Chris Jericho On Long-Term Stories: If It Takes a Year, Tough Luck, That Is the Brilliance Of Wrestling

Chris Jericho does not mind how long a story in pro wrestling takes.

While speaking with Spencer Matthews, Jericho discussed the importance to him of long-term storytelling when it comes to the world of professional wrestling, and entertainment where he considers his feud with Shawn Michaels as one of the greatest stories told in WWE history.

“I like long-term stories. My favorite ones have always been ones that last for months. You have to be creative. You don’t have to be on the show every week. Both guys don’t have to be on the show every week. There’s always a way to tell a story that elongates it. I would rather make things go longer than shorter. I always love wrestling fans, especially modern day ones, who just want to know the answer right now.

If I’m watching Saving Private Ryan, it’s 3 hours long. It’s a long movie. You better be watching and paying attention. At the end of that three hours, you can decide if you like it or not. An hour and a half in, if I go, ‘They haven’t even found Ryan yet. This movie sucks. This is stupid. This is too long.’ I hear it every day from wrestling fans. My thing is, shut the fuck up and let me tell my story when it’s done.

If it takes a year, tough luck. This show is going on for 50 years. It doesn’t have to end in a week or two to three weeks. Sometimes, a good way to do that is take your opponent out for a while and continue the story. Take a couple of detours. But it still leads back to the overarching story. That to me is the brilliance of pro wrestling. We can tell any story we want. We can make it go as long as we want or as short as we want.

I did a feud with MJF in AEW. It was 366 days, literally a year and a day. There were people like, ‘This feud is too long. Why go to something else? Why? What else do you got going on?’ That was the thing with Shawn Michaels and I. They wanted it to be a one-month thing. When we were like, ‘What do you have coming up?’ ‘Nothing.’ ‘Well, what do you have coming up, Shawn?’ ‘Nothing.’ ‘Then why are we ending this in a month? Let’s keep going.’ We did seven, eight, nine months. It ended up being one of the greatest stories in WWE history. I’m not saying that from an egotistical standpoint. It’s true. That to me is the brilliance of wrestling.

Sometimes, to do that, take one of the components out and continue forward. Then bring it back around again. Then change it a bit. Go over here, go over there, and suddenly you get to the top of the mountain, end of the story. That’s when you know it’s time to finish it. Until then, just sit back and enjoy the show. It’s show business. It’s not real.”

The last appearance made by Jericho was at AEW Dynasty when he lost a stipulation match for his AEW World Championship against Bandido’s mask. There is no word yet on when Jericho will be back on TV.

h/t to Fightful for the transcription.

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