One of AEW’s top star “Le Champion” Chris Jericho recently took to his Talk Is Jericho podcast, where he brought his entire Inner Circle (Sammy Guevara, Santana, Ortiz and Jake Hager) and spoke to them about the confrontation that they had with Mike Tyson on Dynamite where Santana and Ortiz said that they were intimidated by the other fighters surrounding the ring.
This is what Ortiz said:
“I was looking across the ring at Vitor and then Rashad Evans. I didn’t even know he was gonna be there.” “I looked at him, and I was like, ‘yo, that’s Rashad Evans?’ I was like, ‘oh man.’ I was like, ‘I need a knife or something.’ I can’t take these guys on legit. I’m about to step behind Jake and be like, ‘yeah, get him Jake.’ I was a little intimidated. I’m not gonna lie.”
This is what Santana said:
“At one point, I looked at Ortiz because I didn’t know all these guys were coming out with Tyson.” “At one point, they’re all lined up in front of us, and I look at Ortiz. I was like, ‘yo, I need a clean pair of drawers.’ I think it’s about that time.”
Chris Jericho then talked about not being a UFC guy and not knowing the other fighters in the ring, but knowing Vitor Belfort and talking to him on what will be taking place during their in-ring segment.
This is what Chris Jericho said:
“Tyson’s there and he’s got this rogue’s gallery of murders, and I’m not a UFC guy.” “I didn’t know, this is no disrespect, Henry Cejudo and and Rashad Evans. I knew Vitor Belfort, but I thought who’s this big Russian guy? Apparently, he’s from Brazil. So we’re talking to him. I’m trying to explain to these guys. These guys all have dead eyes. They’re just like looking at me, and there’s no planning. There’s no rehearsal. There’s no script.”
“They’re going to do whatever they want. It’s just going to be a big, I used the word riot not knowing that two days later there really would be riots, but I said, ‘I just want a big riot and a big mob scene. And Vitor’s like, ‘so I double leg somebody?’ I’m like, ‘no, no, no. No one’s double legging anyone.’ Here’s what I said, ‘there’s a big, tall, blonde kid with me. He’s a big, tall, tough blonde kid. That’s the guy that you go with. OK?’ And I told Jake that, and I went and introduced you to him. He totally big leagued you.”
Hager then talked about getting “big leagued” and having to remind Henry Cejudo and Rashad Evans about their past.
This is what Jake Hager said:
“He did. What the f–k.” “Bro, I was ready after that. I had to remind Henry I was at Oklahoma when he came in for a recruiting trip. I wrestled against Rashad Evans in 2003, so I let these guys know that hey, we’re right there.”
Jericho then talked about the original idea for Tyson was for him to knock Sammy Guevara out, but that changed. Jericho also talked about there being four guys with him and eight guys on Tyson’s side and actor Michael Gooch, who was also in Tyson’s corner. Jericho then said that Gooch looks like a skinny, fat, dumpy idiot.
This is what Chris Jericho said:
“So when these guys come walking out, and once again, I talked it over with with Mike. The original idea was for Mike to knock out Sammy, but that changed.” “These guys come out, and we had talked to four and there’s like eight guys. And I had added a couple of the young boys, Musa and Graham, some of our guys in there, so if someone needs to take a punch, they go down. Then there’s ‘The Gooch’, this actor friend of Tyson’s that I’ve never met.”
“So I’m standing face-to-face with Tyson. I got Jake over here and there’s I think Sammy’s there and there’s a line of a guys, and you guys know, when a fights going down, you’re looking at the guy you’re fighting with, but I’m looking here too. And I’m seeing this idiot. I can tell this guy looks crazy. Rashad looks crazy, but this guy looks like a like a skinny, fat, dumpy idiot.”
Chris Jericho then talked about him landing a shot on Gooch. Chris Jericho then said that he hopes they can do something more in the future and went into more detail why their in-ring segment was a success.
This is what Chris Jericho said:
“So lo and behold, when Tyson starts taking off his shirt, so does this doughy, fat, lumpy idiot.” “I was supposed to push Tyson first. He pushes me second. There’s none of that. It’s just Tyson going off, and if you see me go, ‘hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.’ I’m saying it to him like in between lines, hold on.”
“So then when he takes off his shirt and pushes me. I push him back. Here comes ‘The Gooch.’ He comes at me, and I was like, OK, that’s it.’ Dude, I grabbed his head straight to the table, and we’re off and running. If you watch that back, all of us are just losing. ‘The Gooch’, he’s getting slapped around and smacked around and Sammy’s on a scooter, but now he’s just running around.”
“It was a great segment because of how crazy it was, which is what we wanted. You don’t have Iron Mike out there to do fancy, choreographed spots. It’s just one big riot, mob scene, lunacy, and we got a hell of a lot of coverage for it. Hopefully we can do more with them, and he’s got a squad. We’ve got a squad. So hopefully that leads to more stuff.”
