Jericho blasts Punk, Miz, et. al.
gobbledygooker - 9-27-2011 at 08:01 PM

I've been hearing these tidbits off and on about Jericho talking smack on CM Punk lately but these are the most in-depth comments I've seen from him -

quote:
Former WWE Star Chris Jericho Blasts CM Punk, Miz, More
by Aaron Glazer - September 27, 2011

Wrestling Voice Radio - New Episode Every Sunday
Host: Duane Doogan
Available at WrestlingVoiceRadio.com & iTunes

Chris Jericho was the guest on this week's Wrestling Voice Radio Show. He spoke about his band Fozzy, the progress on their next album, their upcoming European tour and much more. Highlights are below.

On wrestlers stealing his moves and gimmicks in WWE today and lashing out at CM Punk for doing so: "There seems to be a lack of respect for the forefathers who came in and did it first and it's not just CM Punk, it's a whole litany of guys from Miz to Cody Rhodes to Mason Ryan to Sin Cara to Kelly Kelly, everybody is stealing moves, looks, ideas. Brian Pillman once told me if you want to make it in wrestling you have to do something that nobody has done before and nobody is doing that and they are coming off as second rate copies of Chris Jericho and that's maybe why these guys aren't striking and I watch it and think, "Seriously, again?"

"A couple of years ago you had 'Miz 4, John Cena 0', where did that come from? Conspiracy Theory, where did that come from? Best in the World, where did that come from? Wearing suits, talking slow, using big words, using certain moves, you know Miz used the word "troglodyte" a few weeks ago and I'm like seriously? If there ever was a word associated with Chris Jericho that would be it. These guys have to start thinking of their own stuff and some times I see some of them and I'm like oh come on. It's not like it's influenced. At least give credit where credit is due."

Chris also talks about his ideal wrestling match, his ultimate tour line-up, if he would wrestle in Japan again, his favorite lyrics and more. Check it out now at WrestlingVoiceRadio.com


I don't know the whole background of his issues with CM Punk but I don't understand his disdain for him at all. If there's anyone in wrestling right now who I think really DOES respect his forefathers (other than, strangely enough, John Cena) it's CM Punk. The dude IS old-school. I don't really see how Jericho thinks Punk's ripping off his forefathers and not paying respect. Maybe there's something more to the issue that I'm not aware of, but those are my thoughts on it. And as far as his comment about "Best In The World" - I didn't know that Jericho trademarked something that pretty much any wrestler in the world has a right to claim that is what they are? Except Heath Slater. And we all know CM Punk ain't wearing any suits. Unless you count his spiffy announcer jacket.

Where I do agree with Jericho - The Miz. As awesome and entertaining as The Miz is, I've thought multiple times how he's basically doing Jericho's schtick in Jericho's absence. He's like a stand-in Jericho, pretty much for all the reasons Chris mentions above - talking slow, using big words, wearing the suits. It is completely blatant. I just think the fact that he's so damn entertaining with it makes me not care as much as I would if he completely sucked.


denverpunk - 9-27-2011 at 08:13 PM

I'm taking this with a grain of salt, because part of me thinks that this is a work. Since WWE is getting a little edgier, why wouldn't Jericho talk some shit and have a custom-made feud or two ready for when he returns?


gobbledygooker - 9-27-2011 at 08:25 PM

Well, that's a good point too but these comments do seem pretty shooty.

Regardless, it was making me think how awesome it would be if Miz was cutting a promo sometime in the near future and all of a sudden "Break The Walls Down" started playing and the ORIGINAL suit-wearing, slow-speaking, massive-vocab-having heel returned.


C.MontgomeryPunk - 9-27-2011 at 08:37 PM

Because Jericho invented everything. Punk was doing the underhook into a backbreaker move for 11+ years and yet Jericho tried to claim that as "his" move when Punk broke it out again a couple of weeks ago.


SeanSmythe - 9-27-2011 at 08:56 PM

I'll say its him working the net because a few months ago he was caught hanging out with Miz, even though he's not in WWE anymore, doubt he'd be friendly with him outside of WWE if he was really pissed. Guessing when Jericho returns he's gonna go with you guys stole my stuff storyline.


Stu - 9-27-2011 at 09:14 PM

I'm going with "it's a work" too, because on his DVD, he said he got the talking slow from Javier Bardem's character in No Country For Old Men, and wearing suits and using big words from Nick Bockwinkle from the AWA. He also admits on one of the match commentary's to stealing the Codebreaker, so it'd be weird for him to be open about all that, then go on to criticise others for doing the same if he wasn't trying to sound intentionally hypocritical.


Paddlefoot - 9-27-2011 at 09:14 PM

quote:
......talking slow......


Fairly certain that Orton patented that gimmick at birth.


BBMN - 9-27-2011 at 09:25 PM

When it injured Davey Boy Smith in WCW, Secret Trap Door totally stole the 'breaking man's back' maneuver. Vader deserves more credit for this.


Chris Is Good517 - 9-27-2011 at 11:02 PM

I hope it's a work, because otherwise the guy is turning into a delusional asshole.


punkerhardcore - 9-27-2011 at 11:06 PM

I agree on the suit thing. I'm getting sick of seeing everyone wearing a goddamn suit all the time.


mooseheadjack - 9-27-2011 at 11:07 PM

Turning into?

I like Jericho as much as anyone, but his last run was fucking brutal. I am not sold on Jericho coming back and being the savior of anything at this point. He going to be 41 soon and has spent more time out of wrestling lately than in it, which makes me wonder how much he really cares about wrestling anymore.

He could be a decent foil for Punk somewhere down the line I suppose, but once again, only if he is putting Punk over (like HHH SHOULD have, way to crush a great angle WWE, now we get the HHH Show, which seems to be very much the same as the Vince McMahon Show of days gone by)

That, and Jericho needs to understand that there WERE wrestlers that used big words before him. He didn't start everything.


Fandom - 9-27-2011 at 11:49 PM

None of this is surprising to anyone who has been paying attention to the post Benoit death Chris Jericho. Right after Benoit, Jericho was pretty sane and normal. Once he got back into the WWE he started going loony, and that's when all these things started happening that make you wonder about his mental state.... the drinking, the fight with Hardy/Helms/girl in the car, the fight with the fan, the rumored affair on his wife.

Honestly it's felt like Jericho has been in a tailspin for a while and this interview feels like the continuation of the trend (IMHO) and not a work.

[Edited on 9-27-2011 by Fandom]


SeanSmythe - 9-28-2011 at 12:13 AM

Um.. the drinking? If you read Jericho's book you'd know he was drinking since way before Benoit died. The fight with the fan? Both parties were at fault there, and I'm on the side that the fans started that crap. Cheating on his wife? Yes because in 2011 only being insane could make a man cheat on his wife. The Helms fight? Wasn't Helms the one who caused that?.


Fandom - 9-28-2011 at 12:28 AM

Ok if you think these are just coincidences that's cool. It just feels, to me at least, that Jericho has been erratic the past few years. He had a pretty good image before that, and it seems like maybe during this last run he tarnished the image a bit.

I just think we are 5 or 6 years away from Jericho having a "Mel Gibson" moment where all goodwill and positive opinion is destroyed by a drunken night of stupidity.


S Kid J E T S 48 - 9-28-2011 at 02:28 AM

I don't feel like Jericho's been erratic really. His book basically details his partying, even leading to a DWI before his return to the WWE.

This all sounds like a work by him...and why the hell not? He's basically trying to set up matches with Punk and Miz when he returns...that seems thought out and smart by him. As Stu wrote, he basically has talked about taking many aspects of his heel persona from others, so I doubt he's really mad about it.

Of course, his interview was probably just hacked by the same people that hacked Kurt Angle's twitter feed.


gobbledygooker - 9-28-2011 at 02:56 AM

See I think it all majorly depends on his intentions as far as whether he's planning on returning or not. He seems to be back in full-on "Fozzy" mode and I haven't seen any hints at all about him wanting to come back.

Also, his smack-talking above is so scattershot. I could see if he was focusing solely on Punk or Miz this could be a setup for something bigger but he's basically just making sweeping statements about the current crop of younger wrestlers.


Dyn-O-Mite - 9-28-2011 at 05:11 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Fandom
He had a pretty good image before that, and it seems like maybe during this last run he tarnished the image a bit.


You mean tarnished so badly, a company owned by Disney hired him to host a network prime-time game show?

grasping at straws here...


The Riot Act - 9-28-2011 at 05:46 AM

Jericho loves to work the Net. I take it with a grain of salt.


The Riot Act - 9-28-2011 at 05:57 AM

*double post

[Edited on 9-28-2011 by The Riot Act]


cardscott5 - 9-28-2011 at 07:27 AM

Seeing his responses to this stuff on twitter, and now in the interview, it seems like he's working the internet. God knows how many tweets he gets about people doing his moves or whatever. I think it's the set up to a return this winter.

If he is serious, he probably needs to get over himself. It's not like no one wore a suit before him, or no one said they were the best in the world. Pretty sure people chanted that at Danielson for years, so Jericho was ripping him off. If Jericho doesn't come back before Summerslam of 2012, there is pretty much no point for him to come back at all, at least as a full time wrestler. I know guys in their 40s can still hang, but I dunno, seems like Jericho would rather be a minor rock star in Europe.


the goon - 9-28-2011 at 07:42 AM

Wow, hard to believe Jericho is almost 41.

And I agree that if he has any plans about coming back, it needs to be in the near future. I think he could still perform at a high level right now, but I'd say that most wrestlers start to putter out in their mid-40's (unless you're Shawn Michaels, who I have no doubt could come back and be pretty kickass at age 46). I think Jericho benefits from the fact that he's never had any major injuries and thus isn't as broken down as some wrestlers in his age group.

As for his comments...yeah, I'd tend to believe he's more just working the smarks. It seems like something he would do and leaves the door open for multiple potential feuds if/when he comes back.


joerizal - 9-28-2011 at 12:49 PM

quote:
"There seems to be a lack of respect for the forefathers who came in and did it first and it's not just CM Punk, it's a whole litany of guys from Miz to Cody Rhodes to Mason Ryan to Sin Cara to Kelly Kelly
This is a pretty random grouping of wrestlers. Mason Ryan hasn't even been on TV in months. Don't know why he warrants a mention. It's a work.


Flash - 9-28-2011 at 04:41 PM

I'm going with work... In fact, I would even argue that a lot of Jericho's recent faux pas's (to an extent) could be in an effort of trying to blur that line of post-internet smartening of fans by making us question whether or not he's a legit asshole or batshit crazy. Go to any wrestling event or talk to any fan and even your "dumb" fans are relatively "smart" these days, so how else to you stop from getting cheered by people who know you're only pretending to be a bad guy... you be a real bad guy. Seriously; JBL was a decent hand in most respects and his in ring chickanery was normal fare, but all of us smarties pretty much think he habitually soap rapes or abuses defenseless guys backstage... maybe he does, maybe he doesn't... Perhaps this is just Jericho trying to keep us wondering if he's having fun or slowly joining the ranks of other retired wrestlers trying to remain relevant...

In saying that, I do think the guy might have a problem with the booze. As mentioned above, if you read his books you get the sense that Jericho likes his drink to such an extent that I entirely expected a chapter later in his second book to be all about how he's stopped drinking and realized that he's got a problem... There was no such chapter, and if anything there have been several subsequent TMZ-esque story's of CJ making an ass of himself after he's knocked back a few.

So I'm really hoping he's the same Chris Jericho we all know and love, and I truly believe this is just him keeping his name out there with nonsense he doesn't truly believe (as I do hope he comes back as there are several feuds I think he could be great in..), but sadly I can also see the beginnings of a guy who likes to talk, and who probably wants to stay somewhat relevant, and I don't like how that line starts to blur as time goes on.


gobbledygooker - 9-28-2011 at 08:25 PM

Originally posted by joerizal

quote:
This is a pretty random grouping of wrestlers. Mason Ryan hasn't even been on TV in months.


His inclusion caught my eye at first as well but I think Jericho was getting at the fact that Ryan kinda resembled Batista when he first debuted - close-cropped black hair, shiny black tights, and I think he even rocked the "wifebeater, jeans, and light brown boots" combo that Batista used to sometimes wear. Now that he's grown his hair out some, his level of Batista-ness is in decline at the moment.

[Edited on 9-28-2011 by gobbledygooker]


punkerhardcore - 9-28-2011 at 08:29 PM

He's actually referring to a recent edition of Superstars... when Mason Ryan came out for his match, he stood at the top of the ramp, back to the audience and doing Jericho's arms-outstretched pose.


gobbledygooker - 9-28-2011 at 08:50 PM

Jericho was watching Superstars? He really has lost it.