Chris Jericho spoke with The LAW Sunday night about Fozzy’s new album and his latest WWE run. Here are some highlights.
The original contract with WWE: “I went to Connecticut to meet with Vince McMahon last year after SummerSlam, and my plan was to come back in December, do the month of vignettes, then work January to the end of May, and then in June we were supposed to embark on the tour for Sin and Bones, because originally it was supposed to come out in June. Then when I found out that the record wasn’t gonna come out until mid-August, I said, ‘Well, I’ll stay for another three months, until the end of August.’ Until SummerSlam, basically. I kind of re-signed and extended my deal for another three months at the beginning of May.”
His match at SummerSlam with Dolph Ziggler: “They wanted to start the show off with a bang, and I don’t care if I go on first, last, in the middle, whatever. But if I’m going on first, I’m gonna be going out there to make a statement and kick it off with a bang, and I don’t want anybody to be able to follow it. I think the LA crowd was primed; SummerSlam is a big deal, they’ve promoted it and done a great job of making it the second biggest pay-per-view of the year, and the crowd was crazy. And honestly, it’s fun to kind of end off that last run as Y2J, as a good guy, after being the hated heel for basically the better part of four years.”
Talent Trying to Break Out in Current Landscape: “Guys have to step out and take a chance, but they’re not really encouraged to like it was in the old days, and I think there’s pros and cons to that. I think we’re seeing that in a lot of the characters that are on the show. But then suddenly you’ve got a guy like Damien Sandow who comes out and, against all odds, gets over with this character. Then once he starts getting the confidence for it, then he’s starting to take a chance, so you still can get that.
How did I get into wrestling?: With my grandma, my dad, and my aunt. You could go as family entertainment. The Attitude Era was a great time; if it was still going on, I’d be right in the middle of it still doing all the stuff that I used to do. But it changed, and that’s the way it is, so you must change with it. It’s still wrestling; it’s all about having great matches, great characters and great build-ups. It’s the same concept, it’s just that you can’t say ‘ass’ and ‘son of a b—h’ anymore. Well, if you can’t do a good program and not say ‘ass’ and ‘son of a b—h,’ then you don’t need to be working in this business anyway.”
