Dirty Dango, Formerly WWE's Fandango, Recalls Wanting To Earn Chris Jericho's Respect

Dirty Dango (fka Fandango) facing and defeating Chris Jericho in his in-ring debut for WWE's main roster at WrestleMania 29 was a huge moment in his career. But for the former WWE Superstar, it was an even bigger deal because he was such a huge fan of his opponent from his days in WCW.

"My biggest thing was I just wanted him to respect me and I just didn't want to let him down because I looked up to him so much as a performer," he told "Wrestling With Johners." "Honestly, I was comfortable with the match prior, the most nervewracking aspect of that whole thing was remembering the dance routine for me, I just remember being really stressed out about that." 

At the time, Dango's gimmick was being a ballroom dancer, and that led to him having a big entrance that required him to learn a routine. While it was something that he ended up doing a lot of, he admitted that aspect of his character was hard for him. 

Ultimately, Dango won the match and his theme song became popular with fans worldwide, leading to a steady push for his main roster debut.

"I knew once we get in the ring, I'm in there with Chris and it's not like it was a super difficult match, it was a little schmoz match — it was like six minutes," he said. "But the freaking dance routine had me really shuck. I was like, 'F***, man.' I had been wrestling at that time for years so I was comfortable in the ring, but the dancing thing was two, three, four months new to me."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wrestling With Johners" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.