Chris Jericho On His Change Of Character, The ‘List of Jericho’ Becoming Popular, Backstory To His NJPW Makeup

Chris Jericho recently spoke with Inside The Ropes during a UK Q&A tour where he spoke about his change of character since joining New Japan and more.

The List becoming popular:

“The List originally got heat and so did Stupid Idiot, all that stuff, people booed it, but when you have a character that is that entertaining, all the best villains in pop culture history end up being good guys. The Terminator, Freddie Krueger, The Joker, it’s so entertaining. That is what happens with Jericho a lot in that The List got heat but then it turns popular.”

On his change of character:

“I just felt different, I remember saying “I am going to beat you at the Tokyo Dome b**ch” and I thought okay, this is kind of cool. Then when I came out and attacked him, afterward I remember thinking I love those characters like Stan Hanson, people were scared of them. For me, after that beatdown with Kenny, I was so into it and he got color for the first time and they hadn’t seen blood in years and I just got it and smeared it on my face. Walking backstage I was just screaming at people, I picked up an ashtray and threw it at a reporter and doused him in cigarette water and I didn’t care. It seemed to get some steam and people enjoyed it, I wanted people to be scared of me.”

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The origins of his black makeup:

“I did this thing where I attacked Naito in the mask, the guy wears black lipstick and I didn’t know how long I was going to be sitting out there for so I thought I’ll put the black lipstick on because I am a big fan and want to look like him as much as possible. I put some black eyeliner on and this is not being a stereotype but I wanted my eyes to be slanted in case people saw my eyes. It’s scary, you are sitting out there with a mask on and people will be like “That’s Chris Jericho,” but of course no one knew. It’s funny, there was a guy at the railing he was trying to pull me back and I just pie-faced him and told him to “f**k off.” When I took the mask off I suddenly have eyeliner and black lipstick and nobody knows the reason why but I kind of like the look of it and think you know what, I might do that for the match, I don’t feel this character would wear sparkly underwear.”

Please, H/T ProWrestling.com for any transcriptions used.