On Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 4:45 PM EST
The Baltimore Sun is featuring an interview with WWE star Chris Jericho where he talks about his feud with Shawn Michaels, the famous "punch" to Michaels' wife, losing part of a tooth at No Mercy, his recent World Title run and more.
Here are some highlights:
On his feud with Shawn Michaels:
"The story line was supposed to be a month-long thing, and then it ended up blossoming into me winning the world title as a result of it going seven months. So it really did get bigger than it was ever supposed to, and we took a lot of pride in that because we worked long and hard on it. I think for both of us it was one of the best angles that we’ve ever been involved in. To me, it was definitely the most intricate, and it was fun because people didn’t know for sure if it was real or not. There was so much stuff that happened that was so outside of the box of what you usually see on our shows, and people really took notice of that."
On the angle of him punching Michaels' wife Rebecca:
"It was one of those things where there’s always the X factor that something could happen like that, and we all knew what the danger of it was. Obviously, Shawn and I felt terrible. Rebecca did not. She loved it. She thought it was awesome. And the fact that she didn’t end up with any permanent damage – no broken teeth, a fat lip for a couple weeks – it’s probably the best thing that could have happened. That really kick-started the angle and took it to a different place. Obviously, I felt so bad about it, but when all was said and done, it actually worked out for the best."
On how his wife felt when he lost part of a tooth at No Mercy:
"She wasn’t happy about it, but it was more that she was sad that I got hurt. My son wasn’t happy about it either, but that’s the business. I’m a warrior and sometimes things like that happen. I’ve never lost a tooth before; I hope I don’t ever lose one again. You live with it. You look like Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber until you get to the dentist. And then the next thing you know, you get the crown on there and you never notice anything different. The dentist told me that I should have lost all four of the teeth. So I’ll take the half-tooth and just consider myself lucky."
On his recent run as World Heavyweight Champion:
"Well, certain things happen at certain times, and there’s different reactions from Vince [McMahon]. And when he makes a decision, you have to go with it. But let me just say that it’s not completely the way that it seems right now – there’s going to be a lot more to it. Vince usually has a lot of different plans, and whether it’s the end of it for good or whether I win the title again, I’m not sure, but it doesn’t matter to me. I think there’s a lot of over-analyzing of different things. To me, the most important thing was that I got it in the first place, which was never supposed to be the case. I was very happy with the work I did while I had it on this run, and how long you keep a title has nothing to do with me. That’s up to the boss, and whatever he wants to do, I’ll be happy to do it. And I’ll get my chance again, and when I do, I’ll do exactly the same thing I did when I had it the last time, which is do the best work that I possibly can and make people hate me even more. Usually in Vince’s grand scheme of things, even though things sometimes don’t seem like they’re the right way to do things at the start, in the big picture they usually always are. And I’ve been around long enough to know that you have to trust the boss when he has a feeling, and that’s what I’m going to do."
To check out the full interview, click here.