Chris Jericho recently appeared for Sports Illustrated while promoting his new book; you can read a few transcribed highlights, as well as watch a clip of his appearance below:
Chris Jericho comments on the mixed reaction Roman Reigns gets from WWE fans, if it matters in the long run:
It doesn’t. I mean, obviously there becomes a point where you want to steer people in the right direction. And, for whatever reason, it’s the ‘cool’ thing to boo Roman Reigns just as it was the ‘cool’ thing to boo John Cena, as it was the ‘cool’ thing to boo The Rock. But guess what; those guys are so good, that if you are a wrestling fan, Roman Reigns might be the best wrestler in the company. I’m telling you that because if people are interested in what you are doing, whether they’re booing or whether they’re cheering, they’re still going to pay money to see you.
Does Roman need to reinvent himself? How Jericho has moved forward in his own career:
It’s always good to change up your character, but I wouldn’t change it right now. Obviously, the boss has decided that Roman is going to be a tweener… it’s like football or baseball or hockey; not everybody is going to cheer for the same team. As long as you’re making noise, and Roman’s not stale, so I think the [David] Bowie principal is ‘always reinvent yourself’ like you said, that happens when you are stale. And once again, as a performer, your job, your relationship, when you start settling for something and relying on your past, then you don’t move forward. So, I think a guy like Roman is not stale. Jericho, throughout many times in my career has been stale, and that’s when it’s time. What do I do next? I start wearing scarves, and suddenly scarves become the big thing, or whatever it may be, a headband, something different that makes people go ‘here’s two pictures of Jericho’. Being on TV 52 weeks a year, twice a week. It’s a lot of TV time. If you can’t look at Jericho from ’99 and Jericho from 2017 and see a direct difference, there’s a problem.
