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You were public in defence of Marko Stunt in that people feel he’s not the right build or the right size for the industry and you compared him to Rey Mysterio, could you elaborate on your thoughts towards people like Marko Stunt and their place in the wrestling industry?
Jericho: Well, it’s the same thing I’ve heard my whole career. When I first came into the business at 19, everyone said I was too small. Maybe at the time I was but I had to make it on my charisma and on my desire, on my passion, on my abilities. And then a few years later when Rey Mysterio came along, I was there and I met him and I was yelling at ‘Love Machine’ Art Barr for bringing a thirteen year old kid in the room when we’re drinking and smoking joints and he’s like ‘no, he’s eighteen years old, he’s a wrestler’ and I said ‘you’re kidding me!’
So, it’s the same every few years. What’s small? What’s big? To me over is over. And if you’re saying someone can’t be in the business because they’re too small, well it’s the same thing they said to me. It’s the same thing they said to Rey Mysterio. And my response is would you rather see a 6ft 5” 280 pound muscle-head that is boring and has no personality, or would you rather see a 5ft 2” fireball that has some charisma to him that can do a lot of great stuff.
And listen, this is show-business, you know what I’m saying. You can go watch a movie and Yoda spins through the air and kills a bunch of Empire soldiers that are five times his size, you cheer and yell and scream. So, I think people need to settle down and relax about what’s not believable and believable. Wrestling is a show, it’s show-business, it always has been, it always will be and whoever attracts the most people, the most viewers to that show, will have a job. Will Marko Stunt be a future world champion like Jericho or Rey Mysterio? I don’t know. Who am I to judge when they told me the same thing twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine years ago.
I like the idea of Marko Stunt being AEW’s Yoda. Maybe that’ll catch on. I don’t know [Jericho laughs] But one of the other big online things we’re seeing a lot at the moment is the back and forth between AEW talent and talent from WWE and NXT. The most high profile one was Seth Rollins and Kenny Omega having a bit of bickering online. What are your thoughts on the back and forth between the two companies and do you think it’s a positive thing for both companies in general?
Jericho: Sure, anytime there’s an option and it gives people a chance to take sides it’s exciting. Am I going to be involved? I don’t argue with people on Twitter, I just say what I mean to people’s faces you know? The one or two things that I’ve said that are kind of anti-WWE weren’t really planned at all, they just kind of happened due to what was going on and what I was doing in the ring. So, if those guys want to fight, or bicker as you said, then go for it. It just creates more passion, shall we say, and more relevance and more of a battle, I guess, more excitement. All of those sorts of things and if people want to get involved that way and get behind it ‘ooh, did you hear what he said’ then more power to them.
Next: Chris Jericho reveals his thoughts about people that say AEW should stop taking shots at WWE and focus on itself
