Chris Jericho reacts to CMLL’s recent return to Arena Mexico

Last month, Chris Jericho made a surprise appearance at a CMLL event where he faced Mistico and challenged him to a match.

In a recent episode of his podcast “Talk Is Jericho,” Jericho gave a detailed report on his return to CMLL at Arena Mexico.

Below you can see some highlights from the podcast:

Returning to CMLL: “It was a big surprise this week when Corazon de Leon returned to Arena Mexico. I was in Mexico from 1992 to 1995 and the last time I wrestled in Arena Mexico was September 15, 1995. It was really cool to come back to Mexico City and how did that come about? We started working with CMLL in AEW and when I was going through the transition between Kenny Omega and the Golden Jets, Kenny got sick and that. Sammy (Guevara) and I were kind of a team and that really didn’t work out well and then Sammy got suspended so I did some Corazon de Leon and worked with some luchadors. I had a match with Titan, I had a match with Atlantis Jr. and it occurred to me that with this new relationship with CMLL and AEW, maybe it would be cool to come back to Arena Mexico and have a match.”

When I came up with the idea of ​​going back: “Meanwhile, the BCC and Matt Sydal, who was filling in for the injured Wheeler Yuta, went to Arena Mexico and had a fight and just the best time. The crowd was so incredible and everyone was super excited, and it really opened my eyes to the fact that it was time to let me come back to Arena Mexico, kind of coming full circle. I’ve wrestled in Mexico since then, a couple times with WWE. But it was never at Arena Mexico, which is owned by the Lutteroth family and is the oldest wrestling company in the world. It’s one of the oldest arenas in the world and it’s called the Cathedral of Lucha Libre. So I just started talking to Rocky Romero and let him know that I’m open to coming back. Rocky is kind of like a liaison from AEW to CMLL and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, so he’s very valuable. We just started discussing what I could do. What would be a great fight and who would I do something good with? We decided that Mistico would be the perfect, almost dream match between Chris Jericho, Corazon de Leon (and) Mistico. So we negotiated with them and they came back with the original idea of ​​doing a tag team match, which I didn’t like. Then we went back to the drawing board and came back with the idea of ​​doing a singles match. That’s what we decided to do. Then you start negotiating and it’s always great to get something for something you do, but this isn’t so much about the money, it’s just about me going back to the place where I got my first experience.”

About the Mistico Challenge: “I grabbed a microphone and did a promo in Spanish, which I pretty much knew. I asked for a few words. I said I’ll challenge you anytime, any place, anywhere. In classic Mexican fashion, even though I hit him with two of my finishers, he was already in the middle of the ring (laughs), but that’s okay. He challenged back and we haven’t set the date of the fight yet. It will be a one-on-one fight between Mistico and Corazon de Leon. We’re telling a story here that will continue. I’m going to challenge him very soon and we’ll get that date rolling and then we’ll be ready to go.”