Chris Jericho recently spoke with Spencer Matthews for an interview
During the discussion, the pro wrestling legend spoke about fan criticism over long storytelling in wrestling, as well as how he and Kenny Omega inspired the launch of AEW.
The following are some of the highlights.
On fans complaining about storylines going on for too long: “I like long-term stories. My favorite ones have always been ones that last for months, you have to be creative. You don’t have to be on the show every week, both guys don’t have to be on the show every week. There’s always a way to tell a story that elongates it. I would rather make things go longer than shorter. And I always love wrestling fans, especially modern day ones, who just want to know the answer right now, give us the answer right now!”
On how you should only judge a storyline once it’s completed: “If I’m watching Saving Private Ryan, it’s 3 hours long, It’s a long movie. You better be watching and paying attention and at the end of that three hours, you can decide if you like it or not. An hour and a half in if I go, ‘This movie, they haven’t even found Ryan yet. This movie sucks! This is stupid! This is too long!’ I hear it every day from wrestling fans. My thing is, shut the f*** up and let me tell my story when it’s done. If it takes a year, tough luck! This show is going on for 50 years, it doesn’t have to end in a week or two weeks or three weeks.”
On how his match with Kenny Omega in NJPW inspired Tony Khan to launch AEW: “We changed the business when we had our match at the Tokyo Dome, which at the time was crazy because nobody ever thought it would happen,” he said. “We’re both from the same small town in Canada called Winnipeg, and we pretty much packed the Tokyo Dome. Digital streaming was through the roof for New Japan Pro Wrestling, which then led to Tony Khan seeing and deciding that he could form AEW because there was so much demand for wrestling that was not WWE.”