“Hi, guys.” This is typically a friendly greeting. Unless these words come from Chris Jericho, whose current persona on All Elite Wrestling television has caught the ire of fans. The 53-year-old veteran leads The Learning Tree. This group includes emerging stars and followers (“branches” Big Bill and Bryan Keith. Together they’ve been picking up adversaries including Katsuyori Shibata and Samoa Joe.
Jericho aims to close a chapter with another in Hook at All In from Wembley Stadium on August 25. The challenger will have one more crack at regaining the FTW Championship. A title Hook’s dad Taz created in the first place. We caught up with Jericho ahead of the high-stakes match.
Take me through this current iteration. I love how you saw these detractors of yours and fueled that into The Learning Tree version of Chris Jericho.
Chris Jericho: Every time I switch up characters it’s because I know it’s time. There was some weird internet vitriol of angry people yelling at me to retire. I thought, “Why don’t I embrace that and lean into it?” For those who know, you know. It made those people mad. Others thought it was clever. That lasted about two weeks and it became this new character. People got into the story we were telling. It became another era in Jericho. It has worked quite well. I was very sarcastic in the beginning with a certain cadence I was speaking. Then I changed it again to be more serious. Characters are the most important thing in wrestling as are stories. I think the Hook storyline that has been going on for the last six months has been a great one with twists and turns.
Is there anyone from TV or movies that you’re pulling inspiration from for this character?
There were a few different ways I was playing it at first. There were a couple of characters I was channeling, but I can’t recall right now what they were. At first, I just gave facts, was sarcastic, and was this know-it-all character. The accusation was I was this know-it-all who was just stealing TV time and burying everyone and being this awful behind-the-scenes person, which has never been the case. I think you can ask anyone in AEW about how much I’ve done or tried to do. It was almost something from a Christopher Guest mockumentary or something like that. I enjoyed creating the persona and laughing at my own jokes and those kinds of things. This very annoying type of person. You know those types of people that are over-the-top and have an answer for everything even though they don’t know what they are talking about. It was probably just different blowhard people that you meet.
Photo by: Lee South
The irony is you’re working alongside young talent like Big Bill and Bryan Keith and wrestling Hook. Why do you think people out there see you as selfish and a spotlight hogger despite your body of work?
I love using the Jericho Vortex as a positive thing. Not every single feud or story you tell in wrestling will work, but I have to say in AEW that 90 percent fo the guys I’ve worked with and stories told have been pretty good. That goes back to day one. I think I worked with Darby Allin in Week 3 without knowing who he was. Orange Cassidy, Jack Perry, Scorpio Sky and beyond that. Even Cody Rhodes. Cody was not who he was now. He was a guy who had been a journeyman and then became one of the top guys in AEW. He was earmarked to be, but I did a lot to put a spotlight on him. Same with The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, Hangman Page. Jon Moxley was not Mox and was still the remnants of Dean Ambrose when he came into AEW. We worked together and he was on the road to where he is now, which is completely next level. MJF we worked together for a year. Max became way better after working with me. Eddie Kingston, too. The Inner Circle, The Jericho Appreciation Society, Danny Garcia.
So what do you think it is then that is causing people to feel this way?
I think one of the reasons is I’ve never been hurt. I’ve been here since Day one and on all the shows by necessity. Not because I demand TV time. My boss wants to put me on the show and do these segments and draw the ratings I draw. I’d say 80 percent of the time or more ratings go up when I’m on TV. That’s another misconception that I have this go-away heat. Go look at ratings and I’m in one of the highest rating segments each week. Once in a while, you do lose, but that’s the law of averages. I don’t know. I just think there are a lot of angry people that are unhappy I’m still doing this at a high level. Only five years in and here we are on the verge of this gigantic television deal that will change the course of wrestling history the same way we did it in 2019. The same way me and Kenny Omega did it in the Tokyo Dome in 2018.
People were mad at The Rolling Stones. I remember 1989 when the “Steel Wheels” record came out and critics dissed them and called them steel wheelchair, and that they were too old. I just saw them a couple of weeks ago and at 80 years old they’re still f’n amazing. They didn’t listen to anyone when they were told to retire. Why should I? I’m having a great time and still contributing. When that time comes when it’s not good or feeling the same way, I’ll make that decision. Nobody will tell me what to do, especially wrestling fans who are very fickle anyway. People are going to react the way they are going to react. It’s my job to read the room and create stories and characters accordingly. I’m doing everything I can to make AEW a better team and make the guys I work with better performers and pro wrestlers and as a result, I’m getting better working with them as well.
Chris Jericho and Maxwell Jacob Friedman (AEW)
Sting retired, Bryan Danielson looks to retire from regular competition, and John Cena is embarking on a retirement tour, how do you take that in?
It doesn’t change my perspective at all because Bryan was out for nine years. He couldn’t work. John hasn’t worked regularly at about the same time. Bryan has been incredible since he came back from his injuries. He is one of the greatest wrestlers in the world and of all time. If he wants to step back, he’ll do that. John is the same thing. One of the greatest of all time. He went to Hollywood and became a huge success and wants to come back and put an exclamation point on his career. To me, I don’t see the point for me. That’s just me. I remember a few years ago The Scorpions had a big farewell tour and then decided they were having too much fun and came back and played. Same with Judas Priest. The Who retired in 1982 and still playing. Why put the pressure on a retirement and a timeline? For me, I’m just happy to do just be still doing it at a high level.
When that time comes, I don’t want a retirement tour I think. I don’t need a big retirement match. I’ll just stop. Maybe I’ll feel differently when it comes to that, but I also have other things. I have Fozzy where I get the live element form as well. I have the podcast, cruise, acting. I have other stuff going on and have walked away from wrestling a couple of times. We’ll see what happens. Sting’s retirement was one of the greatest moments of all time. I think Cena doing a farewell tour is awesome and people know these are the dates to see him. John is very driven that way. He’ll be done when he says he is done and never come back. Bryan already said he would never retire. You won’t see him as a full-time wrestler, but you’ll see him in a ring for a long time. Everyone is different. For me, I just live in the moment and enjoy going to work every week and doing cool sh*t. As long as I feel that way, I will continue doing so.
You have a very eclectic acting career. You’ve done family drama like Country Hearts but also tapped into horror with another Terrifier on the horizon and Self Storage. How is it growing in the acting space like what you’ve done with wrestling and music?
It has been great. I have another movie called Dark Match in the can. A horror movie. I did a show You’re My Hero in Canada, which is more of a drama. A lot more offers on the tables for those parts and roles. I’m all for it. It seems now more are coming, which is how it goes. If doing less wrestling and more acing is the way to go for a while, I’ll explore that too. Even in AEW, it’s not like I’m wrestling every week. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not on every show. Maybe 20-25 matches a year.
There is plenty of time to do other things that come my way. AEW is a great space for that. Tony Khan does allow you to do outside things. When they come up if I need a Wednesday off, I take it. It’s fairly easy because we have such a huge and talented roster. When AEW started, it was built on my back and others. Then we were able to build up different guys. So if I’m out for a month or two, it’s not like there is this gaping hole as far as main event talent. Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, and others, it’s cool for me not to have to worry and have guys who are part of a great team step up.
THE MASKED SINGER: L-R: Host Nick Cannon and Chris Jericho (Michael Becker / FOX).
On the acting side, who has been a mentor to you?
I think it depends on the project. The same as wrestling. When you’re working with veteran actors who have done more than you, you learn from them. For every movie or show I do I’ll find actors who have been doing it for 20 years and been in 50 movies and learn. For me, I’ve been acting for 33 years. That’s what wrestling is playing a character and performing. I feel very comfortable in those situations. I know for a few shows I worked with Kevin McDonald and Scott Thompson from The Kids in the Hall. Both those guys were so funny. I worked with Colin Mochrie from Whose Line Is It Anyway?
You get on set with those guys, you learn how to try new things. With wrestling it’s live, you don’t get the different takes. Here you can try different ways of doing something. It all adds to your experience and makes you more well-rounded as an actor. It’s why a lot of guys who made it to a high level in wrestling are doing that in Hollywood. Wrestling is like showbiz boot camp in a lot of ways.
You’ve done everything from The Masked Singer to Dancing with the Stars, any other reality show competition you want to tackle?
I never sat down and wanted to do those. Those things came to me and each time on a different basis you think about it. Dancing with the Stars I turned down two separate times before accepting it. It took a while to convince myself that I wanted to do it. Masked Singer was a bit more of a no-brainer. The costume I had was exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t want to have some tough guy costume. I wanted something opposite, which is why I had a pink dragon bride. It fit what I was looking for with that. I get a lot of different things I look at, and a lot of things I turn down. I think about it on a case-by-case basis.
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As someone who also headlined WrestleMania, how do you compare the atmosphere to an All In and working with Hook who could really benefit from having a moment at this event?
I think working in a stadium is a whole different animal. It’s this breathing entity. It’s exciting. We’re doing a second stadium show in a calendar year that will draw 50 to 60,000 people That’s a big deal to do with a company five years old. I’m proud of that fact. I love wrestling in the UK. When you talk about someone having a breakout moment, a lot of times it’s one specific moment and another time it’s a coming-of-age process. I think Hook has done that in the last six months. I’m proud that we were able to make this story go to Wembley.
It was the same with Kevin Owens and what we wanted to do at WrestleMania…I just think the story was well done. Here we are. We did it. It’s a hot angle and fun and still have another piece of the puzzle with me versus Tommy Billington on Dynamite. Hook versus Big Bill. Then we’re in Wembley. It will unfold into something very exciting. This is the big finale. You’ll have to see where it goes. That’s what wrestling is all about. Telling great stories and leaving people wondering what will happen next. I’m proud of what Hook has been able to do, and the story as a whole, and proud of what we are going to put together this Sunday.
AEW All In, August 25, 1/12c, Pay-Per-View
AEW Dynamite, Wednesdays, 8/7c, TBS
AEW Rampage, Fridays, 10/9c, TNT
AEW Collision, Saturdays, 8/7c, TNT
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