Chris Jericho Talks His RAW Return, How It Was Leaked, Criticism Of His Promo, His Favorite Return
On episode 210 of Talk Is Jericho, six-time world champion, Chris Jericho talked about his WWE return and discussed some of his favorite surprise returns.
Jericho indicated that he was quite happy with his return segment and that this present WWE run will be a long one.
"It's not just a one-time thing. I am back, baby! I'm back for the attack, like Dokken always said, and I'm in the Royal Rumble, which is now for the [WWE] World Heavyweight Championship, so maybe I'll become a seven-time world champion. And I will say this: it's going to be a long, wild ride. I've got a lot of plans [and] a lot of things that [are] going on."
During the podcast, Jericho addressed some fan criticisms that 'Y2J' makes too many surprise returns.
"I love so many things about the wrestling business and I love all of you fans, but man, some of you complain a lot, which is my favorite part. It's like, 'oh, Jericho is re-re-re-re-returning. How many surprise returns is Jericho going to make?' As many as I want, baby, because I still love doing it and I still have fun doing it."
Also, Jericho responded to social media criticisms that his return promo on Monday's episode of WWE Monday Night RAW included too much juvenile comedy.
"Why [was it terrible comedy], because I started a 'rooty tooty booty' chant? You mean that's not 'if you smell what The Rock is cooking?' level of comedy? The thing is, it works! It's fun because it's The New Day. Their whole gimmick is based around being goofy and I knew that I could get people to chant 'rooty tooty booty', so if you weren't there and you didn't like it, tough luck because the people in San Antonio [Texas] loved it!" Jericho added, "if that's bad humor and you didn't laugh, oh, I'm sorry. Go watch some [Søren] Kierkegaard or something like that. Go watch some Peter Sellers movies or something because I thought it was funny and it was a catchphrase that was chanted throughout the show and they'll probably make a damn t-shirt of it."
Additionally, Jericho claimed that calling The New Day by the wrong name was intentional, as it is something that he has done throughout his career.
"Yes, I called them Green Day, which some people went, 'ah, you said the wrong name, Green Day'. Hello! Go back to see Chris Jericho's previous promos where I mispronounce people's names. I thought Green Day was perfect."
Jericho indicated that many fans did not realize that his promo on Monday night paralleled his debut promo when he interrupted The Rock on RAW.
"Another thing that a lot of people didn't pick up is I basically transcribed my very first promo, the debut in 1999 and kept it very much the same and reapplied that to what's going on right now, so it was a blast."
According to Jericho, his return was supposed to be a surprise, so he hid on a bus in the parking lot for three hours; however, it was all for naught as WWE inadvertently spoiled the big surprise.
"I was told this was going to be a big surprise, which it was up until a certain point when somehow it leaked out online, but then even better, [WWE] have a run sheet in the back that says all the matches, you know, 'Heath Slater versus Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens versus Adrian Neville, New Day promo interrupted by Jericho' and that's posted everywhere backstage. I'm like, 'wasn't this supposed to be a surprise? And even more so, if it wasn't a surprise, why was I hiding in a bus in the parking lot for, like, the last three hours by myself? Right?' Like the biggest nerd ever or the biggest snob ever. You'd think that I'm sure a lot of people were like, 'where's Jericho? Boy, is he ever being a snob!'"
Of Jericho's seven surprise returns to WWE, his favorite was the 2013 Royal Rumble, as it was a big surprise and it got a positive reaction from the crowd.
"My favorite [return], I think was the 2013 Royal Rumble where nobody, and I don't care who you are, nobody knew I was going to be there. I don't know what happened. I was flying in from L.A. [California], actually, and my flight was delayed, so when I landed it was already 4:30 [pm] and the building was open by then because pay-per-views start at 7:30 [pm], so the actual opening matches were going on, so I made it over to the arena, hid in the bus, and this time, my name wasn't on the run sheet, and then I had to go to the Royal Rumble meeting with all of the guys and I thought for sure one of these guys would say something [but] nobody did and when I came out, Dolph Ziggler was first [and] I came out second. It was maybe the biggest reaction I ever got and one of the reasons for that was people were legitimately surprised, which I thought was amazing [and] such a cool moment. The first one with The Rock was great. Torchbearer one [was] okay. I don't remember much about the end of the world as we know it. I don't know if that one was very cool. I thought the one with Miz and Bray Wyatt was one of my favorites and I think the one last night was a blast too."
In addition to talking about his big return to WWE, Jericho interviewed legendary actor William Shatner on this episode of Talk Is Jericho. Click here to check out the rest of the show. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Talk Is Jericho