Report: Chris Jericho Will Return To NJPW This Week

Chris Jericho fought Kenny Omega at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 show for the IWGP United States Championship, putting on one of the most memorable matches of his career in the process. Although he denied that he would work with NJPW more down the road, it appears Jericho will be back for another major program with the promotion.

After Chris Jericho lost to Kenny Omega at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 in what was arguably the match of the night (the Junior Heavyweight match and the main event were also exceptional), he made one more statement the following night at New Year Dash!

Jericho attacked Tetsuya Naito, who was defeated by record-breaking IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada in the main event of WK12. That seemed to hint that Y2J and Naito, the most charismatic wrestler in New Japan, would have a feud soon after.

Nothing has materialized since, and Jericho even said he was done working with NJPW back in March despite all of the potential storylines available for “Alpha”.

Now, PW Insider’s Mike Johnson reports that Jericho isn’t done with NJPW after all. Per Johnson, he is scheduled to work one of the nights at NJPW’s Wrestling Dontaku event, though it’s unclear when he will appear or what the angle will be. Johnson reports that this will be to set up a match between Jericho and an opponent at NJPW’s Dominion in Osaka on June 9.

Wrestling Dontaku will take place on May 3 and May 4. The big singles matches are Kota Ibushi vs. Cody (they had an excellent match at WK12) and Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page on May 3. On May 4, Will Ospreay will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against KUSHIDA and Okada will defend the Heavyweight Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi in one of the most anticipated bouts of 2018.

But Jericho attacked Naito at New Year Dash!, right? And Naito became the IWGP Intercontinental Champion last week by defeating Minoru Suzuki. Jericho has the most IC Title reigns in WWE history, so him going after NJPW’s Intercontinental Championship against Naito of all people would be awesome.

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Naito’s LIJ will take on Suzuki-gun on May 3, so if Jericho appears at Wrestling Dontaku, it could be then. Or would NJPW be bold enough to have him go after Okada or Tanahashi after the huge main event on Star Wars Day?

We shall see. All I know is that it’s exciting to hear Jericho isn’t done with NJPW, even after appearing at The Greatest Royal Rumble.