Chris Jericho recently did a great interview with Alicia Atout (make sure to watch it below). He discussed his busy year, his need to constantly evolve as a wrestler, and why we shouldn’t expect to see him doing “The List” anymore in WWE.
Check out a few highlights below:
Transcription by WrestleZone Senior Editor Tyler Treese.
On his 2018 as a whole:
It’s really been a cool year, the culmination of a lot of hard work. It took three years to get the Jericho Cruise going, and so that actually happening was unbelievable. Then with all of the success of the “Judas” record with Fozzy, we’ve been touring on that for 19 months which has been amazing, and then doing the New Japan Pro-Wrestling thing, and All In was sort of tied in with that, so it’s been busy and in a lot of ways one of the biggest years of my career.
On the response to the Cruise and if there will be a second:
It was one of those things where nobody really knew what to expect, and then when it happened it was just like ‘Wow, this was so much fun.’ The reason for that was that a lot of it hasn’t been done before. I wanted to put together a cruise so there were so many things to do that you couldn’t possibly handle them all, and then have matches on the ship in the middle of the ocean. So, before it happened people were like “Oh, okay, this is all right,” but then afterwards this is going to be a destination vacation for me going forward.
We’re working on [a second cruise]. We’re in deep discussions to do another one.
His new ‘Faces of Jericho’ shirt, and his favorite gimmicks:
Some haven’t been as favored as ever, but the initial Y2J coming into the company was great. The suit and tie Jericho, Shawn Michaels feud, “The List” Jericho, and the current Clockwork Orange Jericho. It’s all about evolving and constantly changing, keeping things fresh. That’s what I’m all about.
Why he can’t go back to WWE to do The List:
I hate to say it, but if I go back to WWE there won’t be a list. It doesn’t feel right anymore. You have to [reinvent yourself], so for me to walk out there and put someone on a list again, it just feels like “Oh, that’s so 2016.” It was a huge thing, people want to see it, but I can’t allow myself to not be creative, and that’s why I love working in New Japan.
His current character:
I love that character. I don’t really know how it started, there’s a definite lineage and I could take you step by step through it, but I didn’t just show up and go “I’m gonna wear a hat, put make up on my face, and be completely crazy.” It was an evolution of this character, doing brutal beatdowns of Kenny Omega and Naito, wearing a light up scarf and sparkly underwear didn’t fit anymore. When I attacked Naito with the BUSHI mask on, BUSHI wears black lipstick, so I put that on as part of the disguise, painted my eyes a bit darker so they were a bit more Asian looking so to speak, and when I took my mask off, I had black eye shadow and lipstick, and I was like that was kind of cool. Let’s keep going upon that. So, someone made a meme of me looking like the Joker with the top hat, and that’s where it started to morph. I attacked EVIL while wearing the faceless mask, and now people have a new character that people can dress up as for Halloween.
On if any of his attempts at evolving fell flat:
When I came back in 2007, with the short haired Y2J, it didn’t fit. There was a bit of a disconnect. I had been gone for two years, I didn’t look like the same guy, and going back there with the same catchphrases felt stale. I knew it wasn’t working, so that’s why I switched from long pants to tights, got rid of the countdown, started wearing the suit and tie, all that sort of stuff. It’s all part of the process of not wanting to be a nostalgia act.
Why he always changes:
You’ll never be more over doing something the second time as you did the first. You can be DX until the cows come home, but you’ll never be as over as in 1997, so why do that? Do something new. Just using that as an example. That’s why I always change.
Check out the full interview below:
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