Have you noticed that Chris Jericho uses a lot of pop culture references on commentary? Well, there’s a reason for that.
All Elite Wrestling‘s Chris Jericho was a recent guest on The Sessions with Renee Paquette to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about doing commentary on AEW Rampage, Jericho spoke about how doing a bunch of commentary with Tony Schiavone during the lockdown led to that opportunity.
“And once again, why did I start commentating? Well, because right before the lockdown where they shut everything down in Florida and everywhere, we filmed, I don’t know the exact number, let’s say, 28 matches in one day at QT Marshall’s School in Atlanta, and 29% of the roster was available,” Chris Jericho said. “And when you mentioned that dog sketch that we did at my house that was originally what was scheduled that week for Dynamite, it just happened.
“So I was at home, and I said to Tony [Khan], ‘I’ll be in Atlanta tomorrow.’ He was like, ‘What? How?’ I’m like, ‘I’ll get there.’ He’s like, ‘You’re really gonna come?’ Of course, I’m going to come; you know why? Because I can’t afford to be off TV for four weeks. Like I need to be on TV like you can’t — like not afford money wise but afford like you got to be on the show.
“He goes, ‘What do you want to do?’ And once again, the happenstance of it. I was supposed to do commentary that week on Dynamite; I said, ‘I’m supposed to do commentary anyways; let me just do all the commentary.’ Because there was nobody else available. [Tony] Schiavone and I did commentary for 28 matches in one day.”
When asked how his voice was feeling after all of that, Jericho said it was a bit raw, but they were having a lot of fun together.
“We were raw, but we were just having fun. That’s why I started with the pop culture,” Chris Jericho said. “That’s why I started giving — like there was just a bunch of guys that were just enhancement guys like Pineapple Pete, who actually had a little bit of a run in AEW; why? Because it was some guy that no one had ever seen who was wearing a shirt with pineapples on it. Oh, he’s Pineapple Pete!
“And this guy is Alan Eagleson because — Alan Angels was his name, but Alan Eagleson was the famous NHL Commissioner who ripped off the whole — whatever. Then Tony [Khan] goes, ‘You did a great job. Why don’t you commentate Rampage every week?’ So what I continue to do, and I love it, but I also don’t know if I could just do that on the show.
“Like, I love being a part of everything, and I think it’s a great backup plan if every other job that I have doesn’t work, but then I could be a commentator, but I don’t know if I could be like, and God bless Jerry Lawler, he’s getting better after his injury. But I don’t know if I could just show up for work and just commentate. I need to be more involved.”
When Renee said that commentary can be a thankless job, Jericho agreed with that. But admits he has fun with it and keeps himself amused by making obscure pop culture references.
“It is, but we have fun with it. You know you’ve done it. Because to me, I just try and keep myself amused with obscure pop culture references. Like, the other week, Danhausen pulled out a ukulele, right? And they grabbed it and smashed it. And I said George Harrison wouldn’t be happy about that.
“The reason why is George Harrison’s favorite instrument was the ukulele. And I’m like; no one’s gonna get this. But low and behold, you know, 50 people on Twitter goes, I got that. So I’m like, Okay, well, if you got it, you get it. If you don’t, we move on to the next thing, and it’s gone. Right?”
READ MORE: Ricky Starks: Chris Jericho Is Vital To The AEW Roster
What do you make of Chris Jericho’s comments? Do you enjoy The Ocho on commentary for All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit The Sessions with a link back to this article for the transcription.
