Coming to New Japan Pro Wrestling, Chris Jericho debuted his alter ego The Painmaker, showing off a darker side.
The Painmaker most recently popped up in AEW as Jericho entered his first deathmatch against Nick Gage. Jericho was able to survive the deathmatch thanks to the use of black mist.
Speaking on Talk Is Jericho, Chris discussed wanting to use the mist as The Painmaker and how it could lead to a feud with Malakai Black.
"[Gage vs. Jericho] culminated with a cool spot, which is funny because it's been appropriated and used by someone else in AEW, which opens the door if I ever wrestle him, talking about Malakai Black. I was thinking of something towards the end that would turn the tide because Nick was using the light tubes and other stuff. I thought, 'what if I blow mist?' I hadn't seen mist in years. Talking about the Great Muta, it's a Muta classic and vintage trait. I thought it would be cool if I did mist. I told Tony [Khan] about it and asked, 'What color is it going to be?' I said it was going to be black and he's like, 'That's great. Muta used the black mist once in 1987 and it's worse than the green.' The reason I wanted to do black is because the Painmaker is a black, dark character. It made sense to me that the Painmaker would blow mist because he's a mysterious character. Then, of course, Malakai Black comes in and starts using the mist and doesn't realize the Painmaker had done it. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I'm not using the mist as Chris Jericho anytime soon so until the Painmaker comes back, the mist is all his. Who better to face Malakai Black and his dark character than the Painmaker? Maybe we'll have a mist off," joked Jericho.
Black has been using mist since his AEW debut in July, blinding the likes of Cody Rhodes and Julia Hart.
Later during the podcast, Jericho confirmed that he would like to bring the Painmaker back to AEW.
"I'd like to do the Painmaker a few more times in AEW and New Japan. I would love to do Painmaker vs. Malakai Black, that's a no brainer. Painmaker vs. Sting. That's amazing. Bat vs. bat. Think about that. Painmaker vs. Shingo [Takagi]," he exclaimed.
Jericho was written off AEW television on the December 1 episode of AEW Dynamite when he was attacked by 2point0 (Matt Lee & Jeff Parker) and Daniel Garcia so he could embark with Fozzy on their UK tour. Shows on the tour had to be canceled due to Jericho having health issues.
It is unknown when he will return to TV.
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