Ahead of his highly-anticipated showdown against IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s (NJPW) Wrestle Kingdom 12 event at the Tokyo Dome in Japan in January, Chris Jericho continues to make the media rounds to hype the big match.

As noted, Jericho recently appeared as a guest on Busted Open Radio to talk about the big showdown. According to Jericho, their match will be a bigger deal in Japan than it would be if Omega were to sign with WWE and the match were to happen at WrestleMania.

“If I told you I’ve thought about the match in any way, shape or form up until now, I’d be lying,” Jericho admitted. “I haven’t even thought about the match yet. To me, it was about the announcement and the promotion. And like I said, when McGregor and Mayweather was announced, right off the bat it became the biggest match in boxing history just because you never though you’d see it, and I’m not saying it’s the biggest match in wrestling [history] but I think at the time, right now in November of 2017, it is because nobody thought they could see it. Now, there’s a whole contingency of people who have no idea that New Japan exists or who Kenny Omega is, that’s fine. I’m talking to the people that care about this, and if you’re a casual wrestling fan or know anything about any other company besides WWE, it is intriguing.”

Jericho continued, explaining the significance of the match and discussing his long-awaited return to the Japanese pro wrestling scene.

“I think just the fact that if Kenny left New Japan tomorrow and I went to the WWE and we had the same match at WrestleMania, it wouldn’t have the same mystique about it because there’s something about it now where everyone knows that Omega is so big in Japan and Jericho has a history in Japan, which is another thing I liked about it. Kenny and I’s careers mirror each other; I started in Japan, I grew up in Japan, I’ve been there 60 times, so there’s a big history of Jericho in Japan as well that started before I ever went to the WWE,” he said. “So there’s a combination of a lot of things that make this very special and a once-in-a-lifetime type of matchup. I think if it was in the WWE, even if there was no restrictions, it still wouldn’t be as big because it’s still WrestleMania in a WWE ring. This is different, it’s over in Tokyo, it’s at the Tokyo Dome fore New Japan Pro Wrestling. I think that adds to the intrigue and the mystique of the match right off the bat, as well.”

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