Chris Jericho recently shared that playing WWE’s most hated villain in 2008 affected him in real life.
In an interview with Spencer Matthews on Untapped, Jericho talked about tension between wrestlers. He said top stars usually stay professional because wrestling is big business. However, real-life frustration can sometimes push performers to do even better.
“I mean, when you’re at that level, it’s you’re pretty professional, because it’s a million-dollar business. Well, now it’s a billion dollar business. But there are times when you might get a little bit angry at each other, and I think sometimes that leads to better performances.”
He continued, “It’s like if you don’t like your co-star on a movie but, ‘To hell if I’m going to let him outact me. I’m going to put on the best performance of my life to show this guy that he’s not better than me.’ So, not to get into specifics, but there was a few times when that happened.”
Chris Jericho says his “suit-and-tie” heel run put him in a dark place
Jericho then spoke about his 2008 suit-and-tie gimmick. During that time, he became the most hated wrestler in the company for almost two years.
“And even more from a character standpoint. Like, in 2008, when I was the suit-and-tie Jericho, I was the most hated guy in the business. And not just for a month or two months, I’m talking for like two years. And that’s hard, because it’s a lot easier to make people hate you than it is to make them like you.”
He continued, “But once they start hating you, then they automatically start liking you more… so, it’s hard to have people stay hating you.” He explained that he treated the role like a method actor. He fully stepped into the dark personality, and it started affecting his real life.
“But I also was dropping into this character like a method actor would, to where it was affecting me in real life. Like I was in a real dark place, because that’s what my character was, like just a real diabolical megalomaniac asshole, essentially. And it’s hard to kind of step out of that sometimes. So, it was a real interesting — like I could I could never do that now at this stage of my life. But at the time I was super method.” [H/T: 411mania]
In 2008, Jericho had a major feud with Shawn Michaels. The rivalry featured shocking moments, including Jericho punching Michaels’ wife. They also faced each other in intense matches like an Unsanctioned Match and a Ladder Match. During that run, Jericho won the World Heavyweight Championship.
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