AEW's Chris Jericho On What Sets Dark Match Apart From Other Wrestling Movies

Chris Jericho has recently been flexing his acting chops by starring in two slashers, 2024's "Terrifier 3" where he played the minor role of Adam Burke, who gets brutally killed in the film as well as "Dark Match" which was released in theaters, January 2025. In "Dark Match," the veteran plays a more pivotal role and according to Jericho, the wrestling-themed slasher is different from others in similar categories.

"The biggest thing that I had – my hesitation with the movie – is usually wrestling movies aren't very good," Jericho said during an interview with "Sports Illustrated." "You'll get your, you know, Wrestlers versus Zombies type of a thing and it's very campy or there're Ready To Rumble, where it's very humor-based." The veteran then noted that it's hard to lock down pro wrestling as an art form but praised the director of "Dark Match," Lowell Dean and the writer of capturing the spirit of pro wrestling.

Jericho then added that he does have a credit as Executive Producer for "Dark Match," as he helped them with some of the wrestling holes in the script but admitted there weren't many to begin with. "Lowell had done a great job of, kind of like, I said of looking through the background and really nailing some of these things," he explained. "I mean, this is how I started my career, was getting in a van and travelling – you know – 250 kilometers with no service to remote, rural areas, to do a show; I never had to face a Satanic cult along the way."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Sports Illustrated" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.