Hi guys.
Chris Jericho leaned into criticisms of his character by creating The Learning Tree, a wink-and-nod to fans who think Jericho is taking up too much TV time and not helping others. Jericho has brought Big Bill and Bryan Keith into the Learning Tree as they've feuded with HOOK, Samoa Joe, and Katsuyori Shibata.
Appearing on Creative Imbalance, Jericho was asked how the character has evolved as he listens to crowd feedback.
"That's how I treat anything I do. You read the room and let the story lead you. I knew that when we first started, portraying it one way and reeling people into thinking it's almost a Buffon sort of thing until the axe falls and you realize, 'Oh, these guys are not funny. This is real and serious and it's American Psycho crossed with The Devil's Rejects.' Now, we have a whole different character and mindset. Polarizing, if you want to say that. Bottom line is, it delivers, it's one of the top rated segments on the show every week. People are into it. As much as people want to cry from the hills that they want to behead Chris Jericho and kick me off planet Earth and send me off in space in a shuttle, that's a very small amount of people. What are the people reacting to in the venue? What are they watching? We have a hit character with a lot of potential who's helping a lot of different people move up the ladder, and that's what it's all about," he said.
The Learning Tree has taken on a more serious tone in recent weeks in putting HOOK, Shibata, and Joe out of action.
Jericho is set to defend the FTW Championship against Minoru Suzuki on the July 24th episode of AEW Dynamite.
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