Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio
Guest: Chris Jericho
Date: 2/23/11
Your Hosts: Patrick Kelley, James Walsh, & Nick Noel
Transcript By: Patrick Kelley
Back in 2005, Chris Jericho joined us for the very first time. That interview was a landmark interview for us as it was the first interview that saw James solo from his former co-host and that interview was used as a demo to land a spot on “The Blaze” 1260 AM where The Interactive Interview, now Interactive Wrestling Radio, got perhaps its most exposure ever.
Fast forward 6 years, we’re still here! And, Chris Jericho is back with us for another round. This time, we are splitting from our former show station which we were on for over 2 years. So, it seems like when Chris Jericho comes knocking, the Epicenter starts shaking things up, puns fully intended.
To listen, visit www.WrestlingEpicenter.com and click either the Interviews tab on the left or the link below the cover of Chris Jericho’s new book on the right. A WMA file and a YouTube video can be downloaded to hear this great interview. If you like this interview, please check out our Store/Merchandise section and help keep us going 100% free!
CHRIS JERICHO
– Jericho joins TII once again to plug his new book “Undisputed” which chronicles his time in the WWE, picking up right where the first book left off.
– Chris has fun with the hosts as he jokingly refers to Patrick sounding like a midget & James being a nerd!
– He is pleased with the early success of the book. Presales alone led to it making the New York’s Best Seller list. This leads into a lighthearted discussion about Mick Foley & whether or not Chris will make the list more times than him.
– It is also brought up that Jericho’s book was published by the same company that also published Mick Foley’s “Countdown to Lockdown” & Bret Hart’s “Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling”. Jericho was the first to work with that company, as he worked with them on his first book “A Lion’s Tale” and joked that he was “Breaking down the walls at Grand Central Publishing”
– The reason both of his books were written outside of the WWE is that they never asked him to write one. When he left originally in 2005 and was approached about doing a biography, he thought that it would be all one large biography. After realizing that he had a lot of good stories to tell, he decided to split it into two. He originally only signed the one book deal, but after the success of “A Lion’s Tale”, he got signed up to do another. He also left the door open for a third book.
– The discussion shifts towards his band Fozzy. “Undisputed” also goes into detail about the creation of the band. He has always dreamed of being both a wrestler & a musician. He has enjoyed success at both. He also comments that he’s never thought of himself as just a wrestler but as a showman and a fully rounded performer.
– He goes into his big announcement which he could not make at the time of the interview. It was later revealed that he would be the host of the Golden God Awards Show where he will also perform with Fozzy. He swore here that his announcement would NOT be wrestling related and that he will have no role to play at Wrestlemania XXVII. This also leads into Chris telling a funny story about a wrestling fan that ran into him at an airport and insisted he was going to be at the Elimination Chamber PPV.
– Working with Steamboat was a heavily talked about feud from 2009, and Jericho was very happy with how it turned out. He puts Steamboat over as a natural talent, and was amazed at how well Steamboat performed after being away for so long. Originally, the match at Wrestlemania XXV was supposed to be him against Snuka, Piper, & Valentine. He thought that match would be tough to carry, but the idea was that Jericho would face participants from the first Wrestlemania and also a Hall of Famer. Jericho then suggested Steamboat take one of the spots, and after some planning, Ricky was inducted to the Hall of Fame that year. He also says that he had matches with Ricky in Japan & South Carolina that were untelevised but “really, really good”.
– When asked about possibly suffering some of the same backlash as The Rock for “leaving” wrestling to pursue other interests, Jericho says that everything he does is something that he wants to do and he wants to grow to become the best all around performer he can be.
– When comparing the two books he’s written, he says that the positive feedback he got on “Lion’s Tale” is that it was mostly information that most people were unfamiliar with, so it was fascinating. However, with “Undisputed”, the information is very current & familiar, so fans are excited to get more details behind the stuff they’ve already seen.
– He admits to being his own worst critic and what he has written in both of his books are very honest & true to how he feels, both good & bad.
– When talking about the change of character he did in 2008, he says that it was perfectly natural for him to play. He created the character and wanted to be something completely different from what he had done before. He also notes that most heels in the WWE now are trying emulate that character. When he returns, he’ll want to reinvent his character again. “I never look back to the past”.
