Chris Jericho talked frankly on a variety of subjects, here are some highlights:
On if the Royal Rumble counts as part of his promise not to come back for “gimmick matches”
Absolutely. I already made one of the greatest surprise returns of all time in the 2013 Royal Rumble, so why would I ever do that again? Once I do something, it’s done, so time to move on. I don’t have time to be in the WWE right now, it’s not part of the schedule. [Fozzy] come back to the UK in March for the whole month, then we’re doing France, Switzerland, Germany and then we come back home and go out for the summer. I won’t be back in the WWE for a while because the schedule is already filling up and WWE isn’t a part of that. My days of being a full-time wrestler are over. A much as people don’t want to hear that, or don’t like it, or don’t listen to me when I say it; just look at the schedule I have going on. I won’t be at the Royal Rumble and I won’t be at WrestleMania this year – I’m already booked.
On Roman Reigns:
I think Roman’s doing great, I think there’s a lot of guys doing great, but it all depends on the reaction of the fans and I think right now the next two or three weeks are crucial to see what kind of reaction these guys get and that will decide where they are going to be slotted in WrestleMania. They’re listening to what the crowd is reacting to, and then deciding from there. If Roman Reigns is getting a great crowd reaction, then there’s a great chance he’s going to get more and more of a push – that’s how things go. I think they probably have a tentative plan already for the top three or four matches at WrestleMania, now they just have to see if the pieces continue to fall into place.
On today’s WWE compared to when he debuted:
I don’t look at it that way because if you sit there and go ‘back in my day’, you become a dinosaur. Things change, things move, things evolve. How does the business compare now to 2000? I don’t know – look at the ratings, look at the attendances, but also look at what kind of money is being brought in, what kind of sponsorship is there? I think in a lot of ways WWE is bigger than it’s ever been. You say ‘the talent isn’t as good’, well I’m not looking at that. I look at it as a business, ‘cos that’s all that matters. I’ll bet you they’re making more money now than they did in 2000, even if some people think that roster was better. So in that respect, WWE is probably better than ever. Talent wise it’s changed. It’s not the same as it used to be because there’s nowhere for guys to really grow up and learn until they get into the WWE. If you look back in previous years, the WWE was the pinnacle. You’d work around the territories, work around the world, and end up in the WWE at the top of your game. Now you start in the WWE, you work within the WWE, you learn within the WWE and that’s how you either make it or break it in that system. So in a lot of ways it’s harder for the guys because they don’t get a chance to go around the world and learn how to get over. They’re basically starting within the WWE system, so there’s a lot more pressure on them now.
On Ryback’s promo being a condensed version of his interview on Talk Is Jericho:
Loved it! That’s why I wanted to have Ryback on, I wanted people to see his personality, to hear his passion. He was unfairly accused [by CM Punk], in my opinion, of certain things, but I worked with Ryback for months and loved it. I know he’s not dumb and I know he’s not an idiot, and I just wanted to give him a chance to tell his side of the story and show his personality and let people know what he’s all about. The fact that he took that to Vince McMahon, and he listened to it and decided to do a whole 5 to 10 minute promo based around that, I take great pride in that fact. I had a mission to let people see Ryback in a different light – they did, they enjoyed him as a person, they enjoyed his real attitude and his real personality. That’s good for me, that’s good for my business. It’s going to make people want to do my show even more now, knowing that I was able to help Ryback, and that’s what Talk Is Jericho is – it’s not a show to scandalise or to cause issues or to make people look stupid. The type of show I run is for people to have fun, enjoy themselves and let the fans see a different side of them.
On whether wrestling or music was his first passion:
Rock ‘n’ roll has always been more of a passion as far as the history of it, as far as the trivia of it – being able to stay up all night talking about it. I love wrestling but I never really knew a lot about the minutia of it, whereas rock ‘n’ roll, I can tell you who played guitar on the second Iron Maiden record and discuss it for hours. Since I was a pre-teen I’ve been focusing on wanting to be a wrestler and wanting to be in a rock band and it’s always interesting when people say to me, ‘Well if you could choose…’ I don’t have to choose because I’ve got to do both! When I first started wrestling, I wanted to be the Paul Stanley of wrestling, the David Lee Roth, the ultimate frontman, and so I took a lot of the characteristics for my early character and the Y2J character from rock ‘n’ roll. When we started the band I just took those elements that I used in the Y2J character and put them back into music. So it’s all just one big circle and it’s all about connecting with the fans. Whether you’re in a band, whether you’re a wrestler, whether you’re a stand-up comedian whatever it may be, you have to connect with your audience and make them like you, or make them hate you, and make them pay money to see you. That’s just the basic premise of show business.
Check out the full interview at Digital Spy
