The following are highlights of a new Digital Spy interview with Chris Jericho:
How did you feel about the end of The Streak and how it happened? “I loved it, I thought it was great. It was a legitimate shock, it got everybody talking. I think the right guy got it, if you’re going from a credibility standpoint, and if you’re going from a believability standpoint. As much as people and fans and journalists want to believe that it’s the case, I’m not sure if Undertaker had too many matches left in him. Maybe he doesn’t want to wrestle again. Maybe he knew that he couldn’t take any more.
“It’s a big, physical task to wrestle as it is, and once a year is hard. I wouldn’t want to come and wrestle just once a year. That’s even harder than wrestling 200 times a year, because your body’s not used to it. And the older you get, the harder it gets, the more the aches and pains kick in.
“Maybe The Undertaker decided that, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’. And much to the fans’ chagrin, who wish that we would wrestle until the day we die at 90 years old and explode into a puff of dust in the ring, sometimes you’ve got to make that decision.
“If the time was now, Brock was the right guy for that day, and I thought it was amazing. And I would have hated it – hated it – if Undertaker would have retired without losing. I think that would have been a horrible way to go, I’m really happy that he lost The Streak.”
What do you think of the work Paul Heyman’s done in the last year, and especially since WrestleMania? “If it’s Paul Heyman you know it’s going to be good. He’s a master at writing promos, at delivering promos and getting an angle over. He’s just one of those talents that can do it all. It doesn’t surprise me in the least – as a matter of fact it surprises me that people are so surprised at how good it’s been.
“The WWE is always morphing and changing in a good way because you have younger guys that are coming in, you have guys that are finally having their chance and breaking through to the next level, and you’ve got guys like Paul Heyman that have been doing this for so long they know exactly how to handle things, exactly how to get things over.”
What do you think about the rumors of a CM Punk return? “I don’t know, man, who knows, right? That’s something that only he can answer for sure. To me, if he hasn’t come back already, then… I left the WWE for two-and-a-half years in 2005. The only difference was I left when my contract was up, but I disappeared too, because I just was over it. I couldn’t take it anymore, I wasn’t interested in being there, I was getting miserable, so I know how he feels.
“I had no intention of coming back, and after two-and-a-half years I watched Shawn Michaels vs John Cena at WrestleMania 23 and that inspired me to want to come back, but it took two-and-a-half years to get there.
“So my answer is, ‘I don’t know’, but I just know how I was when I did the same thing. It took a long time for me to be able to come back, and I was probably the same age as Punk is now too, so maybe he’s going through the same thing and after a few years he’ll come back.”
How would you feel about Sting joining the WWE in some capacity? “Personally I don’t really have any opinions either way. If he comes to the WWE, good for him, it’s great. I saw him a couple of times in TNA and you know pretty much what he can do at this point in time. He is a legend and to have him come to the WWE for the first time would be great, but after a week or two what’s he going to do there?
“If you’re a hardcore fan it might be cool – for me it doesn’t really matter either way; if that’s what he wants to do then good for him, and I hope he shows up. And if not, then I don’t think it’s going to make a difference either way in WWE business. It’s not 1998 anymore, you know.”
Check out the complete interview at DigitalSpy.com.
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