Chris Jericho On Why He Turned Down WrestleMania This Year

Chris Jericho recently spoke with The Boston Herald. Jericho says WWE did reach out to him to work the show but he declined their offer. You can read some highlights below:

What it will take for him to return:

“If I’m going to be at WrestleMania, it’s going to be in a position that I can sink my teeth into, a position that I think is significant enough for somebody of Y2J’s experience level and notoriety. Looking at the card this year and you see everybody who came back Brock Lesnar and Undertaker are back, Triple H is back, Batista is back, and it’s the ascension of Daniel Bryan — how many spots are there available for Jericho at this point in time? Even though the shadow of WrestleMania was looming, just to be there is not a reason enough for me to go back. On the last four WrestleManias before last year, I had one of the main events or one of the most prominent matches on the show. Unless I’m going to get that position again, and I’m not saying I’m entitled to it, but if it’s not going to go that way, then it’s just better for me to stay away.”

Criticism over his most recent return:

“It’s not a choice that I make. I do what my boss tells me to do. So people who said, ‘Well, Jericho just came back to lose to all the young guys,’ well, I really didn’t. I lost a couple prominent matches on pay per view, and suddenly everyone is saying, ‘Well, Jericho is just putting over the young guys.’ That’s not the case. That was never the case. I beat Daniel Bryan last year, no one talks about that. To me, whatever the boss wants, I’ll do it. I know I’m going to make it good, I’m going to make it great, people are still going to like it. But when I felt when I’m getting too much in a rut, when they say, ‘Jericho is here, so he can just put over this guy, this guy, and this guy,’ I was not going to do that. So I went away for a while and we’ll see what happens. Last year, working with Fandango wasn’t my first choice. I wasn’t happy about it at all at first. But either I do it, or I don’t go to WrestleMania. Once Vince makes up his mind, you’re doing it. So I have two choices — go home, or I can make this the best I possibly can and try to get this kid over that no one’s ever seen before.”

Who he would have liked to face this year:

“As a heel Chris Jericho, I’d love to work with Daniel Bryan. We could tear the damn house. That could still happen. A lot of times I’ll hear I could never be a heel again because people like me too much, but put me in the ring with a babyface that is as over as Daniel Bryan and I’ll show you some heel stuff that nobody there is doing right now because no one knows to do it. I requested to work with Cesaro, and we had a 30-minute match in Tokyo last year and killed it. And last year I did one show with NXT and requested to work with Bray Wyatt, and we had a great match. So those are the three guys that I’d like to work with.”