Chris Jericho On How To Fix WWE Cruiserweight Division, AJ Styles, Explains Dean Ambrose Feud
WWE Superstar Chris Jericho recently spoke to Busted Open Radio regarding his recent run with the company. You can check out what he had to say below:
How to fix the current Cruiserweight division:
"There's a lot of that but also, how much more can you do? Also, you say Cruiserweights – you remember things differently than what there were. People say 'Attitude era was great we want the Attitude Era.' I'm like, really? Did you forget when Mae Young gave birth to a hand? Did you forget about the Katy Vick necrophilia angle? Really think about what you're saying. So the Cruiserweight division in WCW, while the style was innovative, a lot of people really didn't give a damn. I remember vividly, vividly working in a Clash Of Champions, Jericho vs. Eddie Guerrero. And you think 'Oh my gosh, what a dream match.' It was for the Cruiserweight championship, and nobody gave a sh*t.
"They sat on their hands the whole show and I remember just – I think it was in Nashville or something, but nobody cared. Not one person making noise. Which you might think is crazy, but that's the way it was. So when you see 205 Live and people are making noise, we went through it too. And it's like you said, the style isn't that different from a Seth Rollins, a Jericho, I think I see every single person does an a-tope from Samoa Joe to Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn – so what is the difference? I don't really know. If you're going for the characters and personality then that's "the heavyweight guys." So what do the Cruiserweights do to try and break through? I don't know. Neville is a great character but he needs a great babyface to work with.
"And here's what I think could work, I think if you put Enzo Amore as a Cruiserweight, and put Enzo vs. Neville for the title, have Enzo win it, watch people get interested in the Cruiserweight division. And people at home are going 'Ah Enzo can't work!' It's not about that. It's about getting people to care about the title. Get Enzo in there, have him win it, and watch people start to get involved in the 205 Live. Then Neville has someone to work with. He doesn't have a baby face to work with. He really doesn't, that's super genuinely over with the crowd. That will help."
Being happy with all the young talent he put over:
"Yeah I am, and it's funny too because even the Dean Ambrose feud, I know a lot of people didn't like the Asylum match but that whole feud was based around Dean Ambrose being called the Lunatic Fringe, but never doing anything loony. You can't just call yourself that. So that's when I came up with the potted plant, smash it over his head. Then he comes back and destroys my light-up jacket because I don't want that anymore, cause that's a babyface thing – which I have now brought back into the Fozzy show cause that gets a great reaction as it should. But he destroys the jacket, then I put him in a stray jacket, then I beat the sh*t out of him and we have this big match that culminated into the thumbtack bump. All that stuff was designated to get more of a spotlight onto him and his character.
"Same what I did with AJ, same what I did with Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, the matches we had always tore the house down. Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, it was a great year to work with all those guys because work wise I can still teach them and keep up with them if that's the word you want to use. Eclipse them if that's the word you want to use. But they all have the same attitude I have in my "generation." They just want to have a great match. They don't really care about this, that, or the other thing, we just want to have as good a match as possible. And I can help with the character of that.
"I remember where I used to have this thing where I wear the scarf and I refuse to take it off. I won't take it off. Then finally the babyface takes it off and holds it, and what's he gonna do with it? I would have Seth Rollins blow his nose it in, or have Roman Reigns put it on and prance around – people would love it. Finn Balor did that too. It gives these people who haven't really had a chance to show what a character is, the character of being jus this guy who is going to screw with Chris Jericho. And of course I said accordingly you have your match right there, you're off to the races. it was fun doing that and helping the guys. And also it was good for me, it helped me hone my style and evolve my way of doing things. It was definitely one of my favorite years ever."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Busted Open Radio