OOC: Bit of a short RP as I’m feeling a little run down. Good luck DJ!
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May 15th, 2023. Chris Jericho was backstage at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, where tonight’s EBWF Warfare was taking place. Later that night, in the main event, Jericho would be going one on one with Matt Riddle in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament; a tournament he had won once before, back in 2011. Jericho’s match with Riddle was only his second televised match of 2023, with his last match taking place on January 16th. There had been two PPVs, and Jericho hadn’t wrestled on either of them. At Last Survivor, he had provided commentary for the main event, but he hadn’t appeared at all at Fallout. In years gone by, Jericho would have been frustrated at having such limited TV time; but now he was in his 50s, and taking on more and more responsibilities behind the scenes, Jericho was comfortable taking a step back, and wrestling less. Having said that… King of the Ring was important to Jericho, so he didn’t want to go out in the first round and disappear off EBWF programming for another four months.
Jericho had asked for some time to promote his match with Riddle, and once he was set up in what he called the “promo zone” - the part of the backstage area where interviews and promos were normally filmed - Jericho began to speak.
Chris Jericho: Oklahomaaaaa…. I’m back, bay-bay! Tonight, I will be wrestling for the first time since January, in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament. A tournament that I am, of course, one of the favourites to win. But in the so called “luck of the draw”, I have been given a difficult challenge in the first round. I’ve been drawn against one of the toughest guys on the EBWF roster, Matt Riddle. Now I know what some of you are thinking… a guy that hangs out with Michael Cole and enjoys smoking you know what so much, he probably gets high doing everyday tasks like laundry… probably doesn’t seem like much of a threat to the GOAT. But here’s the thing. The reason I’ve been able to stay at the top for so long is because I still consider myself a student of the game. I don’t just study my opponents, I study wrestlers and promotions from around the world. It’s how I am able to adapt and evolve, and why even though the world of professional wrestling is very different to the world I entered over 30 years ago, I can still stand toe to toe with anyone in that ring. And so I see past that goofy side of Riddle you see when he’s hanging out with Miz and Michael Cole. I see Riddle for what he is - a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, a former MMA fighter who only ever lost three of his fights, and someone who has seemed like a natural wrestler since the very first time he stepped into the ring. Matt Riddle is the sort of opponent that no one wants to face in the first round of a tournament, because even if you beat him, you’re going to exert a lot of energy doing so. The only question I have about Riddle, is this… does he really want the win? Does he want to become King of the Bros, and challenge his buddy Miz for the World Title? Or is he happy being Miz’s right hand man, and making Michael Cole look cool for the first time in his entire life? I don’t know the answer to that question, Riddle, but I do know this. I want the win… I want it badly. Because Miz and I, we’ve got a lot of history, and I would love to get another shot at that title. So Matt, you better bring that ultimate fighting spirit I know you’ve got in you, because if you don’t, I’ll have you beat quicker than you can say “Bro Awesome”.
Jericho wasn’t holding a microphone, but if he was, he would have dropped it. Sometimes when he was in front of the camera, he didn’t know what he was going to say until he started talking. That was one of those moments, but the more he’d said, the more fired up Jericho got. Yes, Riddle was tough… but Jericho knew he could hold his own against him.
