Plans Revealed For Cancelled Chris Jericho AEW Rivalry

The Wizard was at one point due to feud with this promising AEW star.

by Andrew Pollard
Jungle Boy Jack Perry
AEW

While last week's AEW Dynamite saw Action Andretti get a shock win over Chris Jericho, it's now been revealed that AEW initially had similar plans for another upcoming talent.

Speaking on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted how AEW had at one point planned to have Jungle Boy pick up a surprise win over Jericho back in 2020. The former Jungle Express man would've got an upset victory over the veteran, which would've led to a feud between the pair.

From what Meltzer said, it was seemingly Jericho's call to cancel these plans, with Le Champion unkeen to pull the trigger on this at a time when fans weren't allowed into arenas. By the time that fans were permitted to attend shows again, the feeling was that Jungle Boy was an established talent at that point, and so a win over Jericho wouldn't have been as shocking as it once would've been.

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Jungle Boy and the Wizard did lock horns in singles action back in December 2019, with that bout ending in a time limit draw on an episode of Dynamite. While the pair have since squared off in a handful of tag bouts, they've yet to tussle in singles competition again.

Where things go from here for Action Andretti and Chris Jericho remains to be seen, though with the relatively unknown 24-year-old having now officially signed with AEW, it would seem that the Ocho will be out for revenge on the rookie who embarrassed him last week.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.