Chris Jericho Says Match Against Men Of The Year Will Elevate Their Status

Chris Jericho was interviewed by Sports Illustrated ahead of the Inner Circle's big match against Men Of The Year on AEW Rampage this Friday, where he spoke about American Top Team getting involved.

“It’s going to stand out as an attraction. There is a good chance that Jorge [Masvidal] gets involved. And when you watch Junior dos Santos, you’re not going to see him do a leapfrog or a dropkick. He’s going to look like a UFC champion in the ring. I’m not expecting him to go out there and be Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania. I want him to go out there and beat the crap out of us. And Dan Lambert is an actual heel out there. He understands the business. There will be a lot to the endgame here. One of the reasons is to get Junior dos Santos into the ring, which you’ll see on Friday.”

Jericho spoke about elevating Men of the Year through this match.

“The idea is to get these guys over. I worked with MJF for nearly a year with The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle, and the idea was always to get MJF and Sammy Guevara over as bigger stars. I now get to work the UFC guys and bring Ethan and Scorpio to the next level.”

Jericho got attacked by Jorge Masvidal in the buildup to this match.

“Seeing Jorge Masvidal kick the s**t out of me is helping get people invested in this angle. And if Masvidal tries to hit me again with that knee, we’ll see what happens.”

Jericho wrapped back around to Men of the Year.

“People are going to see on Rampage that this is a different light for Sky and Page, especially next to the UFC stars. They have so much to offer. Scorpio had the first-ever victory against me in AEW. That was a big deal at the time. Then he finished his story with SoCal Uncensored, and I think he’s going to be one of our linchpins in the future. The goal is to get Scorpio and Page to the next level, and we’re going to do it in a very entertaining story line.”