The latest word from the wrestling world is that AEW star and pro wrestling veteran Chris Jericho lately was spotted on TMZ Inside the Ring to discuss a variety of topics.
He talked about moving away from his Y2J character and mentioned he had spoken with WWE commentators, asking them to stop referring to him as Y2J.
Jericho stated, “If you go back to Y2J and then suddenly when I became — we’re talking about the Shawn Michaels era — 2008 when I’ve got short hair. The countdown is gone, i’ve gone from long tights to short tights. And I said to the commentators, ‘You are not allowed to call me Y2J anymore. Never say that word again.’ Because you have to make people understand this is a fresh guy. This is a new version, and when Kiss took off their makeup in 1982, you knew that.
‘What happened to Kiss? They’re the makeup guys!’ Not anymore, and this is a new thing. So, you have to subtly let people know that this is a new era, a new force to be reckoned with, a new style, you know? And the more drastic you can do that, the better. In a separate but related matter, if it’s shaving your head, that’s fine.”
On his character evolution:
“Sometimes you have to do something drastic to let people know it’s a novel guy. And I’ve always done that. And whether it’s a catchphrase or a look, or a style of music, or the Tron behind me — or the wardrobe I’m wearing in the ring, you got to keep it different and make each era specific. So that people know, ‘Okay, this is a new guy.’ Now, the Jericho era, people will know that — or they’ll see a picture. Know, ‘Okay, that’s the Jericho era.’ And that’s always what I wanted to do.”
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