Chris Jericho On Who He Originally Wanted To Face At WWE WrestleMania 29

Chris Jericho has a lot of stories to tell which is why he keeps putting on amazing books. “No Is A Four Letter Word: How I Failed Spelling But Succeeded In Life” happens to be Y2J’s fourth venture into the literary world and it’s a great read.

In Jericho’s latest book he revealed a story about a match that was supposed to happen at WrestleMania 29. However, his planned match against Ryback was altered when a fresh-faced Fandango came into the picture.

“For whatever reason, things didn’t go the way I had planned. Ryback lost to Punk and didn’t win the world championship. But he was still over in a big way, and I thought a great way to build him back would be to work with me. When I pitched the story to the creative team for me to come back for a six-month run through Mania ending at SummerSlam, my two tent-pole ideas were a surprise return at the Rumble and a Mania match with Ryback.”

Chris Jericho said WWE picked Mark Henry as a better opponent for Ryback which left The Ayatollah of Rock n Rolla without a match at WrestleMania.

Vince McMahon had yet to tell Jericho who he was going to be facing at the Show Of Shows. But an opponent was chosen for him at WrestleMania 29 and Chris Jericho recalled when Vince McMahon pitched him the idea of facing someone new at Mania.

“‘Well, I know we talked about you and Ryback,’ says Vince. ‘I want to go in a different direction. I have another idea for you.'”

“I waited in silence for him to continue. The pause was intentionally uncomfortable and Vince continued in a serious tone.”

“‘We have this new kid called Fandango…'”

That “new kid” named Fandango turned out to be a very good decision in the end. After all, Fandango’s rise to the top might have been a slow one and it doesn’t appear to be finished yet. But fans were treated to The Fashion Files along the way, so it looks like everything worked out in the end.