Chris Jericho On When He Found Out About Undertaker Match, His Status With NJPW
Aaron Varble of StillRealToUs.com recently interviewed Chris Jericho and asked him about his upcoming match with The Undertaker, his status with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and his thoughts on possibly being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame someday. They sent us these highlights:
When he found out about his Casket Match with The Undertaker:
"Days ago. I mean that's kinda how it is when you work in WWE and the wrestling business. The entertainment is all — you learn to roll with the punches and sometimes things that are planned for six-months fall apart. Sometimes things that you never expect to happen with a week's notice."
Being the King of the Casket Match:
"So I'm excited about it, I think it's going to be fun. I'm the King Of The Casket Match, I'm undefeated in a Casket Match and to go to Saudi Arabia for it, it's a pretty interesting setting [...] and I think and we're going to have a great time and there's an opportunity of a big financial commitment on both ends from the WWE and the Saudi Arabian government. So hopefully it's a long and fruitful relationship for years to come."
If he'll be at SummerSlam:
"No man, I don't work that way as you can see just dropping in. If I'm going to work something it needs to be something special."
His match with Kenny Omega and future with NJPW:
"Yeah you know it was a good idea. It was good when it happened — we had a blast but sometimes things just don't work out. You know, so New Japan was a lot of fun... not to say that I wouldn't go back there again but as of right now our relationship is pretty much finished at this point."
Possibly being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame:
"I find Hall Of Fame is more for the fans than it is or anybody else. I've never been that focused on the Hall Of Fame. I kinda thought it was cool when Axl Rose didn't show up or Van Halen didn't show up or being super snotty and kinda being a d-ck. Like when the Sex Pistols sent in a letter saying they didn't want to be there, they refused to be mentioned or whatever."
"But I think for the fans it's kind of a cool buttoning of the whole career. But I just watched the Hall Of Fame and Bon Jovi was up there with all the members and it was cool and then the guy from Dire Straits didn't show up so it's kind of an embarrassment. There's so much drama behind the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame because you're talking about bands — the good thing about the WWE Hall Of Fame is it's just you. So I imagine I'll probably show up if I'm ever invited. But I don't really feel like I'm at that point in my career where I should be in the Hall Of Fame. To me, that's kinda the end of the road not kind of when you're at your peak — like what people are saying about the Kenny Omega match and the quality of the match. 'It's the best match of Jericho's career' — well jeez if that's the case then I got nowhere near the Hall Of Fame yet I still have a bunch of great matches left in me it's not like that was my last ditch one and then I'll explode into a puff of dust."