There have been reports going around that former Cruiserweight Champion Neville requested his release from WWE on last Monday. As noted, Neville was initially scheduled to lose to Enzo Amore in the main event lumberjack match on Raw last week. However, plans changed to Kalisto defeating Amore for the title. Neville did walk out of Raw before the show began and that his future is up in the air. WWE has officially denied that he quit the promotion.
During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Chris Jericho weighed in on the situation. Here is what he had to say (h/t Wrestling Inc):
“It doesn’t surprise me because I think a guy like Neville, whenever I worked with him we had great matches,” Jericho said. “He reminds me a lot, actually, of working with Chris Benoit in that he’s very hard-hitting, he’s very solid, very graceful and not stiff in the least, just a really innovative, smart worker. I think he wasn’t really getting his shot in the WWE, and the cruiserweight thing is fine but let’s be honest, it is what it is. I think there’s a lot higher potential for a guy like Neville in the ring and also the character.”
“If he left you know that he’s gonna be one of those guys like Cody Rhodes, guys like the Young Bucks and Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll that are making a choice not to be in WWE and proving that it’s not the be-all, end-all if you’re not there,” Jericho said. “Look at Tommy (Dreamer) with House Of Hardcore, very successful outside of the reigns of the WWE.”
“It’s a big step, it’s like walking off the side of a building and being told that there’s a net at the bottom, but you can’t see it,” Jericho said. “So you don’t know for sure if he’s making the right decision as of right now. But talent-wise, character-wise and intelligence-wise, he’s got all three of those things. So he’s not making this decision lightly, and I think wherever he ends up he’ll be probably a bigger star than he was before just by getting a bigger opportunity.”