Chris Jericho on settling on the “Wizard” Gimmick

In an interview with TSN, Chris Jericho spoke about why he decided to start using the nickname of ‘The Wizard’ and spoke about the upcoming AEW Forbidden Door event. Here are highlights:

On being ‘The Wizard’:

“‘The Wizard’ just came up because we wanted to do a fireball and nobody had done a fireball in years, so when I did it, I saw the reaction – once again, read the room – and I just said one day on commentary or on a promo ‘I’m a wizard’ because I threw a fireball. Isn’t that what wizards do? I don’t know, do wizards throw fireballs? I think so. They cast spells and s–t, so I figure they can throw fireballs. And people started responding to that. You guys just gotta realize when I put my mind to something, I get it over no matter what. I just love the concept of ‘The Wizard.’ What is it? Nothing! What is it? Everything! This character thinks he’s a wizard. He can cast these spells in AEW and is the most popular performer and the best wrestler in the world, so that’s basically a wizard…am I ever gonna come out with a Gandalf hat or a Gandalf gown and have a big staff? It’s like, ‘That’s what you gotta do!’ No, I don’t! If I came out dressed like a wizard, then it becomes completely stupid and not threatening.”

On thinking he’d get the match with Tanahashi when CM Punk got hurt:

“To be honest with you, when Punk got hurt, I thought maybe I would get the call to work with Tanahashi. Obviously, Mox is a great choice as well, but that to me is the status of what I should be doing in a New Japan situation. Don’t forget, we’ve got Blood and Guts three days later, so if I do something at Forbidden Door, it has to be something that leads to Blood and Guts. It has to be the next step in the story, so where does that fit in? Well, we have to use our heads and figure something out to make it fit in somewhere. And you can’t really have a pay-per-view without Chris Jericho on the show or Eddie Kingston on the show or Bryan Danielson on the show at this point, especially with Punk and other guys out. I’m sure I’ll be involved in some capacity, but it’s going to have to be more of something that fits together with what’s going on at Blood and Guts, which probably means not so much a singles match and more of a faction-based match with the Jericho Appreciation Society at the crux of it versus the BCC or whatever New Japan guys we decide could fit in there.”

On who he wants to work with from NJPW:

“I would have loved to have worked with [Minoru] Suzuki, I would have loved to have worked with [Will] Ospreay. There are still some guys I want to work with, but I’d also like to do those in Tokyo. I think Jericho versus Suzuki has a way different feel to it in Tokyo than Jericho versus Suzuki does in the States because Suzuki has worked a lot in the States and worked a lot of lower-level guys. In Japan, that’s not the case.”