Chris Jericho knows the wrestling world is changing. And he's doing his best to be the leader of the change.
Jericho has made headlines over the last year, showing up at the biggest events. He's wrestled Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito in NJPW, appeared in the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble, and showed up at All In. His next venture is the Jericho's Rock N Wrestling Rager at Sea, a five-day cruise that combines his love of music with professional wrestling.
Speaking to Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Jericho discussed working for different companies and bringing wrestling together outside of WWE.
“I think the business is changing to where we are starting to see more cooperation between companies. In a lot of ways, the Jericho cruise is a forerunner to that,” he said. “I think just to see that there are WWE Hall of Famers, the biggest independent guys, guys from New Japan, Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling. All In also proved that. New Japan proves that. Even the Jericho cruise proves that. There is no WWE involvement in this cruise at all. I think in a world where WWE is so dominant for such a long time, it’s cool to see other options."
Jericho has no disillusions about competing with WWE, stating, "You’re not going to beat WWE at their own game, but you can carve out a pretty cool name for yourself and do pretty well as a result because of all the people getting involved and want to get involved in the business now looking for that alternative. It’s a good time for the wrestling business, for the fans and performers.”
The Cruise of Jericho sets sail on Oct. 27. Jericho stated that cruise is 94 percent booked up and that rounding up, it's a sell out. Jericho will team with the Young Bucks to face Kenny Omega, Cody, and Marty Scurll on the cruise. As for his next move, Jericho recently stated that he is currently enjoying his time as a free agent although holding the IWGP Intercontinental Title gives the expectation that he'll wrestle again for NJPW at some point.
