Chris Jericho Says He's Done With NJPW
'The Alpha' bids Japan farewell.
Chris Jericho's brief run with New Japan Pro Wrestling is over, according to the man himself.
Two months removed from his last appearance with the sport's second biggest promotion, 'The Alpha' broke the news through a Twitter interaction with a fan earlier this afternoon, presumably ending hopes of a match with former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito in the process.
Jericho attacked the Los Ingobernables de Japon leader 24 hours after losing to Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12. A bout on March 25th's Strong Style Evolved show in California had been mooted, but was reportedly scrapped as the show had already sold out. Dave Meltzer then stated that June's Dominion 6.9 pay-per-view was being targeted, but this may now be off the table
The news comes as a surprise, as Jericho recently stated he'd be sticking around on a Brock Lesnar-esque schedule in New Japan, and abandoning the Naito angle after planting such obvious seeds isn't in NJPW booker Gedo's playbook.
This, coupled with the brevity of Jericho's announcement suggests a work. 'Y2J' is one of the smartest men in wrestling. He may be trying to swerve the audience, though there's no way of telling at the moment.