Source: Tim Baines of Sun Media
When last we saw Chris Jericho in a wrestling mode, it was 2005 and he was getting his butt hauled out of a building by security. Ejected after losing a “You’re Fired” match to John Cena.
And while Jericho –Y2J, the King of Bling Bling, the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla and the Sexy Beast all rolled into one — believes he can once again rock the wrestling world, he’s not ready to return yet.
“I never said I was retired,” Jericho said. “After 15 years with no serious injuries and wrestling at such a high level, I needed a break. I was burned out. So I took myself out of the game before I was forced to take a break.”
It’s not like Jericho hauled his butt over to the beach, pulled up a lawn chair and searched for the meaning of life. He stayed busy … very busy. There was a world tour with his rock band, Fozzy. There was a TV pilot for the USA Network (it didn’t get picked up). There was an XM Satellite Radio show, Rock of Jericho. There was Opening Night, a play in Toronto last summer. There was Celebrity Duets, in which he sang alongside Lee Ann Womack and Peter Frampton. And there was A Lion’s Tale, the memoirs which, for four or five hours a night, he poured his heart and soul into (the book should be on shelves in October).
“I took a page from Walk the Line, which focused on a certain phase of Johnny Cash’s life. The book is the whole journey to get there … it ends when I get to WWE.”
Jericho is trying to get back into that wrestling zone.
“I have to be there 100% mentally as well as physically,” he says. “Mentally, I was completely fried.
“I don’t think (my return) will be happening anytime soon. But at least I’ve gotten into the groove of being a wrestling fan again. I’ve gotten back into watching wrestling … RAW and TNA.”
