Chris Jericho: Who He’d Like to Face Currently, His WrestleMania XXX Status, and More

In a recent interview with The Boston Herald, five-time World Champion Chris Jericho discussed a number of wrestling-related topics. Here are some of the highlights:

Who he’d like to face:

As a heel Chris Jericho, I’d love to work with Daniel Bryan. We could tear the damn house. That could still happen. A lot of times I’ll hear I could never be a heel again because people like me too much, but put me in the ring with a babyface that is as over as Daniel Bryan and I’ll show you some heel stuff that nobody there is doing right now because no one knows to do it. I requested to work with Cesaro, and we had a 30-minute match in Tokyo last year and killed it. And last year I did one show with NXT and requested to work with Bray Wyatt, and we had a great match. So those are the three guys that I’d like to work with.

WrestleMania XXX status: 

I’m not a part of it and I won’t be a part of it, and it was my choice to sit out this year.

What it would take for him to return: 

If I’m going to be at WrestleMania, it’s going to be in a position that I can sink my teeth into, a position that I think is significant enough for somebody of Y2J’s experience level and notoriety. Looking at the card this year and you see everybody who came back — Brock Lesnar and Undertaker are back, Triple H is back, Batista is back, and it’s the ascension of Daniel Bryan — how many spots are there available for Jericho at this point in time? Even though the shadow of WrestleMania was looming, just to be there is not a reason enough for me to go back. On the last four WrestleManias before last year, I had one of the main events or one of the most prominent matches on the show. Unless I’m going to get that position again, and I’m not saying I’m entitled to it, but if it’s not going to go that way, then it’s just better for me to stay away.

Criticism over last return: 

It’s not a choice that I make. I do what my boss tells me to do. So people who said, ‘Well, Jericho just came back to lose to all the young guys,’ well, I really didn’t. I lost a couple prominent matches on pay per view, and suddenly everyone is saying, ‘Well, Jericho is just putting over the young guys.’ That’s not the case. That was never the case. I beat Daniel Bryan last year, no one talks about that. To me, whatever the boss wants, I’ll do it. I know I’m going to make it good, I’m going to make it great, people are still going to like it. But when I felt when I’m getting too much in a rut, when they say, ‘Jericho is here, so he can just put over this guy, this guy, and this guy,’ I was not going to do that. So I went away for a while and we’ll see what happens. Last year, working with Fandango wasn’t my first choice. I wasn’t happy about it at all at first. But either I do it, or I don’t go to WrestleMania. Once Vince makes up his mind, you’re doing it. So I have two choices — go home, or I can make this the best I possibly can and try to get this kid over that no one’s ever seen before.

Editor’s Note

It’s disappointing to hear that Chris Jericho won’t be a part of WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans, but the reasons for his absence make perfect sense. There are a lot of returning faces this year and he’d likely be lost in the shuffle.

There’s no word yet on when or if Jericho will ever return to the WWE, but if he can ever work a serious program with any one of those three aforementioned names, it would truly be something special.

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