Action Andretti is still riding the hight from his shocking victory over Chris Jericho at last month’s AEW Winter Is Coming television special.
The rising star appeared on Renee Paauette’s The Sessions to discuss working with The Ocho, a person he knew would take his career to the next level. Andretti also reveals the backstage reaction to his victory, which included a ton of praise from AEW President, Tony Khan. Highlights from the interview are below.
Says he knew if he got paired with Jericho it would be game-changing for him:
I didn’t really know what I was doing when I went out to Texas. When I saw the announcement, there was an announcement that Chris Jericho would be in action, I was just like, ‘If there is any way where I got put in a situation where I went out there with him, that would be an insane game-changing thing for me.’ I saw that and was like, ‘Wow, what if that’s me? What if there is a possibility that could be me going out there?’
How he reacted when he found out the match wasn’t going to be a squash:
When I found out I was going to be wrestling him, I was like, ‘Wow, this is going to happen tonight. I’m gonna go out there and get a chance on Dynamite. I have to look my best.’ When I found out it was going to be a legit match and I wasn’t going to go out there and get squashed, I was gonna be able to go and showcase myself and show what I could do in the ring, it was crazy. I couldn’t believe I had the chance to wrestle Chris Jericho. I’m just a kid on the Indies, grinding the past four years, and now I get an opportunity to show all the hard work I put in and have it pay off. It was an incredible opportunity and I’m very thankful that Tony (Khan) gave me that chance to go out there and I’m glad that I went out there to make the magic happen and here we are now.
Says everyone, including Tony Khan and Jericho, were happy with how the match turned out:
Tony was very happy with the match, very fired up, which I love to see. ‘LET’S FUCKING GO!’ That fires me up so much, I love it. Chris was very happy with how it came out. I was very happy that those guys believed in my and very grateful that they gave me an opportunity and they trusted me to go out and perform to the level that they thought I was going to. It was very cool. Chris was very happy, and to make those guys happy, it makes me know that I’m doing something right and it’s a good feeling.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)
