Wednesday’s Winter is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite featured a surprise upset that many fans are comparing to the 1-2-3 Kid’s memorable win over Razor Ramon from May 1993.
After losing the ROH World title to Claudio Castagnoli this past weekend at Final Battle, Chris Jericho said he wanted a tune-up match against a ‘jobber’ – insider wrestling lingo for a competitor who rarely wins their matches.
Jericho got his wish in the form of Action Andretti, a competitor we’ve seen on AEW Dark, but was largely unknown to the AEW audience. It was an exciting match with several close calls, but in the end, Andretti stunned Jericho (and everyone else) by scoring a surprise victory via roll-up.
Jericho was in utter disbelief over the loss. Later in the show, he was shown backstage throwing a tantrum. No matter how he refuses to accept the outcome, a win is a win.
Update on Action Andretti’s Win
How did Action Andretti go from a relatively unknown to pinning Chris Jericho live on national television?
As it turns out, this match and the shock outcome have been planned for months – and it was all set up by Chris Jericho. On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained how it all went down.
Back in October, Andretti wrestled QT Marshall on a match that aired on AEW Dark. Jericho was watching the match backstage and was blown away by the young high-flyer. Jericho saw the potential for Andretti to be a star, but he just needed a break. Jericho had a few ongoing storylines in the works, but he decided then that he wanted to wrestle Andretti on the big stage when his schedule cleared up.
Shortly after the match concluded, AEW President Tony Khan announced on social media that Action Andretti is All Elite and earned himself a contract with the promotion.
H/T F4WOnline