Juice Robinson Says He’s Never Going Back To WWE

IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson has publicly addressed a report from this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter stating WWE is interested in signing him. Robinson, who wrestled as CJ Parker for former WWE developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling and later NXT from 2011-2015, isn’t going anywhere.

“That’s in the rearview mirror now,” Juice said. “I ain’t going back, I ain’t ever going back.”

Robinson made the comments backstage from Night 8 of the G1 Climax 28 tournament. He has lost every single match in the tournament thus far, likely due to competing with a broken hand.

Earlier this summer, Juice spoke with Uproxx about his frustrations while with WWE.

“You know, I loved NXT. Just, I just knew I was dead in the water, so I had to get out,” Juice said. “So it wasn’t that it was bad, it was (that) I turned it bad because I got sad. You know what I mean? So what was happening to me on a daily basis… it wasn’t like I was going home every night and crying in my room.”

He would continue to say that in NXT anytime he would try and lighten the mood, he would be told to get back in line. This was under the old head-trainer, however.

“But they’ve got a good guy there now, and everything’s really – I think it’s fun again,” Juice said in reference to current NXT head trainer Matt Bloom. “It’s good to hear. But I’m having more fun, so, haha.”

WWE is not Juice’s only option other than NJPW. Don Callis of Impact Wrestling has made it clear they would make Juice a big part of their company if he ever jumped ship.

“Juice is a tremendous performer with unlimited likeability and unlimited charisma,” Callis said on his Killin the Town podcast earlier this month. “He definitely is a rock star.”

“I really like him a lot,” Callis continued. “He’s a guy you build a company around.”

Chris Jericho Says He Has No Restrictions In NJPW

Chris Jericho says there are no restrictions to what he can do in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). The reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion has only wrestled 3 matches in 2018, but he has remained one of the most talked about wrestlers in the world.

Jericho made waves when he wrestled Kenny Omega in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, 2018. He appeared at WWE’s big Raw 25th Anniversary just a few weeks later, his first appearance for the company since he started working for New Japan.

In April, he was back in WWE competing in the Greatest Royal Rumble. By June, he was the IWGP IC Champion after dethroning Tetsuya Naito at Dominion.

“It’s very cool to go back to Japan, where I started, and be part of this worldwide growth of New Japan,” Jericho said to Sports Illustrated recently. “There are no real restrictions on what I can do in New Japan.”

Jericho would continue to talk about the restrictions in WWE versus NJPW.

“We did the original beatdown with Kenny and got some blood going, which you never see in the WWE nowadays,” Jericho continued.

“We did the press conference where I was swearing and attacking reporters. You can’t do that in WWE, but you can in Japan. Just to have those shackles released, it just felt like all of these things led to more of a Bruiser Brody character than a Shawn Michaels-type vibe.”

Jericho has always said he would never wrestle for a company other than WWE on American soil. Events which have unfolded this year may test his commitment to this, however.

When asked by a fan on Twitter if he still intends to stand by his earlier claims, Jericho gave an answer some fans will find surprising.

There’s been speculation that Jericho is interested in working for Impact Wrestling. Jericho responded, “Of course!” when asked if he’d consider ‘going to’ Impact.

This October, Chris Jericho is hosting the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Rager cruise, which departs out of Miami on October 27th and travels to the Bahamas.

Talent from WWE, Impact Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor will be appearing on the ship. Very few people can pull off something like this. Chris Jericho is among a rare breed of performers who makes his own rules in this business.