Chris Jericho did an interview with KCAL News to promote tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode from Kia Forum in LA. During it, he spoke about his time in AEW and reestablishing himself with his new gimmick that is intended to poke fun at fans complaining about him in recent months.
He said, “It’s amazing. When you have been in the business as long as I have, 33 years, you always wanna evolve and revamp your character. Kind of get some diversity with what you’re doing, so I think reestablishing myself under this Leaning Tree gives you a new vibe, reinvigorates you, and keeps things fresh and fun.”
Jericho talked about the FTW Title and changed it to For The World Title because it used to stand for different things that had a negative connotation to it (F**k The World).
He continued, “The one thing about wrestling, and it’s very important, is you have to understand the concepts of being a good guy and, when it starts getting stale, of being a bad guy. It’s kind of like when people say, ‘It’s like a soap opera.’ In that way, it is a soap opera. You’re a good guy, and then suddenly something happens, and then you don’t like ’em for a while. You have to be able to read the room on that and know when people hate you. People are really not liking me right now so it’s time to kind of change. And that’s ok, that’s the beauty of wrestling, you can just lean into it. I take great pride in kind of making people angry with things cause that’s what you want to do. You’re playing a character. When Chris Jericho comes on screen in AEW, it’s different from the Chris Jericho you’re talking to right now. That’s the way it should be. A larger-than-life character is kind of what wrestling is all about, and I embrace that wholly.”
Jericho successfully defended the FTW Title against Hook and Katsuyori Shibata in a triple threat match at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event on Sunday night. The debut of TV Time with Chris Jericho is being advertised for tonight’s Dynamite.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit KCAL News with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
