Chris Jericho Between The Ropes Interview

Courtesy of Adam Samons:

Between The Ropes
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Central Florida's Sports Radio 740 The Team
Simulcast online at BetweenTheRopes.com

On Wednesday night, October 24, Chris Jericho joined hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci live on Between The Ropes on Central Florida's Sports Radio 740 The Team to discuss his new book, his rise to wrestling stardom, the possibility of his return to wrestling, and much more.

The interview began with Chris joking about some of his old WCW theme music that Fritz played to greet him with. Chris said that he puts a lot of stock in how his theme music sounds and once, while in WCW, he heard his theme being used for basketball highlights on TBS. As a result he wondered why they didn't have Jimmy Hart, who wrote A Man Called Sting among other songs, write their music instead of randomly choosing some stock music from the production truck for their wrestlers.

Next Chris was asked about the process of writing his new book. He said he enjoyed it and he made sure he had final control over every aspect of the book. He also remarked that "it's very emotional and grueling to sit down and put your life story on paper. It's not just all about wrestling. It's a great wrestling story and wrestling fans will dig it, but there's so much more behind it than that. It's 15 years of experiences, of highs and lows to get to this dream of mine."

Chris also talked about whether he got any help on the book from wrestling's most prominent author, Mick Foley. "I asked Mick to read the final manuscript and give me a quote I could put on the back of my book. Mick then called me and told me he'd give me a quote, but he also had a couple of suggestions. I was thinking 'man, when a multi time New York Times best selling author wants to give you suggestions I'll take it." Chris went on to say that he expected 4 or 5 suggestions when in fact Mick had gone through all 411 pages and had a lot of suggestions on grammar. For this Chris gives Mick credit for helping him get together a good "polish edit."

When asked if there was any one thing that got him hired with WCW Chris responded that there "wasn't one instance where it was like 'that was the one, but it was a culmination of experiences. It was experiences like training in the Hart Brothers Pro Wrestling Camp, with no Hart Brothers, and getting my first match in Alberta, Canada,…going to Mexico, Germany, Japan, Smokey Mountain, and ECW. It gave me so many different colors to paint with. Not just in wrestling experience, but in life experience.

As an example of one of these life experience Chris told of being held up at gunpoint in Mexico City. "I tried to pick up a chick who happened to be a thief. She drove me to the edge of town, kicked me out of the car and took all my money. As she drove away I was thinking 'That bitch just stole my money and I bought her dinner. How big of a mark am I?"

Talk then turned to his hiatus from wrestling. Chris said that at first he didn't watch much wrestling after leaving. Though watches WrestleMania he has mostly kept up with the product by reading the internet. Chris then credited writing his book with reminding him how much he loved wrestling and how fortunate he was to have accomplished his dream of becoming a wrestler.

Regarding the entertainment aspect of wrestling Jericho said he feels it is the most important part of the business. "You need to have a part when you're in the wrestling business, you need to have a character. You have to commit to playing that character the same way that Anthony Hopkins committed to being a cannibal for Silence of the Lambs…that is what being a good character in wrestling is. Also taking chances, thinking outside of the box. I hung out with Pillman one weekend in ECW, it was the only time we ever really crossed paths. The one thing he told me that I remembered was that 'if you want to make it in wrestling you've got to think outside the box and do something that has never been done before.' That is a lesson for everybody to remember and learn. I've remembered it for everything I've done.

On his opinion of scripted promos Chris said that while he does sometimes work with writers such as Brian Gewirtz, whom he praised, he does do most of them himself since "there's nobody else that can write a promo for me and have it better than I have it in my head."

He also talked about developing his own promo style by watching guys like Ric Flair and Arn Anderson do taped local promos for WCW television. Eventually he was given the chance to experiment by doing some taped local promos himself. He also said he feels that WWE should give young guys a similar opportunity by making them cut their own promos on their online show Heat.

The interview finished with Chris talking about returning to wrestling. Chris said that "when the time comes I'll know." He went on to describe TNA as a "like a team that is only 2 or 3 players, and maybe a coach, away from a championship." When talking about WWE he emphasized that he left on good terms, enjoyed working for Vince, and that he has remained in contact with him throughout his time away. "For me WWE would be the first choice, but it wouldn't be the only choice. As a businessman you've got to look at both sides of the coin and do what's best for you and what's best for your family…I'm in a very enviable position because I'm not forced to do anything out of necessity, I can do whatever I want to do because I want to do it."

To listen to the entire Chris Jericho interview, including Chris discussing many hilarious stories from the road, seeing Ralphus oil himself up, and how to handle a poorly attended autograph signing, as well as the entire October 24th edition of Between The Ropes in streaming audio, visit the show online at http://www.BetweenTheRopes.com. Join us for Between The Ropes for two hours every Wednesday night at 10:00pm ET on Central Florida's Sports Radio 740 The Team and worldwide on BetweenTheRopes.com.