Jericho taming the WWF
By ALEX RISTIC -- SLAM! Wrestling
Chris Jericho is restrained by Too Cool at a house show in Toronto. (Photo by Veronica Henri - Toronto Sun.)
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Do you need an introduction? It doesn't matter what you need -- Oh wait,
wrong
schtick. If you don't know about Chris Jericho, you haven't been paying
much
attention to the wrestling world, and you should never, eeever do that
again.
One of the most exciting talents in the WWF, Jericho is known the globe
over
through his ringside antics, and in ring ability. It was during a busy
whirlwind PR day in Toronto that Jericho squeezed us in to give SLAM!
Wrestling an exclusive interview.
Let's start off with Jericho's tenure in the WWF. Most of his die-hard
following have been upset about the lack of true development for his
character, and the prospect of his jobbing to those with lesser talents
in
Stevie Richards and Gangrel. Jericho expands on his lack former lack of
direction, as well his status in the WWF.
"When [Ken] Shamrock got hurt that kind of took away two or three months
worth of
plans," divulges Jericho, "but I mean it's also hard to be thrown right
into
something when everyone else is kind of booked up. They didn't really
have
anything to do, for me, for that time period. And that was the original
plan, before Vince Russo left, because the Shamrock thing kind of tied
up
all the other people that were available for programming. That's just
part
of the business. Injuries are part of the business and you have to adapt
to
it."
Jericho isn't revealing anything his followers couldn't have guessed.
After
Shamrock's injury, Jericho didn't have an angle, so they put him in
one-off
matches against The Rock and X-Pac, but that never truly allowed him to
create momentum for his character. Now, he has an angle with Chyna,
which is
a slight improvement, but part of the angle has seen Jericho get the
short
end of the stick, always losing, to what many fans would say is inferior
talent.
"It's not losing and winning anymore," defends Jericho, "it's more about
the
reactions from the crowd. It's kind of funny about how things have
changed,
because five years ago it was about winning and losing. But if you look
and
see after a loss, people, you'll see I get a bigger reaction. Maybe I'm
being nave, but I don't see any big deal in it. Also, all those losses
were
for a reason. And things change so fast. One win over someone big and
next
thing you know I'm a big super-hero again. I think people kind of put
too
much emphasis on the winning and losing. Plus, I'm still the new guy,
there's a lot of tests that you have to go through, and that's just part
of
the business as well."
A business that seems just as cutthroat as the rest of Hollywood. To
help
get his character over, advance story lines, and as well as pitting an
opponent against Chyna, Jericho has had to lock horns with her over the
last
few weeks, leaving many puzzled. But contrary to what you may think.
Jericho
doesn't seem to mind, and even came up with some of the ideas for the
altercations himself.
"Like I said, I'm playing a character on a show. As a matter of fact,
the
thing last week with the hammer and the thumb, that was actually my
idea. I
liked it. It was like a Hannibal Lector, Kevin Spacey's character in
Seven,
kind of a real calm lunatic. I thought that was kind of a neat dimension
to
add to the Chris Jericho character. I don't find it hard at all. She's a
woman, yes, but she's also a wrestler on our show, whose gimmick is that
she's a woman. It's not even really a man and woman thing anymore. It's
just
character versus character, as far as I see it."
It's widely known that Jericho is a devout follower of the Christian
faith.
Knowing that the WWF is geared toward adult content could make for some
conflicts in his character, as well as his religion.
"In some ways yes," he admits, "but it's all up to you, and it's all up
to
the individual character to kind of regulate what he'll do, and what he
doesn't do. I try not swear on the shows, I'm not going to say that I
haven't, but most of the time I'll try to specifically stay away from
that.
As far as the sexual content, I WILL STAY AWAY FROM THAT. The violence,
well, it's basically a television show that is based around violence.
And
I'm playing a character. My character may not be a Christian, but the
real
life, Chris Irvine, is. Once again, the WWF product isn't geared toward
that
segment, and Iām going to try and do my best to try to keep it as clean
as I
can, and just try to do what I can within the realms of where I live. I
live
in the world. I don't like everything that happens in the world, but I
still
live in it though."
So now that some recent events have been uncovered, what's in store
for Chris Jericho in the future? How about a feud between Jericho and
The
Rock, the two vocal masters of the WWF.
"Well definitely, I mean it's a natural thing," says Jericho on a future
feud with the great one. "I don't think anybody in the WWF can talk as
well
as The Rock can, besides Chris Jericho. At least in style; insulting,
cocky
type guys. I think there's a tremendous potential for some great verbal
duels, as well as duels in the ring."
Speaking of verbal duels, can you lay the smack down on us with some of
the
lines you've planned for The Rock?
"Well, you can't just make me do a catch-phrase on your beck and call,
like
I'm your own personal puppet here. It would go beyond entirely what
Chris
Jericho is all about to cater to the whims of every idiot on the
Internet.
And if you think I'd ever do that, then you have to never, EEEEVER think
that again. Do you understand me?"
Yes sir, Mr. Jericho sir. Apart from The Rock, Jericho admits to wanting
to
work with everyone within the corporation, which is mildly surprising.
Is he
towing the company line? Maybe, but he explains it as having much
respect in
the WWF locker, more so than in others, and adds that those in the WWF
are
more receptive to his in-ring generalship.
"I like working with everybody. I like working with Chyna, and even with
Mark Henry last night, because they trust my instincts and listen to
what I
have to tell them to do, so I can have a good Chris Jericho style match.
I
also liked working with The Rock. We had a couple of so-so matches, but
one
really good one in Madison Square Garden. I think Triple H would be
good,
Austin would be good, Edge would be good. Any different style, I mean
the
first couple of times you work with someone it might be rocky, no pun
intended, but the more you work with somebody, the more you see. I had
great
matches with Road Dogg. He was a lot of fun to work with cause once
again he
listened to my style and he was really good at doing it. It all depends
on
who you work with, and take some time to get in their mindset and adapt
to
their style. Basically, I'm excited to work with anybody, as long as
there's
a good story line and a good reason for it."
Chris Jericho wants to move on beyond his feud with Chyna.
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He adds: "Most (wrestlers) have been there longer than me, but I've been
wrestling for ten years, and a lot of people haven't been. I think
that's
always the hardest thing. You need those guys to trust you to listen to
what
you say. I worked with Stevie Ray in WCW, and he's not known as a
tremendous
worker, but we had great matches, because he listened to my opinions and
allowed me to lead him through it. It just takes a while to get their
confidence."
So now that he's gaining their confidence it appears much lies on the
horizon for Chris Jericho. Speaking of which, when will the feud with
Chyna
end, so that the character can go on?
"I'm not sure. I don't really know what they have in store, as far as
the
story climaxing. Personally, I would like it to climax soon, one way or
the
other, because I think I've done pretty much all I can do with her right
now. And I think people have kind of seen it, and want to move on to
something else. I'm not to sure if it's going to end at the next PPV, or
if
it's even going to make it that far, or maybe itās going to continue."
Speaking of continuing, Jericho's character has been that of a heel for
two
years now, and is immensely popular. There's lots of postulation that
his
character is moving along the lines of a bad-ass baby face, much in the
same
vein as The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin characters, something
Jericho
admits he's thought about.
"Well I think it's all up to the fans. When I was a face the fans didn't
like me, so I turned around and became a heel. Now it's almost to the
point
that I don't know how much farther I can go to stay a heel. I mean I
smashed
a woman's finger with a hammer, and the next night I got a huge response
again. I'm still trying to do my heel ways, but the people are kind of
really getting behind my character because he's so entertaining. Also,
another thing too, when I was a heel I was the chicken-s**t coward heel,
and
Vince doesn't like that kind of heel, he want the ass kicking heel,
because
it opens the door up to become a baby-face. Everybody likes someone who
totally kicks ass."
Ass kicking seems like something Jericho should be able to do, after
all, he
has a kick-ass metal band with members of Stuck Mojo entitled Fozzy
Osborne,
a power metal band that is currently performing cover material,
including
songs from Ronnie James Dio like "Don't Talk To Strangers." Seeing as
how
Jericho took his name from a Helloween song, "The Walls Of Jericho,"
it's
not impossible to envision the Lion Heart as being a screaming frontman.
"Weāre going to continue doing that," says Jericho on his band. "We're
working on other projects right now that will hopefully lead to a record
deal. It's a fun, pasttime hobby that I kind of like to do, and
surprisingly we're really good at it. So we're having a good time, and
want
to just keep it on the side, as a project. But it's something I'm very
interested in, it's kind of always been a dream for me, to pursue that.
It's
fun to actually be a part of it, as well as itās fun also doing what I
do,
and meeting some of the guys from different bands who also respect that.
That's really cool. As a matter of fact, the other day, I'm a big Dream
Theatre fan, I just got an e-mail from their drummer, Mike Portnoy, who
said
how he was a fan in return. That's kind of neat."
Other than that, is there anything else in store for the Y2J problem?
"Just complete and utter world domination for Y2J. There's no reason why
I
can't, or won't be one of the dominant players for this company in the
upcoming two, or three years. For the next five years, ten years even.
Who
knows?"
