Chris Jericho was recently on 107.7 The Bone’s Baby Huey and Bimbo Jimbo show; you can read a few highlights (transcription courtesy of 107.7 The Bone) and listen to the interview below:
Chris Jericho comments on getting the Styles Clash un-banned in WWE:
“When A.J. came in I believed he was going to be a huge star which of course he is. He had this finishing move called the Styles Clash which was kind of unofficially banned in the WWE because there was rumors that people had gotten hurt from it and all that sort of thing, but I knew it was a great move. I knew it was an easy move to take. I knew it was something that could give AJ an extra color to paint your pictures with. I basically…started using it (taking it) during matches just so Vince could see it. I figured if he saw it and didn’t want me to do it then he would know…and people were so mad at me because I was kicking out of the move like “Jericho’s burying A.J…” It’s like shut up you idiots I have a plan here…Eventually I went to Vince and said “Did you see that move that AJ Did?” Never using the words the Styles Clash because I knew…that name is taboo. Oh, the Styles Clash you can’t do it. So, I said you know that move where he picks me up and dumps me on my face?…He should use that as a finish!” Yes, absolutely use it as a finish.” So, I was able to kind of indirectly able to get the move unbanned by just doing it, and not asking for permission, and never using the name Styles Clash when I talked to Vince about it. Now it’s one of AJ’s biggest moves. I believed it could work. I wanted to stand up for it, but once again you have to be kind of sly about it sometimes. It was actually a pretty cool process and it makes for a great story in the book for sure.”
Jericho comments on the Festival Of Friendship ending the way he it needed to end:
“Once again it goes back to the principle of standing up for what you believe in. I had that idea months earlier to do a big spectacle with dancing girls and the whole thing. And then it constantly was being changed even the day of the show it was changed, and I didn’t like it and I knew that my way was better. I stood up for it even to the point of calling Vince when he was on a plane in the middle of the air and pitching my case. Not taking no for answer. Not allowing my vision to be changed. I wanted to go from the campiest “Just a Gigolo” David Lee Roth to a complete scene change of this almost murder like the red wedding from Game of Thrones was resonating where you have this brilliant, beautiful, fun moment, and then it just goes south in such a quick fashion where you can’t believe it. And that to me was the brilliance of it. One of the suggestions that was pitched was for Owens to just attack me, and I was like that’s not how you do it…The best parts of the (horror) movie is when the guy opens the door and the killer is standing there and he has that moment of realization like oh, I am so dead in the next 2 seconds…and that’s what I wanted to do with the reveal of like how come my name is on this? The list of KO…Turn around, look at him like no, no don’t do this, don’t do this, and boom there comes the murder.”
