Exclusive: Chris Jericho Talks Greatest Royal Rumble, Fozzy’s Next Record, Status With New Japan, And Future Plans

Some would say that there are living legends and then there’s Chris Jericho. The first-ever WWE Undisputed Champion can go from being the frontman of a rock band to having a legendary match like no other could ever attempt. In the end no matter what he does, Chris Jericho is always busy and making big moves.

Chris Jericho doesn’t phone-in anything that he does. His upcoming Rock n Wrestling Rager At Sea promises to be a great time for anyone who can make the trip and they better get in on this historic opportunity soon because Jericho said it is expected to sell out.

But Jericho is going to be performing with Fozzy on the cruise and not stepping in the ring. This is why he wanted a partnership with a company like ROH so they can handle the wrestling. At this point pretty much every big name from ROH is scheduled to appear as Jericho joked that they even signed the popcorn guy to appear last week.

Jericho said that this will not be the last Rock n Wrestling Rager At Sea either because he even had to hire someone to construct a wrestling ring that could work on a cruise ship and they’re making big plans to move into a new space because the cruise ship industry is so popular.

But there will only be one first Rock n Wrestling Rager At Sea and it’s setting sail on October 27th. There also won’t be a DVD release of anything that happens on the ship so you have to be there to experience it. “Right now I want it to be exclusive for the people on the cruise,” Jericho stated.

“I’m not going to be hiding,” Jericho assured me meaning those on board could get a chance to run into any number of their favorite ROH talents as well as rock stars like Chris Jericho and Corey Taylor.

Regarding his upcoming match with The Undertaker at the Greatest Royal Rumble, I asked him when he heard that this match was taking place and he replied, “3 days ago” as he laughed and continued, “I mean that’s kinda how it is when you work in WWE and the wrestling business. The entertainment is all — you learn to roll with the punches and sometimes things that are planned for six-months fall apart. Sometimes things that you never expect to happen with a week’s notice.”

“So I’m excited about it, I think it’s going to be fun,” Jericho continued regarding his upcoming Casket Match with The Undertaker. “I’m the King Of The Casket Match, I’m undefeated in a Casket Match and to go to Saudi Arabia for it, it’s a pretty interesting setting […] and I think and we’re going to have a great time and there’s an opportunity of a big financial commitment on both ends from the WWE and the Saudi Arabian government. So hopefully it’s a long and fruitful relationship for years to come.”

As Fozzy grows in popularity, Chris Jericho mentioned how the band wants to capitalize on the momentum of their recent success and get back into the studio sooner than later. “We have spoken about writing some new stuff because Judas is so popular right now and with Painless being our second top 10 hit you want to keep the momentum going.”

“The last thing we want when this record has kind of run its course is to be sitting there with our thumbs up our asses going ‘now what do we do?’ So it’s something we’re definitely thinking about. We still got a lot of touring left to do on this record, a lot of places that want to see us [in] Australia, Japan one more run around the states and one more run around Europe and the UK […] so the longer people want us to keep playing the longer we’ll stay out there. But as soon as it’s over we’ll be ready to get back in and start rocking in the studio for sure.”

Fozzy’s European tour is currently scheduled to run until August 12th and SummerSlam is taking place on August 19th. But when asked if he had any plans of making the Biggest Party Of The Summer this year Jericho didn’t seem to have any interest in jumping in and having a match at this point.

“No man, I don’t work that way as you can see just dropping in. If I’m going to work something it needs to be something special.” He said appearing on the Greatest Royal Rumble wasn’t considered a pay-per-view match to him and more like a “giant live event or a giant house show as we used to call them. So yeah, I think that there’s a lot of options for things that I could do but [Fozzy] is going back on tour at the end of August anyway so you’ll see that there’s really not much time to do that.”

Chris Jericho did pop into New Japan Pro Wrestling and really made a lot of noise during his program with Kenny Omega which concluded at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in a historic match-up. But even though another match might have been teased for Y2J when he attacked Tetsuya Naito shortly after Wrestle Kingdom, his partnership with New Japan is a thing of the past.

“Yeah you know it was a good idea. It was good when it happened — we had a blast but sometimes things just don’t work out. You know, so New Japan was a lot of fun… not to say that I wouldn’t go back there again but as of right now our relationship is pretty much finished at this point.”

Jericho then spoke about working with Kenny Omega and how they put their epic match together. “It was kind of a combination of all things happening at the right time at the right place, the right time and it was a lot of fun man […] you talk things over and Kenny speaks English obviously he’s from Winnipeg like I am so we really didn’t have any communication issue but for a match that big you kinda want to go in there with a game plan.”

“Things happen, there were some spots where we were like, ‘just do whatever you feel out there to make it happen.’ Which is part of it and sometimes that’s the best way to go and other times it’s best to kinda get your ducks in a row before you go out there so you know it worked out really good and we were excited about it and it was a classic.”

Jericho also discussed the fact that he seems to still be producing incredible matches in the ring, therefore, he doesn’t think a WWE Hall Of Fame induction is appropriate at this point. But if he was chosen for an induction he would probably show up to the ceremony unlike some other famous rockers for their own Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame inductions.

“I find Hall Of Fame is more for the fans than it is or anybody else. I’ve never been that focused on the Hall Of Fame. I kinda thought it was cool when Axl Rose didn’t show up or Van Halen didn’t show up or being super snotty and kinda being a d-ck. Like when the Sex Pistols sent in a letter saying they didn’t want to be there, they refused to be mentioned or whatever.”

“But I think for the fans it’s kind of a cool buttoning of the whole career. But I just watched the Hall Of Fame and Bon Jovi was up there with all the members and it was cool and then the guy from Dire Straits didn’t show up so it’s kind of an embarrassment. There’s so much drama behind the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame because you’re talking about bands — the good thing about the WWE Hall Of Fame is it’s just you.”

“So I imagine I’ll probably show up if I’m ever invited. But I don’t really feel like I’m at that point in my career where I should be in the Hall Of Fame. To me, that’s kinda the end of the road not kind of when you’re at your peak — like what people are saying about the Kenny Omega match and the quality of the match. ‘It’s the best match of Jericho’s career’ — well jeez if that’s the case then I got nowhere near the Hall Of Fame yet I still have a bunch of great matches left in me it’s not like that was my last ditch one and then I’ll explode into a puff of dust.”

Chris Jericho has accomplished so much in his career and he’s not done yet. His Rock n Rager Wrestling At Sea is just one of the many highlights he has coming up as he continues his already legendary career.

But for fans who would love to see him in the ring, at least we have the Greatest Royal Rumble approaching because after that Chris Jericho might be very busy with Fozzy as he continues to masterfully juggle his diverse career.

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