Chris Jericho interview

[Guest Loss]

From the Observer site:

 

The below interview was conducted with Chris Jericho on Monday, March 7, 2005 by Dan Gillis of JimmyVan.com to promote Fozzy's new "All That Remains" album. The complete 15 minute audio version of the interview is available at JimmyVan.com now.

 

Fozzy's "All That Remains" features all original tunes, plus collaboration with Zakk Wylde and Bonecrusher. What was it like making the album, and how long did it take?

 

Jericho said they really wanted to make a musical statement; they wanted a chance to show what they could do as a band and what they can sound like and what they can accomplish. He said they spent a lot of time writing the songs. Rich Ward (guitar player and main songwriter) spent a lot of time getting the songs right to make sure people would be shocked and surprised as to the quality of it, and he thinks they've done that. They recorded from February - April 2004 and it took Jericho six days to record the vocals. Because it's all original stuff, he got to find out his style as a singer. "I don't have to try to sound like everybody else. What's Chris Jericho's style of singing?" he said. That's what he brought out on this record.

 

Jericho said they had problems with clearances by Bonecrusher and others, so it took a while to get through some red tape and the record consequently wasn't ready to go until January 2005 even though it was finished last June. Jericho said other than that it worked out great and they're happy with the results. "It's a good time for us," he said.

 

What's your favorite track on "All That Remains"?

 

"That's hard to say because it's like you know, who's your favorite child," Jericho said. "It depends on what day it is." He said he loves "Nameless Faceless", he loves "Enemy" (theme song to the WWE No Way Out PPV). Jericho said they worked hard to get those melodies that you would remember. Jericho put over Rich Ward, saying he's a "songwriting machine" who's got so many great ideas, they really hit a home run on the album.

 

What are your major influences?

 

Jericho said he's a huge Beatles fan, and is very much into Metallica and Iron Maiden and even some bands like Journey, and Rich is the same way. "We have the heaviness of a Pantera or a Metallica," he said. "Also combine that with the guitar harmonies and solos from Iron Maiden, and combine that with the vocal melodies of Journey or Boston; we're very much into the harmonies and clean singing rather than just the style of singing that's prevalent nowadays which is very... you know, shouting, barking, Cookie Monster; that's cool when it warrants it... we're more into the melodic side of things, combine that with the heavy side of things."

 

Any plans for a North American tour?

 

Jericho said they have plans for a North American tour. He said they play quite a few shows after wrestling shows and have done a lot of those over the last six months. They just did a tour of England where they did shows and actually sold the shows out, "which is awesome for us," he said. He said they're doing another show in England, and some shows in Germany, and in the States with Motorhead. "Hopefully in the fall we're going to be looking at doing serious touring around the States at that point in time."

 

There were distribution problems at first, is the album still difficult to find?

 

Jericho confirmed that there were distribution problems at first because people would only order one or two copies and they would be gone in ten minutes. He said it took a while to get everything figured out, but he knows the albums are out there because they've shipped more copies than they ever have. He said he was at the Best Buy in Raleigh (where he was Monday for Raw) and picked up the CD there. "If you can't find it at one store, you should be able to find it at another one at this point," he said. He said the song "Enemy" is getting airplay at over 50 stations in the States, and the video is the #2 most downloaded video on ifilm.com.

 

Dan plugged the FozzyRock.com official website. Jericho said they spent time on the website to get it the way they wanted it.

 

Time for some wrestling questions...

 

How did you get interested in wrestling originally?

 

Jericho was a big fan as a kid and wanted to be one of two things, either a musician or a wrestler. He said he's actually been a musician longer than a wrestler as he's played in a band since he was 14.

 

When does your WWE contract expire?

 

Jericho said it expires in eight months.

 

Do you see wrestling in your future after that or will you focus solely on music?

 

"I've been wrestling for a long time. It's still fun for me but I've accomplished everything I've ever set out to accomplish, probably a lot more than I ever thought I would. I still love it, it's still fun but I mean hey let's be honest if the band took off, the bigger the band gets, there's more opportunities for us to do stuff. I want to take the band as far as we can go with it. If more opportunities arise, then I would definitely spend more time with the band. It all depends on how well it does."

 

So it's possible that in eight months time if the band's doing well, maybe Chris Jericho the wrestler could hang it up?

 

"You never know, I mean stranger things have happened. It definitely could happen."

 

What's your biggest *career* highlight?

 

Jericho said as far as wrestling goes, he's had so many great experiences in the wrestling business. He mentioned winning the Undisputed Championship, and debuting on Raw. He also mentioned "stealing the show" with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIX as a great moment. Plus on the musical side, releasing the third Fozzy album is an obvious career highlight. "It's been a lot of hard work but it's fun when little things like that happen because it pays off, shows that things have been all worthwhile."

 

Your dream's coming true twice.

 

"Exactly, and that's the thing; because I went for it. I thought I could do it, I knew I could do it, and I just tried, worked my ass off to make sure that it worked out. Kind of the payoff of hard work I guess."

 

Who would win in a shoot fight, Goldberg or Ralphus?

 

Jericho said Goldberg better watch out that Ralphus doesn't stab him with that protruding piece that he had.

 

Dan asked for details on what led to the backstage altercation with Goldberg in WWE.

 

Jericho said it's all been said and done. He said there were some bad feelings from WCW that carried over to WWE. "It was something that needed to happen to kind of clear the air, it happened and I'm glad that it did because it cleared the air," he said. Jericho said they're both grown men working hard to make some money, and it happened, and it's a legendary story and everyone knows it by now and it's good that nobody got hurt, and it's overwith, and if he saw Goldberg today he would shake his hand.

 

You've maintained a solid following over the years; how do you manage to keep your character fresh after all these years?

 

Jericho said he knows how to connect with the fans, and that's something that a lot of guys don't understand. Whether you're a good guy or a bad guy, you have to connect with the people and make them care about what you're doing. "It's not how big your body is or how many moves you can do; it's solely on how you connect with the crowd. How you make them emotionally become attached to what you're doing." Jericho said he's figured out how to do that and it doesn't matter win or lose, first match, last match, Champion, not a Champion, people know when they see Chris Jericho that they're gonna get 100% effort, a great match, and entertained one way or another. He said it's the same thing when he plays with Fozzy.

 

Who do you think will carry WWE when the likes of Jericho, Taker, HBK, Angle, etc. retire?

 

Jericho singled out Randy Orton and John Cena, saying they're still learning but they've got potential. He said Batista has some great potential. "We need to see the personalities shine through though. Who's gonna be the next big personality?" Jericho mentioned Cena again, as well as Carlito Caribbean Cool. He said a lot of guys out there have the opportunity because some of the guys "get it". He said Orton and Batista have been taught by some of the best in the business. He then said you never know because when Rock and Austin first came in, you'd never guess they'd be the biggest stars in the business. "Certain guys that are pegged for greatness sometimes don't live up to it. Other guys that are kind of more "sleepers" end up being the biggest stars ever," he said.

 

Do you feel that Raw storylines focus on one person too much?

 

Jericho said sometimes they do and people are bored of it to an extent so that's why the storylines are focusing on another guy (Batista) who is starting to catch on and people are excited about it because it's something different and something new. "I think Dave has a great chance of really taking over and changing things around," he said.

 

If your last match was tonight, who would you want to wrestle?

 

Jericho said it'd be either Chris Benoit, Christian or The Rock.

 

Dan asked about plans for Jericho's match for WrestleMania (this was before the "Money in the Bank" ladder match was announced on Raw).

 

"I can't give away the trade secrets," Jericho joked.

 

Dan thanked Jericho for the interview. Jericho thanked the fans who have supported him over the years and he looks forward to many more years of rocking, wrestling or whatever else happens.

 

You can listen to the complete interview in Real Audio format at www.JimmyVan.com.

 

Special thanks to KOCH Entertainment (www.kochcan.com), the Canadian distributor of "All That Remains" by Fozzy.

 

What's particularly fascinating about this interview is that Jericho doesn't seem like he even cares all that much about wrestling anymore, and he even suggested that he might not be interested in signing another deal when his contract expires in eight months.

 

It's old news, but it's really unfortunate what's happened to him over the years, because everyone had big things penciled in for him. Yes, he did manage to become a star, but not on the level most expected, and it sounds like he's at peace with that and is just looking to move on.

 

Obviously, a variety of things could happen in the next eight months, but I don't see Chris Jericho in a main event push being one of them, and I think that might be the only thing that would entice him to actually care again.

[CanadianChick 0]

That is unfortunate. It's like he knows how popular he is, but knows it doesn't matter. I don't think that Fozzy would be successful enough for him to leave wrestling though.

[Guest Loss]

Nor do I, but if he's invested the money he's made in wrestling wisely, he has probably made enough money in the past 10 years or so to do what he wants from here on and not have to worry so much about it.

 

Imagine HHH's glee if he's able to get rid of both Rock *and* Chris Jericho in the span of a year.

[CanadianChick 0]

I don't think he'd leave wrestling for the sake of leaving wrestling. Unless Fozzy became uber-successful, why not continue being entertaining? That's what he likes best, as he's said many times. I would think he'd do whatever would have the crowd feeding from the palm of his hand, wrestling or music.

[Guest Brian]

I think he's actually pretty good with the situation in, much like Eddy. They've been to the top, and they don't really need to win again as long as they get to wrestle.

[tominator89 0]

At least with Fozzy he isn't likely to get seriously injured. I'm sure the band could do better business if Jericho had more time to promote them (doing more shows, etc).

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Fozzy is terrible.

[CBright7831 0]

Okay, we're going to settle this right here...

 

What is Triple H's problem with Jericho?

 

Why does he hate him so much?

[Guest Loss]

This has been answered many, many, many times, but it's not that he "hates" him, so much as it is that he has always stopped any attempt at him being the top guy because he's viewed Jericho as a threat to his spot. That's the short version.

[Guest Shadow]

Jericho basically came in and was everything Triple H wanted to be and was insanely over the SECOND he arrived and in HHH's mind stole his thunder as HHH was emerging as WWF's biggest star since Rock emerged just a year before that.

 

He has always seen and rightfully so, Jericho as his biggest threat. The second he was out with the quad, Jericho was dropped to a feud with Rhyno after being with HHH, Austin and Benoit for 2-3 months. HHH wasn't letting Jericho rise.

 

He buried Jericho constantly to make sure he ever had a chance and yet, he remains ungodly over despite all this.

 

as for jericho? He's smart. I have to assume he wisely invested his money, dont forget he has avenues to fall back on.

 

Fozzy

International Work in Japan for the occasional match to statisfy his wrestling need

he could easily get a more featured spot on VH1, which could lead to some other promotional stuff or even acting gigs...

 

he's one of the very few to have options beyond wwe currently.

[Guest Loss]

The long version, from a post I made in the formerly-pinned New School Questions thread over a year ago:

 

Jericho came into the company in August of 1999, at a point when HHH was in the initial stages of his megapush. They were trying with other guys too, namely Billy Gunn and Jeff Jarrett, but HHH, while he wasn't nearly as over as he needed to be, was the best bet of the three.

 

He struggled. His promos were solid, but he wasn't finding a way to connect with the crowd. He had an obvious lack of confidence and seemed uncomfortable in his own boots.

 

Jericho came in and got a large pop and was the immediate buzz. On a night when Shawn Michaels and Jesse Ventura had been brought in to get HHH's title match over, Jericho was *the* topic on the lips of most.

 

Jericho had a similar look to HHH in that they both had long, blond hair and they were both competing for the same spot. Jericho started getting face heat while HHH's heat continued to dwindle.

 

Within weeks, rumblings started that Jericho didn't know how to work. Jericho was told to turn up his aggression by management and ended up angering Road Dogg because he slapped him during a match. The Big Show also felt that Jericho was wrestling too stiff against him and didn't sell their size difference nearly as much as he should have.

 

Jericho's string of political misfortune continued when he threw Stevie Richards out of the ring and Richards landed wrong on his ankle and was sidelined with a broken foot. He smashed Chyna in the back of the head with a hair dryer and actually drew blood hardaway, severely angering her then-boyfriend HHH. X-Pac was complaining to management that he had no sense of timing and Jericho started getting comparisons as a worker to Shane Douglas.

 

Jericho actually jobbed to Chyna at Survivor Series '99 in a move that would be criticized to hell today that was actually ignored for the most part by the fanbase. Jericho did redeem himself by winning the Intercontinental title at Armageddon, but the following week at the Smackdown tapings, Vince had a private meeting with Jericho where he told him that he was very unhappy with his work up to that point and that he would grant him a release if he felt he couldn't meet company expectations. Jericho fired back and told Vince he was "crazy" and "listening to the wrong people", which only further put him in the doghouse.

 

Jericho worked hard to adjust his style to the style that WWE wanted. He was wearing lifts in his boots to make him appear taller and this was making him very clumsy. The Chyna feud turned into a partnership that did Jericho absolutely no favors and he spent the first few months of 2000 putting newcomers Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit over.

 

In April 2000, Eric Bischoff made the comment on WCW Live that Chris Jericho was handled better in WCW than he was in the WWF, which motivated the creative team to run an angle with him to prove Bischoff wrong. This was the 04/17/00 RAW where Jericho got the phantom title win over HHH, which was intended to test his reaction on top, which was tremendous.

 

Jericho started to move up the card around this time, and while he was still doing jobs almost constantly, he was consistently kept in the upper midcard-main event picture until the Undertaker returned and Jericho ended up back in the midcard. Before 'Taker returned, he was clearly being pushed as the #2 babyface, as the 05/08/00 RAW had him wrestling three times in one night when the Rock couldn't make the show because of movie commitments.

 

Glass ceiling talk started when the main event of King of the Ring 2000 was announced, and as a result, the company placed Benoit, Jericho and Angle in feuds with Rock, Undertaker and HHH going into Fully Loaded, a PPV which was aptly titled "The Crap Shoot". Jericho's Last Man Standing match with HHH was considered the show-stealer, and while Jericho lost, the feeling was that he was still elevated from the performance.

 

The company did absolutely nothing to follow up on the performance, as Jericho ended up putting Benoit over on the next PPV and then dropping down the card into a feud with X-Pac where they traded several wins and losses. Talk started again that Jericho couldn't work, and he was paired with Kane, and the two had horrible chemistry and Jericho was clumsier than ever, which by now was a result of not only the lifts, but the muscle mass he had packed on over the course of the previous year. The company felt they were doing a favor to Jericho by programming him with Kane, thinking Kane could show him how to work.

 

He finished out 2000 in bumbling fashion before redeeming himself with a good showing against Benoit at the Royal Rumble in January of 2001. He was pushed hard over the next three months on TV, beating Guerrero, X-Pac and Benoit (his top three rivals) in one match at No Way Out and holding off Regal in the opener at Wrestlemania.

 

There are rumors, while unconfirmed, that the original plan for Wrestlemania was for Jericho to defeat HHH in a Last Man Standing rematch, but Jericho did a promo at No Way Out ripping X-Pac to shreds, and X-Pac went to HHH and complained and Jericho was "punished" by being relegated to the opening match. That has never been truly confirmed, but it has been hinted by Meltzer and other reporters at the time.

 

Jericho jobbed the IC title to HHH immediately after Wrestlemania, which was a controversial move, not only because HHH didn't need the belt, but with Austin turning heel and Rock gone, Jericho and Chris Benoit seemed like the logical choices to elevate. Undertaker and Kane ended up getting those spots and ratings plummeted. Backlash was the first PPV to get under a 1.0 buyrate in over a year and Judgment Day topped out at an 0.84 buyrate. The night after Wrestlemania, RAW delivered a 5.7 rating. Within seven weeks, they dropped to a 4.2. It was obvious the 'Taker/Kane push was bombing.

 

Jericho and Benoit were now inserted into the top program, with Jericho getting a pinfall win over Steve Austin in a tag match, but HHH tore his quad in the match and was sidelined for several months, leading to a triple-threat main event at King of the Ring which did no one any good, but still managed to top the Judgment Day buyrate at 0.96, which was down from what they were doing earlier in the year and throughout 2000, but was an increase over Austin's previous program, and a major feat considering that the push of Jericho and Benoit stopped after two weeks, with three weeks still to go before the PPV main event.

 

In late 2001, Jericho won the title on an event that was originally supposed to see HHH return, but he suggested booking changes that were approved. The decision was made that Jericho would transition the title to HHH at Wrestlemania. This decision wasn't so bad in itself, but Jericho was booked as the weakest champion in the history of the company, eclipsing Kurt Angle by a small margin, as Angle at least got more TV time and focus in his first reign.

 

Backstage at the 02/25/02 RAW, Jericho and HHH got into a shouting match when referee Brian Hebner botched the ending of a Jericho/Angle match. HHH stepped in and told both the referee and Angle that Jericho was the one at fault for blowing the finish, which furthered the heat between the two.

 

The build to the Wrestlemania main event has been well documented. It's worth mentioning that HHH has only put over Jericho twice; once was the phantom title switch and the other was a fluke rollup on Smackdown in April 2002, which built to Hell in the Cell, where HHH went over yet again. The two have not feuded since then, and in fact, Jericho was the 'lil buddy of HHH for much of 2003.

 

Other events have happened since then, and what I provided here is probably more than what you initially asked, but basically, HHH's problem with Jericho is that he's a threat to his spot. Even now, nearly five years after entering the company, Jericho is still one of the biggest threats to HHH's main event role.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

The company felt they were doing a favor to Jericho by programming him with Kane, thinking Kane could show him how to work.

Buh?

[Guest Loss]

Yep. The belief was that Kane's offense looked great, but didn't hurt at all, while Jericho's offense looked like shit and he was too stiff.

[CBright7831 0]

Reading that depressed me.

[reign 0]

I figure Jericho could be a breakout guy outside of WWE..if more people liked him like we all do he'd be a great host of a talk show of some sort..he should make a run at glory wth Fozzy jus to get some exposure and come back and destroy HHH forevah...!

[Guest Brian]

I remember defending Jericho on the net at that point in time.

 

God I've been around along time.

[Vern Gagne 0]

I did the same thing.

 

I remember being pissed at the Torch, for reporting these stories, because I thought it was X-Pac who was telling Keller all this stuff.

[CBright7831 0]

I remember defending Jericho on the net at that point in time.

 

God I've been around along time.

ME TOO!!!

[Guest Brian]

X-Pac was notorious for feeding Wade Keller info. He was basically his gateway into becoming a legitimate publication.

[Guest TheDon]

Well Karma finally came down hard on Xpac. When does HHH get his?

[Guest Shadow]

When all the other assholes in wrestling get their karma for doing this shit all the way back to the 1930's.

[Guest Ransome]

I think he's actually pretty good with the situation in, much like Eddy. They've been to the top, and they don't really need to win again as long as they get to wrestle.

I'd agree. He'll always have the "I pinned the Rock and Steve Austin to become the first Undisupted champion" line to fall back on. Regardless of how many times he's been buried during the last few years, at least he's still credible and popular enough to main event a pay per view down the line when needed.

 

But if he never main events again, would it really matter? So many great wrestlers never held the world championship, while Jericho made it. Everything else in his career following that should be a bonus.

[Myxamatosis 0]

Reading that depressed me.

Me too. What a dirty piece of shit that Triple H is.

[Slickster 0]

As trite and cliche as this may sound, I think that if Jericho does not sign with WWE in November he will get a hefty offer from TNA (if it still exists) for a reduced schedule. I figure if they can pay Dusty, DDP, Jarrett, The Outsiders, Sean Waltman, and the former Billy Gunn, then surely they can spare some change to throw at Y2J. If you're looking for a champion that could reinvigorate the company, Y2J is your man.

 

 

"But Slickster, he says he may retire!" I doubt that Jericho will be able to retire permanently for at least another decade; simply put, the fans will always clamor for him to return to the ring and getting a reduced schedule for TNA would be a perfect match. He already lives in Florida, IIRC; he could do Impact tapings and focus on his music/family life the other six days of the week. After TNA, Jericho will be able to headline an indy show in any part of North America if he's still got the wrestling bug.

 

Jericho has indeed been mismanaged in WWE since day one but he will always be seen as a great wrestler worthy of the HOF. I can't see HHH, as politically focused as some say he is, keeping the first Undisputed champion and a seven-time IC Champion out of the HOF. If he isn't after he legit retires in 10-15 years, I can see the next generation of smarks using him as their Bruno Sammartino, so to speak.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Reading that depressed me.

Me too. What a dirty piece of shit that Triple H is.

Maybe WCW wasn't so bad after all. Sure there was no elevation, but at least he could go over luchadors every week. Plus, I'd rather be held down by no-good politicians than the family of the boss.

[Si82 0]

Reading that depressed me.

Me too. What a dirty piece of shit that Triple H is.

Agreed.

 

Why does this company refuse to build new stars on Raw that aren't Triple H's buddies?

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Because HHH knows the business or something like that.

[MikeJordan23 0]

Is it true around Survivor Series 1999, Jericho stated he wanted/or was going back to WCW? Or was that just a rumor stemming from the Vince/Jericho meeting?

 

I remember on that Thanksgiving Smackdown HHH made some joke about one of the "homeless" people there being able to work better than Jericho or something to that effect.

[Guest MikeSC]

Yep. The belief was that Kane's offense looked great, but didn't hurt at all, while Jericho's offense looked like shit and he was too stiff.

Which, astonishingly, was a problem for a while. Jericho's offense did seem to be stiffing people while some of his stuff looked really "soft" (overall, he was always excellent in the ring) while Kane, by every report I've ever read, is as gentle as can be in the ring.

 

Jericho, though, should be pushed as World Champ right. The man has perennial heat no matter how bad his angle is.

-=Mike

[Sass 0]

Jericho would be the highest paid gaijin in Japan if he jumped to HUSTLE, New Japan, or All Japan.

 

That interview came from the heart. His heart isn't in wrestling and I'm not surprised it isn't. He's had his pushes and title reigns derailed and sabotaged so many times that at some point enough is enough and maybe packing it all home is the way to go. Jericho's body will probably thank him the most. He's never had any serious injury that has caused him to miss an extended amount of time and he's never looked roided out of his mind. Aside from maybe RVD, Jericho might just have the best post-wrestling body out of anyone 10 years down the road.

 

But yeah, this was a depressing thing to read. It was just Jericho stating what everyone else was thinking about him. In 1999 it looked like he was going to be the next big star in wrestling. Now, he's a notch on Hassan's belt.