Chris Jericho has looked back on one of the most significant stretches of his New Japan Pro-Wrestling career and offered especially high praise for Hiroshi Tanahashi.
During a discussion on Talk Is Jericho, Jericho reflected on the three Tokyo Dome matches he worked in succession before the pandemic-era shutdown. While his January 2018 bout against Kenny Omega is widely regarded as one of the defining Tokyo Dome matches of that period, Jericho said his Wrestle Kingdom 14 encounter with Tanahashi may be the one he personally likes even more.
“The three matches I had at the Tokyo Dome pre-pandemic — actually, the three matches — well, in a row — the one with Kenny’s the famous (match). The one I had with (Hiroshi) Tanahashi, I might even like it better. He was so good and this is messed-up knees Tana. But he was just — wow, was he ever a great worker.”
Jericho faced Tanahashi on the second night of NJPW’s two-night Wrestle Kingdom 14 event in 2020. At the time, Jericho entered the Tokyo Dome as the AEW World Champion, adding another layer of attention to a match built around two performers with long-standing international reputations. Tanahashi, meanwhile, represented a generation of NJPW headliners and remained one of the company’s most recognizable figures.
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The comments are notable not simply because Jericho called the match a favorite, but because of the comparison he made. His match with Omega at the Tokyo Dome two years earlier remains the most frequently discussed of Jericho’s NJPW appearances from that stretch. It was a major crossover attraction involving two Canadian stars with substantial global followings, and it arrived at a time when Jericho’s renewed presence in New Japan had created considerable interest around what he might do next.
For Jericho, though, the Tanahashi match appears to stand apart because of the experience of being in the ring with a different type of opponent. Omega and Jericho brought distinct history and expectations into their Tokyo Dome meeting. Tanahashi and Jericho presented a clash between two established veterans whose careers had been built through different wrestling environments, different audiences, and different paths to the top of the industry.
Jericho’s Tokyo Dome run remains a major chapter
Jericho’s reference to three consecutive Tokyo Dome matches before the pandemic places the Tanahashi contest within a particularly memorable run of appearances in Japan. The Tokyo Dome is one of professional wrestling’s most prestigious settings, and Wrestle Kingdom has regularly been the stage for career-defining performances. Jericho’s involvement brought another layer of global star power to the event while also allowing him to work with some of the most prominent names associated with NJPW’s modern era.
His bout with Omega has long carried the label of the “famous” match in Jericho’s own description. That characterization reflects how much attention the matchup received and how strongly it has endured in discussions of both men’s careers. However, Jericho’s latest reflection makes clear that fame and personal preference are not always the same thing.
In choosing to highlight Tanahashi, Jericho focused less on spectacle and more on the quality of the in-ring experience. His praise centered on Tanahashi as a worker, with Jericho emphasizing that he was impressed by what Tanahashi brought to the match even while dealing with knee issues. It was an especially direct compliment from a performer with decades of experience at the highest level in multiple major promotions.
Tanahashi’s ability to perform through physical wear has been part of the broader conversation around his later-career work. Jericho did not frame his comments as sympathy or qualification. Instead, he used the condition of Tanahashi’s knees to underline how remarkable he believed Tanahashi’s performance was. The takeaway from Jericho’s comments was straightforward: he considered Tanahashi outstanding in the match, and that excellence may have elevated the bout beyond a Tokyo Dome match that already carries enormous historical attention.
A meeting of two enduring headliners
The Wrestle Kingdom 14 match also carried significance because it brought together performers who had each held top positions in their respective careers for many years. Jericho arrived with the distinction of being AEW World Champion. Tanahashi entered as one of the faces most closely associated with NJPW’s resurgence and international profile.
That contrast helped give the match its particular appeal. Jericho was appearing as an AEW champion in an NJPW ring, while Tanahashi was competing on the biggest annual stage for the promotion he had represented at the highest level. The match was not dependent on the two men having an extensive history against one another. Its intrigue came from the opportunity to see two accomplished, highly experienced wrestlers interpret a major Tokyo Dome contest through their own established styles.
Jericho’s retrospective also reinforces the regard Tanahashi commands among his peers. Fans often measure major matches through visibility, historical timing, and the level of pre-match anticipation. Wrestlers can evaluate those same matches through a more technical and personal lens: timing, communication, adaptability, pacing, and the ability to make a match feel important. Jericho’s reaction suggests that Tanahashi excelled in those areas.
Calling a fellow wrestler “a great worker” can be a simple compliment, but the context matters. Jericho was comparing the experience to a match against Omega that remains deeply associated with his own late-career reinvention and his return to the Tokyo Dome. For him to say he might favor the Tanahashi match is a strong statement about both the quality of the 2020 encounter and the impact Tanahashi made across the ring.
The value of a personal favorite
Jericho did not definitively declare the Tanahashi match superior to the Omega match. He said he “might” like it better, leaving the comparison in the realm of personal reflection rather than attempting to settle a debate over which bout was objectively greater. That uncertainty is fitting for matches that occupy different places in a career.
The Omega match has its own standing, its own history, and its own lasting conversation. The Tanahashi match clearly has a different meaning for Jericho. One can be the more famous contest while the other becomes the one a wrestler remembers most fondly after considering the full experience of working it.
Jericho’s remarks also serve as a reminder that the Tokyo Dome period before the pandemic represented an unusual and productive chapter in his career. After becoming one of wrestling’s most established global names, he continued to pursue high-profile matches in Japan and placed himself opposite elite opponents in an environment where major-match expectations are exceptionally high.
That willingness to work in different settings has been a constant thread in Jericho’s career, and his praise for Tanahashi adds another dimension to the story. Rather than merely revisiting a prominent match because of the event’s scale or his own championship status at the time, Jericho pointed to the person standing across from him and the level of performance that person delivered.
Jericho heads to France for his next international bout
Jericho’s next match outside North America is scheduled for October 6, when he faces Nick Wayne at AEW Grand Slam France. The bout will provide another international stop for Jericho, whose career has repeatedly included major matches beyond the United States and Canada.
The circumstances will be very different from Wrestle Kingdom 14. The opponent, promotion, setting, and moment in Jericho’s career have all changed. Still, his comments about Tanahashi show how strongly he values the opportunities created by wrestling on major international stages and sharing the ring with performers capable of delivering at the highest level.
For NJPW followers, Jericho’s reflection is another endorsement of Tanahashi’s standing as one of the defining workers of his generation. For Jericho, it is an admission that a match remembered by many as an important Tokyo Dome attraction may hold an even more personal place in his own body of work than one of his most celebrated bouts.
And while Jericho stopped short of making an absolute ranking, his message was clear: when he looks back at his pre-pandemic Tokyo Dome run, Hiroshi Tanahashi’s performance remains impossible to overlook.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.