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Chat with Jericho
By: ChrissiCalvert Date: August 20, 2015, 5:08 pm
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Since the day he debuted a quarter-century ago, Chris Jericho
has ensured that the world of wrestling would never, eeeeever be
the same again.
The self-proclaimed “Best in the World” celebrates his silver
anniversary in the squared circle this October at Madison Square
Garden, which is a long way from his debut at the Ponoka Moose
Hall in Ponoka, Alberta, Canada.
“My days of being a full-time wrestler are long gone, but I
still enjoy doing it,” said Jericho. “If I didn’t enjoy it, I
wouldn’t do it.”
Performing for 25 years requires dedication, especially at the
level in which Jericho still operates.
“I’ve gone far beyond having to do anything for any financial
reasons, but it’s a good time to go out there in the ring and
it’s very second nature to me,” said the 44-year-old Jericho.
“Mentally, it’s still there, and you think about things a little
differently after doing this for 25 years. Physically, I feel
better than I felt ten years ago. I just started doing yoga five
years ago, and it just changed everything around for me, as far
as the soreness and the level I had of pain I’d feel during or
after a match.
“But the most important reason I still do this is because I
enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun, and I like working with the younger
guys–it reinvigorates my desire to continue. Those guys work a
lot like the gang of guys from my generation, and that gives me
a kick, as well.”
​Jericho returned to the squared circle this past June 12
for a series of dates that run through August 30. With the
exception of the WWE’s “Beast in the East” special on the Fourth
of July, all of Jericho’s work occurred during non-televised
events.
“I do as many shows as I can to keep my foot in the WWE door, so
I’m not gone for a year at a time,” explained Jericho. “I’ve
been off TV for a year, but I’ve worked 50 shows in the interim
just doing live events, which, to me, is a lot more fun. I’m
also working with all of the younger guys–I worked with Kevin
Owens two weeks ago when Cena broke his nose–and that’s fun,
too. Anyway I can be involved, I enjoy it. When it comes time
for me to be full time, we’ll figure out what I’m going to do
and I’ll come back.”
Jericho enjoys his working relationship with the WWE, who are
eager for him to return to weekly television.
“The invitation is there 365 days a year,” said Jericho. “It’s
not like I’m auditioning for a job with the WWE. It’s the other
way around, ‘Give us as many dates as you can. You want to just
work weekends? Do it. You want to just work TV? That’s fine,
too.’ They leave it up to me, and I like working the schedule
I’m on now.
“I like working the weekends. I don’t have time to commit to
doing TV. For example, I don’t work weekends when we have Fozzy
shows. I’m working the ones that I’m choosing, but I have the
invitation to work 300 days a year with WWE if I wanted.”
Jericho’s schedule is busier than ever. The
wrestler-turned-singer-turned-actor, who also hosts his own
“Talk is Jericho” podcast, recently generated some social media
buzz from his role in the SyFy network’s “Sharknado 3.”
“That was the biggest thing I’ve done in a while as far as
mainstream coverage,” said Jericho. “And it was one of those
things that came out of the blue.
“I always love when people ask, ‘How come Jericho didn’t put a
shark in the Walls of Jericho’ in Sharknado? Well, it’s because
that wasn’t Chris Jericho–it was Bruce the Ride Attendant. Chris
Jericho is the role I play in the world of WWE, but that’s where
that character lives and exists.”
Jericho’s band, Fozzy, is also embarking on an international
tour, headlining shows in Vienna, Berlin, Vaureal, and London.
“Any time you headline a tour, it’s always a lot of fun,” he
said. “We always do extensive tours over there, and we’ve done
Hamburg many times. You’re basically preaching to the
choir–those are all your fans and friends that come to see you.
We just played in front of 25,000 in Montreal and we’re about to
go on the KISS cruise.”
Fozzy toured Australia with Metallica in 2012, and Jericho is
quite proud of the evolution of the band.
​“The opportunities we’re getting are bigger than anything
we’ve done before, and that’s due to a lot of hard work,” said
Jericho. “We’ve had to work twice as hard to get people’s
respect because I’m in the band. You just need to go out there
and show people that this is real and this is good and that it’s
a killer band. Once you do that, the opportunities will come.
Headlining in Europe and the UK is a pretty gratifying
experience for us. We know how to engage the audience, and
that’s one of the reasons the band has continued to grow.”
Jericho’s podcast is still as engaging as ever, and features an
array of guests running the gamut from NXT women’s champion
Sasha Banks, conspiracy theorist Greg Carlwood, and Dennis “Mr.
Belding” Haskins. Some of his most heartfelt work was felt
during his recent tribute to the late “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
“I didn’t really get to know Roddy too well until we started our
buildup to WrestleMania [25],” said Jericho. “That was when I
got to see the real Roddy Piper. He had that one promo in
Spokane, Washington where I said to him beforehand, ‘I want to
see the Roddy Piper who was one of the architects of the
original WrestleMania–the one who didn’t get the credit for the
importance and success of that show like [Hulk] Hogan, or Mr. T,
or anyone else.’”
An awestruck Jericho listened as Piper delivered his last great
promo.
“Piper was a master at what he did,” said Jericho. “He made a
lot of his own stuff up on the fly. That’s the exact opposite of
how things are done now, so a guy like Piper might never come
around again. He was a guy who did things his own way. At times,
that may have hurt him a bit in the wrestling world, but he was
always one-thousand percent Piper.
“If you’re looking at the WWE in the 80’s, then Hogan and Piper
were the top two. I wouldn’t even put [Randy] Savage or the
Warrior in there. If you look at how Piper ran his business at
that point in time, he did things his own way and didn’t care
what anybody else thought. I was really fortunate I had a chance
to work with him, especially in the buildup to WrestleMania 25.
We’ll never see anyone else with the personality or the ability
to cut a promo like Roddy Piper.”
Jericho’s schedule also includes time for his role as host of
the current season of WWE’s Tough Enough, which is still working
on mastering the reality/live genre.
“We’ve never seen anything like this version of Tough Enough,
where it’s half-reality and half-live,” explained Jericho. “When
you start something new, there is a little bit of process to see
how you’re going to make something work. So, as the weeks have
gone by, I’ve increased my presence in the show. I was in the
ring helping the competitors work out and book their match [last
week], so being involved a little more in the reality portion of
it balances out what I’m doing on the live part, as well.
​“It’s been a lot of work, but the show has come into its
own. People are always going to complain, ‘I wish it was that
way,’ or ‘I wish that guy stayed,’ but it’s a whole new world
for us that we’ve created. It kind of reminds me of when the
Elimination Chamber happened. We’d never seen one before and
there wasn’t anything to look back on, so you had to figure it
out as you went along. And that’s what we’ve been doing, and
it’s been working out–and it’s a great series so far.”
Tough Enough encountered an unforeseen change mid-season, as one
of its judges – The “Immortal” Hulk Hogan – was seemingly erased
from WWE history due to racist comments made on a leaked sex
tape from 2007.
Jericho witnessed Hogan’s kindness on multiple different
occasions, and while he said Hogan’s conduct was inexcusable, he
also is a believer that you do not abandon your friends.
“I’m nobody to judge anybody,” said Jericho. “I’ve had just as
many issues as anybody else. But you stand by your friends in
good times and bad times, and Hulk’s my friend. That’s all I’m
going to say about that.”
In regards to whether the WWE was justified in letting Hogan go,
Jericho gave an honest answer.
“It’s not my call,” he explained. “It’s not my company.”
The company ultimately belongs to Vince McMahon, who–Jericho
confirmed–is still very much in charge of the WWE.
​“Until the day he leaves this earth, Vince McMahon is in
charge of every aspect of the company,” confirmed Jericho. “It’s
his company and it always will be. He’s giving out more
responsibilities but, at the end of the day, anyone who was any
responsibilities delegated by Vince still has to get final
approval by Vince. He’s still the boss. I work with him very
closely on Tough Enough every Tuesday in the direction meetings,
and he still has a lot of great ideas. He still has his finger
on the pulse of what’s going on. And it doesn’t matter what you
hear other people say–everybody who works in the WWE knows who
the boss is.”
Just like McMahon is always on the lookout for his next
superstar, Jericho has often been referred to as the
“Nostradamus of the WWE” for his ability to pinpoint future
talents. Y2J speaks very highly of three newer talents in
Neville, Finn Bálor, and Kevin Owens.
“I’d never worked with Neville before [the Beast of the East
Special in Tokyo], never even been in the ring with him,” said
Jericho. “I watched a couple of his matches to familiarize
myself with what he does, but that match was just two pros going
at it in there. I worked the night before with Bálor, and it was
the same thing. I’d never worked with Bálor ever, and we tore
the house down, as well. I like getting in the ring with guys
like that. They work like I do–anything goes, and let’s just put
on a great match. They both have such great offense and defense,
so there are so many things you can do with them. Plus my 25
years of experience doesn’t hurt, either.
“I really enjoyed that tour, especially Japan. That’s kind of
where I grew up, and it’s more of a hard-hitting style, more of
a serious style, and I love that. I thought Neville and I would
only have a 10-minute match like we would on Raw, but instead
they gave us over 20 minutes, so we were able to put on the
match I wanted with a guy I knew would be great to work with,
and we tore up. It was cool that it was on [the Network] because
it gave people a taste of Chris Jericho. I love when I hear, ‘Oh
my gosh, Jericho was able to keep up with Neville at 44 years
old!’ Well, who do you think took care of the match? And who do
you think dictated the pace? It wasn’t Neville, I’ll tell you
that.”
Bálor, the NXT champion, headlines the NXT Takeover show this
Saturday in Brooklyn, New York in a ladder match. Jericho was
questioned who would–Bálor or Owens–be the bigger star in the
WWE.
“Owens’ personality might be better suited for WWE, whereas
Bálor’s athleticism and look might be a little more WWE,” said
Jericho. “Bálor’s ring entrance is second to none right now–I
can’t wait for people to see that, it’s such a spectacle. So
they both bring their own things to the table, so you cannot say
this one is going to be a bigger star than the other one. There
is room for both at the top, and they’re both going to make it
there because they are excellent performers. I can say that from
first-hand experience.
“Any time that somebody comes into the company that’s been a
star elsewhere, they’re going to be a star in the WWE. Once you
learn how to get over in a high school gym or in a stadium or
anywhere in-between, getting over is getting over. If you figure
out how to do it, you’re going to continue to do it. You hear
about how good both those guys are, but I like to find out for
myself. Working with both Owens and Bálor showed me they’re both
tremendous, incredible performers.”
Jericho is also looking forward to this Sunday’s SummerSlam,
featuring a main event between the Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.
There is only one way, Jericho explained, to end this highly
anticipated rematch.
“Undertaker has to win,” said Jericho. “There is no way he loses
twice.”
As for the match itself, Jericho would prefer to see the “Beast
Incarnate” and the “Phenom” engage in a knockdown, drag-out.
​“Brock is at his best when he’s there to just fight,”
said Jericho. “That’s why his match with Reigns at WrestleMania
was so good, and that’s something Lesnar and Undertaker didn’t
do as much as they could have in their match at WrestleMania
[30]. That pull-apart we saw a couple weeks ago on Raw between
Lesnar and Undertaker will be the type of match we’ll see. It
will be a rough fight. I’m sure they’ll exchange many false
finishers, and each one will do the other’s finishing move, but
it will be more violent and more hard-hitting. Any time
Undertaker is on the show, you know it’s going to be a great
show.”
While Jericho will not be performing at SummerSlam, he is ready
to embark on a new tour this fall. The future WWE Hall of Famer
will be working 13 house shows, including his 25th anniversary
on October 3 in New York City.
“Sometimes I’m in the last match, sometimes I’m in the first
match, sometimes I’m somewhere in-between, but it doesn’t
matter,” said Jericho, whose excitement for performing in the
ring is still very genuine. “When Chris Jericho is out there,
people are watching and excited and interested and into it. When
the day comes when I feel like I’m not performing at the highest
of levels I’ve set for myself, when I feel like I’m not having
the best match of the show, or one of the top two, then I’ll
stop.
“I don’t have to make that choice right now, but that choice
will be made for me by life itself. I’ll get in there and I’ll
know, this just isn’t happening any more. As of right now, it’s
still a blast, it’s still fun, and people still want to see me.
As long as I can continue to work at the highest of levels I’ve
set for myself years and years ago, then there is no reason to
stop doing it.”
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