Chris Jericho
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Chris Jericho recently responded to a series of Slam Magazine reader questions. Here are a couple highlights from his interview:

Q: Did the injury to Randy Orton create a situation where the WWE needed a new heel quickly? Is that why your character is making the transition?

A: This turn was in place long before Orton got hurt, there was nothing quick about it. If you look back we started this in April, it has been two months. All these things were happening with or without Orton’s injury. Obviously it opens a huge hole with Randy being hurt, so in that case it is beneficial for me, but it wasn’t like anything was rushed, it was an unfortunate thing that happened and things went on business as usual for Jericho.

Q: Do you have more creative freedom with your promos/interviews and match layout during this run with WWE as opposed to your first run?
A: I always had creative freedom with my promos, so it has been the same all across the board. I have never been a guy who is given a piece of paper and told to read this. I have co-written all of my promos if not written them outright from when I first came in to the WWE to the promo I did last week.

In an interview with UK's The Sun, Chris Jericho said his storyline with Shawn Michaels wasn't supposed to be as intricate as it's turned out.

"It’s great," Jericho said. It was one of those things we just kind of stumbled upon. It was never planned to be such an intricate storyline, with all the ups and downs and ins and outs, but sometimes when you start working on something you realise that it’s really working out and it’s going good, you run with it. That’s what we did."

Jericho added that the addition of Lance Cade has been a boon to the story line.

"You’re just going to have to stay tuned and find out what happens with that," he said. "Like I said, the beauty of the storyline is that it started with Shawn and Batista, then I got involved, then it’s about me and Shawn and (Ric) Flair gets involved, then Triple H is involved and Lance Cade comes out. It’s a multi-tiered storyline and I like stuff like that."

The Daily Press recently conducted an interview with Chris Jericho. In it, the star praisess the WWE Wellness Policy.

"They're not part of the business anymore," Y2J said. "They can't be. We've been strictly tested over the past couple of years, but they're not really necessary to wrestling. A lot of this is more about mind and personality."

Here are a couple tidbits about Chris Jericho and is changing of recent feuds:

The working plan was for Jericho to engage in a long program with Jeff Hardy. However, due to Hardy's suspension, that's obviously off the table now. It's unclear who Y2J will go up against next.

Also, the Jericho vs. JBL feud was originally programmed to go longer, but the feud wasn't clicking. Stylistically, JBL works better with Finlay and Jericho works better with Hardy.

As huge fans of Chris Jericho, we worry that Y2J has already been buried on WWE RAW mere weeks after his exciting, second debut.

Still, we offer Jerico our support. Here's a photo tribute to him:

The latest issue of Fighting Spirit magazine features an interview with Chris Jericho. The WWE superstars talks about the "Save Us" ads, JBL, why he left WWE in 2005, and more.

Regarding the viral marketing campaign, Y2J believes that the Internet wrestling fans were angry over the promos because it "kept them guessing." He said:

"I think that was something that the internet created to get revenge for the fact that they had no idea what was going on at first. People have a sense of entitlement nowadays where they think that they deserve to know everything instantly, just as fast as they can type something into a computer. The answer, I think, was that when the promos first started playing they didn’t know who it was. It kept them guessing and that kinda pissed a lot off people off, which is what I wanted to do."

After watching The Matrix, Jericho got the idea, and pitched it to Vince McMahon. "He said he loved it, and it was me and a guy called Adam Pannuci from the WWE production team that created all the vignettes for the ten weeks that we did it."

On a scale of 1 to 10, Jericho rated his return in comparison to his debut in WWE: "The first one will always be remembered, but in terms of competing with the first one, the second one was the absolute best that it could have been. The first one was a 10 and the second was a 9.5."

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Here's a look and a listen at the theme music for a trio of WWE superstars.

Chris Jericho:

Ken Kennedy:

Beth Phoenix:

Chris Jericho recently talked with the The Winnipeg Sun. Here are some highlights from the interview:

On getting back into shape for his WWE return:
"I was on the same workout program for three years, which is never good. I was just too lazy to change. But I started working with a personal trainer which shocks your system because you never know what you're going to get. In September, I went to Lance Storm's wrestling school in Calgary and went through the drills. It was good to get back to the basics, get back in the groove and work on some new moves with Lance."

If he ever really considered going to TNA:
"I have respect for them (TNA) starting up and existing this long. But for me my dream was always to work in the WWE. It took nine long years to get there and, creatively, I left on very good terms. I had no axe to grind with Vince (McMahon) and no agenda. Unless he told me to go to hell, there was no chance I'd go to TNA."

Read the full interview with Jericho now.

Sources are saying that Chris Jericho's feud with Randy Orton will be short-lived.

Y2J may move on to a "war of words" feud with JBL, cultimating in a match at WrestleMania 24. Which would be quite a let down for those who thought Jericho would pump life into the main event scene.

Some people within WWE are already disappointed with Jericho's mic work, in-ring work and mild crowd reaction.

Her are highlights from the Chris Jericho interview in this months WWE Magazine:

Q: "What was going through your mind when you stepped away from WWE in August 2005?"
A: "I was just mentally burned out after wrestling for 125 years straight. I felt I didn't have the extra spark or push. If you want to be in this business and continue to compete at a top level, you need 100-percent mental commitment. If you don't, you can get hurt, or worse, hurt somebody else. My contract was up and I was able to leave on good terms, which is rare. There were a lot of other projects I wanted to work on, so I thought it would be a good time to step back from wrestling. And I needed to spend a little more time at home with my family, because in July 2006 we had twin daughters.”

Q: “At what point did you start feeling that itch to return to the ring?”
A: “I really wasn’t feeling an itch. When I was done, I was done. I didn’t watch wrestling for a while. I was just really fried. I didn’t have any animosity. If you love pizza and you eat an entire pizza, then you don’t want to look at one for a while. I wrote a book, and without trying to be too sappy, it helped me find myself. I realized that as a kid I had this dream to become a wrestler and I was able to succeed in my dream at a very high level. How many people get to do that? I remembered how much I loved wrestling. I just needed time to reignite that passion.”

Q: “When did you start watching WWE again?”
A: “A year ago. I always followed it and read the reports on the ‘Net. But watching it? I just wasn’t interested. I had to take a step back and chill. I watched John Cena and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 23 and that was good. But what they did in the hour-long match on Raw [ April 23, 2007 ], that’s when I started thinking, “Holy smokes, I love wrestling!” I e-mailed Vince and J.R. to tell them that that was a match, and that was why I watch wrestling.”

Q: “Are there any Superstars on the roster you’re especially looking forward to taking on?”
A: “I love wrestling John Cena, and our last two matches were two of my best and two of his best. I’ve still got some unfinished business with Triple H and Shawn Michaels. I’ve yet to have a singles match with the Undertaker, which is a rare thing. I’d like to take him and teach him a few lessons. A lot of these new guys need to get experience, but they’re doing really well. I’ll still slap them down like schoolchildren. I think Mr. Kennedy deserves a little bit of a beating. He’s cocky, MVP, too.”

Q: “What advice did some of the other celebs give you?”
A: “I saw Smokey Robinson backstage, and he was sucking on some lemons. I asked him, “Is that good for your voice?” He said, “No man, I just like lemons.” It sucked being the first kicked off, but the ratings went from about eight million to four million after I left.”

Q: “You also just released a new book, A lion’s Tale: Around the World in Spandex. How hard was it to sit down and put the last 15 years of your life on paper?”
A: “I have a journalism degree, and I always wanted to write a book. A week after I left WWE, I got an agent, and soon after that, a book deal. I wanted to write it myself, I just didn’t realize how hard the process would be. So I hared a collaborator, who was king of like a producer I could bounce ideas off of. But I wrote every word in that book. It took me 18 months. I’m a bit of a control freak, so I also picked all of the pictures, captions, the inner sleeve, outer sleeve, back cover quotes, I even swept up under the table and cleaned the toilets of the publishing office. Whatever was needed.”