NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Chris Jericho has stepped up to many challenges in his professional wrestling career and in some situations he had the odds against him and succeeded time and time again.
The All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star recently brought a new set of challengers into the spotlight in a documentary he produced called “Vietslam.” The film shows the rise of Vietnam Pro Wrestling (VPW) and how pro wrestling fans from the Asian country were able to start their own company to unite a population starved for the sport.
“Vietslam” follows how pro wrestling fans in the country were able to convince the Vietnamese government to allow the sport to be shown in the country, starting from almost nothing to build a rabid audience that only really watched WWE or AEW on TV.
AEW STAR MVP TALKS CHRIS JERICHO’S PLACE AMONG ALL-TIME PRO WRESTLING GREATS BEFORE DOUBLE OR NOTHING
Chris Jericho attends the All Elite Wrestling panel during New York Comic Con at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for WarnerMedia Company)
“On ‘Talk is Jericho,’ I got a random request via email from a professional wrestling group in Vietnam,” Jericho explained to Pakinomist Digital in a recent interview. “And I had done a few episodes about wrestling in different parts of the world, like China and the Inuit in northern, northern Canada, so I thought it would be interesting to talk to the guys, and when I talked to them, it was a Vietnamese guy named Rocky and a Canadian guy named Carrie who had moved to Vietnam and they had kind of, against all odds, started a wrestling company in Vietnam. There wasn’t even a wrestling ring in Vietnam and the government didn’t even know what wrestling was because they had to get the permits because apparently it’s a very strict government there.
“But they went and followed their dreams and followed their heart and followed their passion and started a wrestling company in Vietnam that ended up being quite successful. And I just thought how interesting it is, not just from a human standpoint, that these guys go and follow this crazy dream, but also the fact that pro wrestling connects the cultures of the West and the East. We all know what England is and what it is in Japan. Ireland and Scotland, etc., etc. etc., but Vietnam, what is Vietnam in 2026, you know, because I think we still equate it to the movies we see about the war in your ‘Platoon’ and ‘Full Metal Jacket’ where the idea came to make a documentary about them.”
Jericho said the formation of Vietnam Pro Wrestling and the hard work combined with the amount of work it took to build a ring showed the unifying aspect of the sport – something that is greatly overlooked if someone only knew about pro wrestling from watching clips and talking points being debated on social media.
COMPLETE PROWESTLING COVERAGE ON Pakinomist DIGITAL
Chris Jericho is introduced during the AEW Dynamite Beach Break tapings at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
While pro wrestling tends to be tribalistic online, logging off for a bit can do a lot of people justice. “Vietslam” showed how the benevolent nature of people can bring people together, harness a core of an idea and turn it into something that everyone can relate to.
“But I find, Ryan, when you get off social media, you realize that most fans aren’t like that. It’s just the vocal minority that wants to be tribalistic and want to be negative about everything, and you can’t really keep that going,” Jericho said. “So, I mean, yeah, again, I’m sure there’s people in Vietnam who hate VPW and say, ‘This isn’t like American wrestling, it’s too bad,’ and it’s like they have no idea how hard those guys put in to even put on a show. And it’s the same for everybody. Anyone who’s ever stepped in the ring, and it’s really hard to get in the ring. night, once again, don’t care the cut, but 102 degrees outside, I mean, anyone who’s hesitant about anything about wrestling, do it and see how much you are, right?
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
“So, it doesn’t bother me. I just think what it really showed me, and you know, this is a wrestling story, but it’s so much more than that. It’s really about the human desire to do great things and the fire that we all have inside to make something happen and go up against the government, man. I mean, it’s not the United States where you and I can just put it off tomorrow night, hey, let it be. It’s not like that, It’s a very strict socialist almost communist government in many ways and you are not allowed to just do whatever you want.”
Jericho explained that those involved in Vietnam Pro Wrestling had to convince the Vietnamese government that pro wrestling was more of a dance routine than a combat sport like MMA.
“So they had to convince the government that what they were doing was a show, like a dance routine,” he said. “So if we can go to a dance studio where they’re doing dance routines to put on a show, we should be able to have our own show because we’re just doing a show. And they’re like, ‘Oh, okay. So, you’re not actually going to, you know, you’re not actually going to hurt each other.’ It’s like, ‘Well, no, it’s a show.’ And once the government understood that, they allowed them to do it.
“But I mean, these are just normal people going up against the government in Vietnam to get permission to do a wrestling show. It’s pretty complicated, deep stuff that took a lot of time to make happen. So all of those things were one of the reasons or all contributed to the reasons why I wanted to do this documentary because I just felt like it was a great story to tell about so many different aspects.”
Jericho added that it meant a lot to him to have some influence on the pro wrestling scene in the Asian country and he was able to surprise some of the wrestlers and the fans involved with the promotion of a show.
Chris Jericho attends the “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” premiere during the SXSW Conference & Festivals at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas on March 12, 2026. (Travis P. Ball/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
“Yeah, it means a lot. When you hear World Wrestling Entertainment, WWE and working there for so long, it really goes around the world,” he told Pakinomist Digital. “And now with AEW as well, we’re also in 100 countries. So you can just see that people are watching, and especially now, I mean, they can see you on YouTube, they can see you on Netflix or on this platform or that platform. It’s not that hard to see. You don’t have to wait ’til Sunday night at 8 o’clock on your local channel to see it, but you were really humbled, I think. say, and surreal when I went to Vietnam and surprised Rocky and the rest of the wrestlers that were there, they were going crazy, it would be like, I don’t know, if Mick Jagger walked in the door right now, they wouldn’t believe it because their dream had come true that here comes Chris Jericho.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
“And there were also a lot of big Chris Jericho fans, but also the dream of professional wrestling. Like, we’ve got enough of a name now where one of our heroes is standing here in front of us watching us wrestle. And it’s a pretty cool feeling. They knew there was a documentary being made, but they didn’t know I was there. And when we surprised them with that fact later in the night, and it surprised them later tonight. just showed another time how universal pro wrestling is, it’s not about a feeling and about a camaraderie that we have as wrestling fans on dance mats in Vietnam or you can do it in a stadium in the U.S. But it’s the same as just loving the business and having this passion for it.
“Vietslam” will be released Tuesday on Prime Video, Fandango, Hoopla and Local Now and August 6 on Tubi.
