Black Widow
06-22-2009, 04:54 PM
I recently had the opportunity to interview Chris Jericho just a few days before he was set to appear on the Disney XD show Aaron Stone. In addition to several other topics, we talked about several of Chris’ extracurricular activities, discussed the differences between SmackDown and RAW as well as WCW and the WWE, and Chris also layed the smack down on a legendary WWE wrestler.
Eric: On Monday night, you will be appearing on Aaron Stone. Can you tell me a little about the show, the character you will be playing, and if this is a one time appearance?
Chris Jericho: The show is on the Disney XD Channel. It’s based around the character of Aaron Stone who is a tremendous video game player that gets hired by a billionaire to save the world using his video game reflexes. It’s one of the highest rated shows on Disney XD, especially for 10-15 year old boys. My character on the show is named Billy Cobb who is the greatest ultimate fighter in the world. He gets kidnapped by an evil genius to try and learn the secret fighting skills of Billy Cobb to transfer to the forces of evil so to speak. As far as it being a one-time thing, I think there are talks about doing a recurring part. It was a great role. It was a lot of fun and I’m really excited for everyone to check it out.
Eric: We spoke about a year-and-a-half ago when your autobiography came out. Is a sequel in the works?
Chris Jericho: There is a sequel in the works as we speak. I’ve been working on it for the past year or so. It’s taking a little while but we’re going to get it done. So there is going to be a part two, probably next year.
Eric: Is that going to be through WWE Books or through Grand Central Publishing again?
Chris Jericho: Through Grand Central again. Once we signed the deal for the first one they made a deal for the second one right away.
Eric: In that book, you detail your time wrestling in Japan. As everyone knows, Mitsuharu Misawa tragically passed away last week. I was wondering if you had any stories about him that you would like to share with my readers?
Chris Jericho: You know, I never met with Misawa. I never worked with him. He is one of the best workers in Japanese wrestling history. For people that have just heard the name, it is the equivalent of Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart, that level of performer. He just gave his body night in and night out. I think that the crushing style that All Japan had in the ‘90s might have contributed to his early passing because it was very hard impact, very much dropping each other on the head as a high spot so to speak. They definitely paid a price.
Misawa was one of the greatest. If you’ve never seen one of his matches and you’re a wrestling fan, you should go on YouTube or get some DVDs of Misawa matches. He was very psychologically sound. One of the best technicians, both physically and psychologically, that I’ve ever seen.
Eric: What is the current status of Fozzy?
Chris Jericho: I just finished my vocals for the new record. So it should be done in mid-July. It will be released in September or October I’d say. The record’s called Chasing the Grail.
Eric: You’re a TV star, musician, and an author. Do you have any plans on jumping to the silver screen soon?
Chris Jericho: I’ve always enjoyed acting and have just started to pursue it in earnest over the past three years or so. I love playing a character and I’ve always treated wrestling as show business. I play the character of Chris Jericho every week. So I think it’s a natural transition for me. It’s definitely something I’d like to do more of in the future. It’s been a lot of fun. That’s why doing Aaron Stone was great because I got to play a really cool character and make my own choices and add my own nuances to the character. That’s what playing a part is all about.
Like I said, I do it every week. People say, how long have you been acting for. I’ve been acting for 19 years, ever since I first put on a pair of wrestling boots. I enjoy playing a character and like I’ve said, it would be a natural transition for me.
Eric: Has WWE Studios contacted you about possibly doing a movie for them?
Chris Jericho: There have been a couple of ideas but nothing that really fit what I wanted to do. Originally, Behind Enemy Lines and The Marine 2 were ideas that were floated past me, but they just weren’t what I was looking for at the time. We’ll see what happens in the future.
Eric: You were recently drafted to SmackDown. What do you find to be the biggest difference between wrestling on RAW and SmackDown?
Chris Jericho: SmackDown is the better show overall. Better performers, better wrestling. I think it’s a much better show. I think a lot of that has to do with the acquisitions of Punk and myself. With Mysterio, Hardy, Edge, and the Undertaker coming back I think there are some great combinations and some great matches to be had. I really honestly believe it is the better show of the two right now.
Eric: The WWE will soon be releasing a DVD set about WCW. What was the biggest difference you noticed when you went from the WCW to the WWE?
Chris Jericho: The organization was much different. WCW, in retrospect, was almost a flash in the pan as far as their success, whereas the WWE has been nationally successful for the better part of 20-years now. You could just see a difference in the professionalism. Everybody had a storyline on the show which WCW did not have. It was just a more exciting place for a young guy to be whereas WCW was a great place to be if you were an older guy and just wanted to make some easy money. But for me, I had bigger and better goals and loftier aspirations so the WWE was where I wanted to be at.
Eric: Do you think the WWE winning the Monday Night War had more to do with the WWE doing the right things or WCW doing the wrong things?
Chris Jericho: Probably a combination of both. I think there was a lot of emphasis put on the war and who was beating who and I think both companies sort of lost sight of their own product. I think Vince was the first one to realize let’s not worry about what the other guy is doing let’s just make sure our product is the best. I think Eric Bischoff was very arrogant at the time and I think that cost him.
WCW was very focused on the now and didn’t really have too much focus on the future so-to-speak. You can see that from the list of guys they got rid of, from Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, Perry Saturn, Big Show, and myself, they were just letting guys go left and right. And all of those guys kind of became cornerstones for the WWE resurgence in a lot of ways.
Eric: You stated in the most recent edition of WWE Magazine that you have never faced the Undertaker and the only reason he is undefeated at WrestleMania is because he hasn’t fought you. If you become the man to end the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania how would that rank compared to beating Austin and the Rock to become the first undisputed champion?
Chris Jericho: It would be a huge deal. Obviously it would be at the same level. But Undertaker is still on crutches as we speak so if he was smart he’d would stay on crutches and stay away from me. Now that I’m on his show, it is inevitable that our paths cross. I think he has been coasting for the past few years and has been taking it easy and living on his reputation. I’m not intimidated by him and we’ll see what happens once he gets back.
Eric: I am always asked by my readers about becoming a wrestler. What advice do you have for the kids out there that want to become a wrestler?
Chris Jericho: It’s the same thing for any dream whether you want to become an actor, musician, wrestler, or botanist. If it’s what you want to do just keep your blinders on, believe in yourself, and realize that nothing worth having is easy. If you really want to make it and you really think you have it in your heart than just go for it. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it.
Eric: Is there anything else you’d like my readers to know?
Chris Jericho: Just to check out Aaron Stone. It is a great show. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see what I do with the character Billy Cobb. Like I said, he is a master martial artist and there is some great action as far as that goes. He is also a smart guy and has a real sensitive heart. There some funny moments in there that you wouldn’t normally see from Chris Jericho promo in the WWE. It’s going to be a lot of fun so check it out.
By Eric Cohen, About.com
Eric: On Monday night, you will be appearing on Aaron Stone. Can you tell me a little about the show, the character you will be playing, and if this is a one time appearance?
Chris Jericho: The show is on the Disney XD Channel. It’s based around the character of Aaron Stone who is a tremendous video game player that gets hired by a billionaire to save the world using his video game reflexes. It’s one of the highest rated shows on Disney XD, especially for 10-15 year old boys. My character on the show is named Billy Cobb who is the greatest ultimate fighter in the world. He gets kidnapped by an evil genius to try and learn the secret fighting skills of Billy Cobb to transfer to the forces of evil so to speak. As far as it being a one-time thing, I think there are talks about doing a recurring part. It was a great role. It was a lot of fun and I’m really excited for everyone to check it out.
Eric: We spoke about a year-and-a-half ago when your autobiography came out. Is a sequel in the works?
Chris Jericho: There is a sequel in the works as we speak. I’ve been working on it for the past year or so. It’s taking a little while but we’re going to get it done. So there is going to be a part two, probably next year.
Eric: Is that going to be through WWE Books or through Grand Central Publishing again?
Chris Jericho: Through Grand Central again. Once we signed the deal for the first one they made a deal for the second one right away.
Eric: In that book, you detail your time wrestling in Japan. As everyone knows, Mitsuharu Misawa tragically passed away last week. I was wondering if you had any stories about him that you would like to share with my readers?
Chris Jericho: You know, I never met with Misawa. I never worked with him. He is one of the best workers in Japanese wrestling history. For people that have just heard the name, it is the equivalent of Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart, that level of performer. He just gave his body night in and night out. I think that the crushing style that All Japan had in the ‘90s might have contributed to his early passing because it was very hard impact, very much dropping each other on the head as a high spot so to speak. They definitely paid a price.
Misawa was one of the greatest. If you’ve never seen one of his matches and you’re a wrestling fan, you should go on YouTube or get some DVDs of Misawa matches. He was very psychologically sound. One of the best technicians, both physically and psychologically, that I’ve ever seen.
Eric: What is the current status of Fozzy?
Chris Jericho: I just finished my vocals for the new record. So it should be done in mid-July. It will be released in September or October I’d say. The record’s called Chasing the Grail.
Eric: You’re a TV star, musician, and an author. Do you have any plans on jumping to the silver screen soon?
Chris Jericho: I’ve always enjoyed acting and have just started to pursue it in earnest over the past three years or so. I love playing a character and I’ve always treated wrestling as show business. I play the character of Chris Jericho every week. So I think it’s a natural transition for me. It’s definitely something I’d like to do more of in the future. It’s been a lot of fun. That’s why doing Aaron Stone was great because I got to play a really cool character and make my own choices and add my own nuances to the character. That’s what playing a part is all about.
Like I said, I do it every week. People say, how long have you been acting for. I’ve been acting for 19 years, ever since I first put on a pair of wrestling boots. I enjoy playing a character and like I’ve said, it would be a natural transition for me.
Eric: Has WWE Studios contacted you about possibly doing a movie for them?
Chris Jericho: There have been a couple of ideas but nothing that really fit what I wanted to do. Originally, Behind Enemy Lines and The Marine 2 were ideas that were floated past me, but they just weren’t what I was looking for at the time. We’ll see what happens in the future.
Eric: You were recently drafted to SmackDown. What do you find to be the biggest difference between wrestling on RAW and SmackDown?
Chris Jericho: SmackDown is the better show overall. Better performers, better wrestling. I think it’s a much better show. I think a lot of that has to do with the acquisitions of Punk and myself. With Mysterio, Hardy, Edge, and the Undertaker coming back I think there are some great combinations and some great matches to be had. I really honestly believe it is the better show of the two right now.
Eric: The WWE will soon be releasing a DVD set about WCW. What was the biggest difference you noticed when you went from the WCW to the WWE?
Chris Jericho: The organization was much different. WCW, in retrospect, was almost a flash in the pan as far as their success, whereas the WWE has been nationally successful for the better part of 20-years now. You could just see a difference in the professionalism. Everybody had a storyline on the show which WCW did not have. It was just a more exciting place for a young guy to be whereas WCW was a great place to be if you were an older guy and just wanted to make some easy money. But for me, I had bigger and better goals and loftier aspirations so the WWE was where I wanted to be at.
Eric: Do you think the WWE winning the Monday Night War had more to do with the WWE doing the right things or WCW doing the wrong things?
Chris Jericho: Probably a combination of both. I think there was a lot of emphasis put on the war and who was beating who and I think both companies sort of lost sight of their own product. I think Vince was the first one to realize let’s not worry about what the other guy is doing let’s just make sure our product is the best. I think Eric Bischoff was very arrogant at the time and I think that cost him.
WCW was very focused on the now and didn’t really have too much focus on the future so-to-speak. You can see that from the list of guys they got rid of, from Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, Perry Saturn, Big Show, and myself, they were just letting guys go left and right. And all of those guys kind of became cornerstones for the WWE resurgence in a lot of ways.
Eric: You stated in the most recent edition of WWE Magazine that you have never faced the Undertaker and the only reason he is undefeated at WrestleMania is because he hasn’t fought you. If you become the man to end the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania how would that rank compared to beating Austin and the Rock to become the first undisputed champion?
Chris Jericho: It would be a huge deal. Obviously it would be at the same level. But Undertaker is still on crutches as we speak so if he was smart he’d would stay on crutches and stay away from me. Now that I’m on his show, it is inevitable that our paths cross. I think he has been coasting for the past few years and has been taking it easy and living on his reputation. I’m not intimidated by him and we’ll see what happens once he gets back.
Eric: I am always asked by my readers about becoming a wrestler. What advice do you have for the kids out there that want to become a wrestler?
Chris Jericho: It’s the same thing for any dream whether you want to become an actor, musician, wrestler, or botanist. If it’s what you want to do just keep your blinders on, believe in yourself, and realize that nothing worth having is easy. If you really want to make it and you really think you have it in your heart than just go for it. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it.
Eric: Is there anything else you’d like my readers to know?
Chris Jericho: Just to check out Aaron Stone. It is a great show. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see what I do with the character Billy Cobb. Like I said, he is a master martial artist and there is some great action as far as that goes. He is also a smart guy and has a real sensitive heart. There some funny moments in there that you wouldn’t normally see from Chris Jericho promo in the WWE. It’s going to be a lot of fun so check it out.
By Eric Cohen, About.com