Chris Jericho Talks About Being Wrestling’s Renaissance Man

Chris Jericho has continued to successfully reinvent himself throughout his entire pro wrestling career.

Even now, Jericho remains at the forefront of fans’ minds thanks to his involvement with All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling.

During a recent media event, Jericho was asked how he felt being referred to as wrestling’s ‘renaissance man’.

“My mission has always been to reinvent and evolve,” Jericho stated. “It’s David Bowie. It’s been one of my inspirations since I was 25 years old, when you realize that you have this guy that’s a genius and who constantly changes what he’s doing, what he looks like to keep the fans guessing. ‘What’s Bowie’s next record going to be?’ Is it going to be ‘Electro’, is it going to be ‘Let’s Dance’, rhythm and blues rock, techno, be whatever. What look is he going to have? And that’s what I always wanted to do, but it’s not something that’s calculated. It’s something that just happens for me. The “Painmaker” in Japan with the makeup and all of that sort of stuff, it just felt right. Some people said “oh he looks like a clown”—I ‘don’t f*****g care what you think.”

He continued, saying “To me, that’s the way that this character should be, the same thing with the character that you saw tonight with the ‘thank you’. I really do think I should have some kind of a thank you from the company, and then when Adam Page is busted open and there’s blood over everything, that’s my thank you.”

Jericho went on to say that when fans chant ‘Y2J’ at him, he can no longer relate to the revered character. He explains that Y2J is a 20-year-old character and that he, as an individual, has naturally changed and grown so much in that time.

Without that continual personal evolution, he explains that he would have no interest in continuing in the pro wrestling business.