Bulletproof

[Ben M]

At Last Survivor, the first EBWF pay-per-view of 2022, Chris Jericho had defended the World Championship against the man he had taken the title from one month prior, The Miz. The match had been Three Stages of Hell, and Jericho had gotten off to a great start, making Miz submit in the first fall. However in the second fall - a steel cage match - Miz had escaped the cage to tie it up at 1-1, and in the final fall, a last man standing match, Miz had beaten Jericho once again, keeping Jericho down for a 10 count after knocking him out with a steel chair. Not content with simply regaining the EBWF World Title, Miz had continued to attack Jericho with the chair after the bell, leading to an unlikely save… Wes Ikeda’s son Blaine had come to Jericho’s aid, causing Miz to flee the scene. Quite understandably after such a brutal contest, Jericho was not 100%, but to his surprise he had been booked in the main event of Warfare. He was up against one of the leaders of the Bullet Club, Adam Cole. Jericho had wrestled Adam Cole once before, defeating him in the King of the Ring tournament in 2018. However, given that Cole was still in his prime, whereas Jericho was (as much as he hated to admit it) in the twilight years of his career, Jericho was concerned. Would he be able to keep up with the former ROH World Champion, especially when he was still sore from Last Survivor? This was something he pondered as he approached the interview zone backstage. Jericho had an interview scheduled with Renee Young, and when he arrived everything was set up ready to go. The camera started rolling, and Renee began to speak.

Renee Young: Good evening, EBWF Universe! My guest at this time is former World Champion Chris Jericho, who will be going one on one with Adam Cole in our main event. Chris, you went through Three Stages of Hell at Last Survivor, so the first question I’ve got to ask you is this… are you 100% going into this match?

Chris Jericho: No, Renee, I’m not. Now I’m guessing your next question will be “are you concerned about that”, so to save you some time allow me to answer that for you… I’m a little concerned, yes. Adam Cole is one hell of an athlete. People have been comparing him to me for as long as I can remember, and I take that as a compliment. Obviously I’m better looking, but this ain’t no beauty contest. Even if I was 100%, taking on Adam Cole would be a challenge, so going into this match still banged up from Last Survivor, of course I’m concerned. But being concerned doesn’t mean I’m not confident I can beat Adam Cole. Of course I can beat him, Renee… I’m the GOAT!

Renee Young: Aren’t you concerned that the other members of the Bullet Club might get involved? At Warfare: Final Resolution, the night the Bullet Club returned to EBWF, they attacked your friends Paul London and Jurassic Express.

Chris Jericho: You’re right, they did. And I’m sure they will want to do the same to me… I might not be the World Champion any more, but being the GOAT, I’ve still got a target on my back. Everyone knows one of the surest ways to make a statement in EBWF is to take out the EBWF original, Chris Jericho. But I’m not concerned about the Bullet Club, Renee; I’m bulletproof. Whatever they might have planned, I can guarantee I’m thinking three steps ahead. They’re a big group - there are what, seven of them? But I’ve got plenty of friends who are willing to fight alongside me, including my good friend Floyd, who will be accompanying me to the ring tonight.

Jericho was referring to his baseball bat, and Renee couldn’t quite suppress a smile.

Renee Young: Speaking of friends who are willing to fight alongside you, at Last Survivor when The Miz was attacking you after the match, Blaine Ikeda came to your aid. I think it’s fair to say that none of us were expecting that, especially not Miz. Have you spoken to Blaine about him getting involved? I don’t mean to speculate, but I can’t imagine his father was too happy about it…

Now it was Jericho’s turn to try and suppress a smile.

Chris Jericho: Is Wes ever happy, Renee? In answer to your question, of course I’ve spoken to Blaine. That conversation will stay between the two of us, but let’s just say I don’t expect him to get involved tonight, whatever happens.

Renee Young: Is that because you don’t want Blaine to put himself in harm’s way?

Chris Jericho: Not at all, Blaine can handle himself. He just knows that sometimes you’ve got to let someone fight your own battles. Besides, I’m pretty sure Blaine has got his goals set higher than Adam Cole and the Bullet Club.

Renee Young: Speaking of goals, Chris. One of the stipulations of your match with Miz at Last Survivor was that if you lost, you forfeited your right to a rematch. So can I ask, what are your goals going forwards? Will you be looking to earn another World Title opportunity?

Chris Jericho: Well Renee, my immediate goal is defeating Adam Cole tonight, and making sure that if Prince Devitt, the Young Bucks or any of the other Bullet Club bitches try to attack me, they get their asses kicked! As for the longer term? Well, let’s just say my latest title reign was shorter than I would have liked, so I’ll certainly be looking to get my hands on the gold again when the time is right.

Renee Young: Thank you for your time, Chris, and good luck in your match tonight.

Jericho thanked Renee and exited the interview area. As he headed back to his locker room, he thought about his final words at the end of that interview… “when the time is right”. That was always the question in the back of his mind. Jericho’s latest title reign had been an unexpected but welcome surprise, and he had ambitions to be the World Champion again. But he had other ambitions too. All in good time, Jericho thought to himself. For tonight, his sole ambition was making sure he put in a performance worthy of the main event, and reminding the crowd that Adam Cole wasn’t their only “baybay”…