Chris Jericho recently opened up about how seriously he took his heel role during his 2008 suit and tie run.
Speaking to Spencer Matthews on Untapped, Jericho recalled an awkward moment with a fan and his father inside an elevator near an arena. He said, “I can remember getting into an elevator with a dad and his son, and they were fans. And we were close to the arena, and I wouldn’t look at them. And they were like, ‘Hey, can you sign my autograph?’ And I would just ignore them.”
He explained that he refused to break character, even in public. As the elevator ride continued, the father became more upset. “The guy got increasingly angry as we’re in this [elevator], like, ‘You’re not? What are you, some kind of asshole?’ And now they hate me for real.”
“But that’s what I want, because I don’t want to sign an autograph for them and then they go to the arena and 10,000 people are booing me, but they’re like, ‘Oh, he’s really a nice guy.’ And then tell 10 people in their row, and that’s now 10 people who like me because I’m a nice guy. I want the guy to be even more so like, ‘F you!,’ and blah blah blah.”
He also revealed that he stopped WWE from making his merchandise at the time. “And that’s why I never had any merch at the time. I forbade the WWE to make any Chris Jericho merch. Why would I want someone wearing my shirt? I want everyone to hate me.”
“I’ll make my money main eventing PPVs against the good guys. I’m not worried about selling t-shirts. So, I had this kind of real all-encompassing evil attitude. And sometimes that rubs off in in your real life. But like I said, that was years ago and I was really dropped in to be this angry person, because it’s all acting. You’re playing a character, right?” [H/T: 411mania]
Read More: WWE Superstar Earns A Rare Perfect 100 Rating In WWE 2K26
