Jericho details SummerSlam standoff with Lesnar: 'I never back down'
The controversial ending to the Brock Lesnar-Randy Orton main event at SummerSlam on Aug. 21 at Barclays Center caught Chris Jericho off guard, resulting in a backstage confrontation with "The Beast Incarnate" himself.
Lesnar earned a TKO victory over "The Viper" to close the show, with Orton being busted wide open after taking legitimate shots to the head from his opponent. It was reported shortly after that Y2J entered the gorilla position to figure out whether or not that was the planned finish, with Lesnar reportedly overhearing Jericho's angry outburst and taking it as a slight against him.
During a recent appearance on the "You're Welcome" podcast with former MMA fighter Chael Sonnen, Jericho set the record straight as best he could concerning what exactly happened that night between him and Lesnar:
Well, anytime something like that happens, there's always a lot of rumors and a lot stories being told, and that sort of thing. I mean, not to get into specifics because it's basically between me and Brock, but, you know, we did have a little bit of a brouhaha, shall we say. I think that happens when you get guys that are in a sport such as ours - half entertainment, half real, half not.
He had just come out of the ring. I had just come out of the ring an hour before or so. I just thought the finish of that match was very brutal and very violent. I just didn't know if Randy was OK, and I was checking on Randy, my friend. We have always been pretty close.
I said something, and (Brock) said something. Next thing you know, we're nose to nose kind of yelling at each other. It diffused fairly quickly.
Listen, let's make no bones about this ... Brock is a trained fighter, and he's a beast. But, you know, I'm not the type of person to back down from anybody, to my detriment or harmful to my existence even. Hot heads fire off, and we were in each other's face, and that happens sometimes. I guess I kind of have a reputation for it, too. I never back down. I think sometimes in the case of guys his size, they think people are just going to wilt, and most people do. But that's not me."
Jericho is currently scheduled to compete on Sept. 25 at the Raw-exclusive Clash of Champions event against Sami Zayn. Lesnar hasn't been seen on WWE programming since SummerSlam.