Chris Jericho took part in an interview with Stephanie Chase where he discussed his Five Labors of Jericho storyline, as well as his Deathmatch with Nick Gage.
While discussing his feud with MJF, Jericho recalled that the Five Labors of Jericho storyline was originally supposed to be against The Pinnacle. He also revealed that people suggested using only opponents from his past, but Jericho didn’t want that.
“The original plan was going to be the four guys from The Pinnacle,” tells Jericho. “Because that’s what we had kind of done with [Jon] Moxley when he beat me for the title. He had to kind of go through the whole Inner Circle. And I think it was MJF who had the idea of let’s use Nick Gage.
“And I had never heard of Nick Gage prior to Dark Side of the Ring. They kind of intrigued to think ‘Okay, maybe they bring in some bounty hunters. But I still wanted it to start and end with The Pinnacle because that was the story. Start with Spears, end with Wardlow. It was never the plan of go through this memory lane of Jericho’s friends or opponents, or whatever.”
Jericho discussed how Juventud Guerrera got brought into the conversation to return. He says that he was the one that recommended Juventud, saying that he thought he would be a great fit. He also revealed that there were some delays in getting Juventud access to return to America.
“So, we thought the Nick Gage deathmatch would be cool, and then we were trying to think of another guy,” recalls Jericho. “Then one of the ideas was Chris Hero, then I thought ‘Well, Juventud Guerrera might be a good idea’ because he just seemed to fit. He seemed to fit best. It seemed like a good idea to have just one guy from my past in there. I didn’t want to make it a ton of guys from my past. Like, it’s gotta be Lance Storm, it’s gotta be this or that, I didn’t want that.
“I just wanted The Pinnacle to start and end it. I thought the Deathmatch was a cool idea, then have someone from my past. Which, we thought Juventud was the best choice for that. And we had worked on that for a few months, to get his Visa and everything. So, that was always the plan to do those four guys.”
Jericho goes on to reveal that there were some other names suggested for the Labors of Jericho. Members of The Inner Circle wrestling Jericho were discussed, but he shot them down himself.
“Then there was the idea of maybe to face [Jake] Hager or have Sammy [Guevarra] come in,” Jericho reveals. “But I didn’t like that either. Because why would those guys fight me. ‘They have to or else.’ Then we would just quit. We don’t turn on each other. So, Juventud was the way to go, and Wardlow was the way to go to finish it.”
