Chris Jericho Talks About Why He Prefers “House Shows”

Chris Jericho recently sat down with TampaBay.com to promote tonight’s WWE live event there. Below are some highlights:

You’ve been doing fan signings to at FYE stores across the country. What’s the weirdest thing someone has asked you to sign?

It’s always interesting when people come to signings, and there will be someone at the front of the line and they’ll ask me to sign their arm. Then I swear, 20 to 30 minutes later, that same guy is back in line with my signature tattooed on them, asking me to take a picture with them and the new tattoo. Those things … it’s an honor. That’s a true fan. They’ll get tattoos of Fozzy lyrics, the Fozzy F or our “anarchist” logo. That stuff puts a lot of pressure on you, because if you ever make a wrong decision, you know you’ll have let that person down.

What’s the most romantic Valentine’s Day you’ve planned for your wife?

I don’t think it was Valentine’s Day, but one year there was a concert in Miami, so I bought tickets. I told my wife to get in the car and I drove her to the airport. I had chartered a plane to Miami. And we were on the plane and I still didn’t tell her where we were going, and then we got to Miami and the show and she was all surprised. Then we went right back to the airport after the show and flew home. Any time you can charter a plane for your wife, you get some good brownie points. (Laughs.)

What is it that you like about doing the WWE LiveEvents?

It’s improv. It’s a little more fan interactive. With the TV shows, everything is meticulously timed. There is five minutes for this and 12 minutes for that. At the live show, you work until you’re done. You’re allowed to finish the match. The differences in TV and the live events are massive in some ways and small in others. True wrestling fans know there are pros and cons to both. There is more wrestling and less talking sometimes at the live events.

Is there any chance you’ll participate in any of the upcoming televised events?

I really don’t think so. The live events are always so stress-free. You can do whatever you want. They don’t have specific storylines you are beholden to. There’s a lot of TV that has to be perfectly timed to be watched by 5 million people. In the live event, it’s just for the people in the crowd. We stress the fun.