Chris Jericho Won't Defend The IWGP Intercontinental Championship For Months

TheSportster

Rumor: Chris Jericho Won't Defend The IWGP Intercontinental Championship For Months

By TS Staff

Published Jun 15, 2018

Chris Jericho is officially the IWGP Intercontinental Champion in New Japan, but now, rumors suggest he won't defend the title for months.

Chris Jericho may not defend the IWGP Intercontinental Championship until October.

At the New Japan Pro Wrestling Dominion event, Chris Jericho won his first-ever title in the company as he defeated Tetsuya Naito to become the IWGP Intercontinental Champion. During the post-match presser, Jericho stated that he is going to take this title very seriously, even bringing up the statistic that he is the first person in pro wrestling history to win both the WWE and IWGP Intercontinental Championships.

Being busy with other endeavors, especially his tour with his band Fozzy, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the IWGP IC Title may be iced for several months, with the expectation of the next defense being at the King of Pro Wrestling event in October.

The King of Pro Wrestling series has been a featured event in New Japan since 2012 and has been headlined with names including Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, AJ Styles, Minoru Suzuki, and Naomichi Marufuji.

For Jericho, Dominion was his second appearance in NJPW this year, with the first one being against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom. The Jan. 4, 2018, match was the first non-WWE match of Jericho since 1999. With the expansion of New Japan coming to the United States, particularly the G1 Special in San Francisco scheduled for July 7, 2018, it would seem that Jericho would be used as a feature for the event. However, there is strong speculation that he will not be a part of the event, and there is a reason why.

Jericho recently had an interview with Inside the Ropes, explaining that he is not looking to compete at shows like All In, or New Japan's 7/7 show at the Cow Palace. The reason why is two-fold: along with Jericho feeling that he respectfully cannot affiliate himself with independent shows because it can lower the reputation of his brand, and he still remains devoted to Vince McMahon while in the United States as a sign of respect, despite being a free agent.

NEXT: CHRIS JERICHO REVEALS IF HE'LL WORK NON-WWE SHOWS IN AMERICA