AEW star Tony Nese has revealed that former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho was his hero growing up.
Speaking on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Nese recalled becoming a superfan of the wrestling veteran during his WWE run.
Noting that he hasn’t told Jericho this, Nese said:
“I’ve never even said this to Jericho, but he’s my absolute favorite. He was my legend. He was my hero growing up and everything.
“It specifically takes me back to one vivid memory when Jericho won the championship from Triple H to open RAW, and then later that night to lose it back to him was literally the amount of emotions I went through in that, what was it, two hours at that time? The emotions I went through.
“I remember going crazy calling my friend up, like, ‘Oh, my God, did you see what happened?’
“Like, I’m so excited, and then as the show went on, you start to realize things aren’t going so right and then he loses it at the end. I couldn’t eat. The next day at school, no one could talk to me. I was so upset.
“That’s just a memory in my head of like, man, like, that’s wrestling to me, those emotions, whether you’re angry, whether you’re excited, and so like, that brought out the most emotions in me than anything else I’ve ever watched.
“From that moment, I was like, I’m gonna ride or die with Jericho. I’m gonna invest all my money in Jericho things, and I’m going to invest in his career. So he was always kind of a hero to me.”
“Then reading his books as well, or actually, like when I started training is when he came out with his first book. I’d read that all the time.
“I’d always spend an hour or so reading before I drove out to wrestling and it just kind of got my mindset of like, hell yeah. I’m gonna go and I’m gonna make a freakin awesome career myself and stuff like that.
“I’ve never told him this. I haven’t had too many long conversations with him because I’m like, I’m actually that superfan. Like anytime I’m around if he says something to me, I’m just like that awkward, I give a response that doesn’t even make sense, type of thing.”
Nese made his AEW debut in October 2021. The former WWE Cruiserweight Champion has explained how his impromptu Dynamite debut came to be.
Transcription via WrestlingNews.co.
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