Kennedy McMahon and the rightful Anonymous RAW General Manager. Until then, she’ll keep on living in Orlando, Florida with her husband and son.
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