Jericho Speaks on whether he will return to WWE

[Troy]

By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor


Chris Jericho says that "as of right now," he does not envision a WWE return "any time soon."

“That’s not to say that I’ll never return, but I have no plans, no schedule, no time line for it," Jericho told Al Castle in a recent interview originally published in PWI.

"Every fan that I see is like, ‘Hey when are you coming back? What’s going? What are you doing?’ And I’ve never really thought that far ahead," Jericho said. "As far as I know right now, I don’t have any plans to come back any time in the near future.â€

Asked about the timing of leaving WWE when the promotion is short on top stars, Jericho says it's WWE's responsibility and he beleives it's a good thing to force WWE to finally build new stars.

“That’s their issue. And I think it’s better for them if they lose a lot of top guys, because then they don’t rely on the same thing over and over again," Jericho said. "They’re forced to move forward, which is something they could have done a couple years ago, but they really didn’t. So now they have no choice."

Jericho also lamented the lack of experience many younger wrestlers have in today's era where there aren't as many places to find full-time work learning the craft outside of WWE's developmental system.

“Now you guys who have five, six, seven, eight years experience working at the top of the top, whereas before you had guys who 15 years experience or 20 years experience. You just might never have that anymore. It’s one of those things where the whole game has changed now the curve will now maybe drop," Jericho said. "You just don’t have guys like with that experience and it’s not built that way anymore. It’s kind of sad in a lot of ways.â€

Asked about TNA's struggles to grow an audience beyond their core audience on Thursday nights, Jericho suggested new ideas or a different perspective could be warranted.

“I just think a company with that much talent should be doing better than they are. They’ve had the same ratings for the last three years. It’s just unacceptable with the amount of talent they have there," Jericho said.

Jericho added, from a businessman's perspective, that if a company isn't showing signs of growth with its core product, which would be TNA's TV product, it's worth looking into why the product is not clicking.

"I run the business of ‘Fozzy.’ And if somebody’s not performing and we’re not getting bigger, than something has to change. So I just wish they would look at it that way, instead of relying on the same old things and the same old people," Jericho said. "Just as an outsider looking in—as any business owner looking in—if you had the same return or the same results after three years, maybe you might want to try something different to make it grow.â€

Jericho also noted in the interview that he's not looking for a "Ric Flair or Shawn Michaels" farewell from the wrestling business. He said he's content with not getting a "last applause" if he never wrestles another match for WWE again.

Some good points by Jericho here about WWE now being forced to move forward and about the "lack" of experience of the newer wrestlers coming through the system. I am not sure I believe that he isn't returning anytime soon to WWE since the Rumble is a couple of weeks away and with 40 entrants there will be quite a few surprise entrants and I feel that he will return for just the one night to be in the Rumble. I don't think he needs a big farewell and to be honest I am not sure he deserves a Flair/Michaels style farewell, the only other current wrestler that I think deserves it is Undertaker.

 

[Prodigy]

I hope he does come back for one last run. I miss Jericho a lot and the show just feels bare without him.

 

[Troy]

I really liked the guy but I feel that his most recent run was his comeback run. He returned after a long break and went right into the mainevent and had a fantastic run for a few years. The guy has done everything now and I think that there is no real need for him to return except for the odd surprise short return. I don't ever see him coming back for another long run again. Also I see WWE moving on a bit with their maineventers trying to get more fresh faces in the title scene to build for the future.

 

[Deezy]

The Youth movement continues in WWE, Jericho doesn't need to win belts or even have to win all his matches to be over. HBK was the same way. Orton and Cena should start doing this to newer guys. Barrett would be a major star right now if he beat Cena cleanly. Sheamus would be Triple in 2000 if he beat him cleanly. The business isn't like the 80s and 90s. Guaranteed contracts mean you don't have to be on top all the time and your paychecks get smaller.

 

[Dod Draper]

Bittersweet for me. I like the fact that it allows more breathing room for the younger guys on the roster, but it also sucks that we may not be getting Jericho back on the mic any time soon, if ever.

I agree with what's been said so far though; there's not really much reason for him to return. He's won all there is to win and has feuded with the top stars in the company. He has other interests to persue in his life and he's in a somewhat unique position where he isn't relying on pro wrestling for a paycheck.

Best of luck to him.

 

[Keith]

Lets not forget who we are talking about here through. Jericho is a guy who constantly likes to keep people guessing about his future. Quite often the oppisite of what he says tends to be true. As well as he might have done with Fozzy so far, I still don't think it is good enough to turn his back on wrestling just yet. Don't get me wrong I do think Y2J's career is winding down, but I still think it has a couple of years left.

I wouldn't rule out a return at the rumble, and maybe even him winning it. If you think about it, if this was the plan, then his comments in that interview would be the perfect way to throw fans off. Not saying it will happen, but it is certainly a possiblity.