The oddest part about Chris Jericho’s return to pro wrestling a couple months ago was probably that it happened in AEW rather than in WWE, which had been rumored for several months at the end of last year, and was even considered a foregone conclusion after reports came out Tony Khan may have extended Jericho’s deal.
AEW’s first-ever Men’s World champion is still playing coy about what went on between him and WWE. But in the same interview where he did that — with Ringer Wrestling’s David Shoemaker
— he also explained another oddity of his latest pro wrestling return.
Jericho has officially been introduced as simply that since coming back in April. Commentators and other performers will still call him Chris, but the chyron during his entrance, his ring introduction, etc. are simply for “Jericho”.
We’d heard it was his call to make the change, but not his reason for wanting to make it. Like any kind of scoop on his WWE dealings, Jericho wants this new wrinkle to retain some intrigue.
Here’s what our newest one-named star told Shoemaker about the change:
“Whenever I get asked [what’s his favorite of his wrestling characters/gimmicks], I always say the current version, because if I didn’t then it’d be like ‘what am I doing’.
“I like the idea of what I’m doing now with ‘Jericho’, and by not using that first name a lot, it created this whole intrigue online like, ‘What’s he doing? What’s the reason?’
“Honestly, it’s like a self-titled album, that’s where I got the idea from. I could create a dozen other nicknames, but how many more do I need? Everyone knows who Jericho is, and when you hear that name, then you can remember whatever memories you have on your own.
“So it really is like Metallica The Black Album — you know who Metallica is, you know what’s going on. The Beatles The White Album, same thing. That’s kind of what the idea is for the ‘Jericho’ era, and I like it, I like what’s been going on and going with the flow, seeing what’s working and what’s not.”
Comparing himself to The Beatles and Metallica’s self-title LPs, which many consider to be masterpieces, is a bold stroke from Jericho, but he’s never been accused of underestimating himself.
And while I’m a long-time Jerichoholic and have enjoyed his current run (and believe) it could be setting him up for an even better one, I can’t say I’ve heard a ton of “intrigue” about Jericho dropping “Chris”. In general, I’d say Jericho’s been getting more “dafug?”s lately then “ohh, interesting”s — and that applies to the name change, too.
What do think, of Chris Jericho’s shortened wrestling name, or your outlook for his short-term AEW future? Tell us below.
