Chris Jericho Reveals If He Wants A Retirement Match
Chris Jericho has addressed the possibility of putting his career on the line in a wrestling match.
After wrestling on worldwide television for 30 years and still competing regularly at the age of 53 years old, it’s only natural for people to ask Chris Jericho about retirement.
The reality is that most pro wrestlers are not competing at a high level into their 50s the way Jericho is.
Two of the biggest-name wrestlers over the last 25 years are talking a lot about retirement. One of them is AEW’s Bryan Danielson, who is putting his career on the line at AEW All In this Sunday while WWE’s John Cena is planning a retirement tour in 2025.
Even though Chris Jericho is older than Cena and Danielson, he told TV Insider that what other people do doesn’t affect him.
“It doesn’t change my perspective at all because Bryan was out for nine years. He couldn’t work. John hasn’t worked regularly at about the same time. Bryan has been incredible since he came back from his injuries. He is one of the greatest wrestlers in the world and of all time. If he wants to step back, he’ll do that. John is the same thing. One of the greatest of all time. He went to Hollywood and became a huge success and wants to come back and put an exclamation point on his career.”
“To me, I don’t see the point for me. That’s just me. I remember a few years ago The Scorpions had a big farewell tour and then decided they were having too much fun and came back and played. Same with Judas Priest. The Who retired in 1982 and still playing. Why put the pressure on a retirement and a timeline? For me, I’m just happy to do just be still doing it at a high level.”
Jericho misspoke when talking about Danielson because he wasn’t out for nine years. That was Adam Copeland/Edge. Danielson lost three years of his career between 2015 and his return in 2018 due to concussion and neck issues.
Chris Jericho Has No Interest In A Retirement Tour
As he continued, Chris Jericho made it clear he didn’t want or need a retirement match because when he knows the end is here, he’ll just stop wrestling.
“When that time comes, I don’t want a retirement tour I think. I don’t need a big retirement match. I’ll just stop. Maybe I’ll feel differently when it comes to that, but I also have other things.”
“I have Fozzy where I get the live element form as well. I have the podcast, cruise, acting. I have other stuff going on and have walked away from wrestling a couple of times. We’ll see what happens.”
“Sting’s retirement was one of the greatest moments of all time. I think Cena doing a farewell tour is awesome and people know these are the dates to see him. John is very driven that way. He’ll be done when he says he is done and never come back. Bryan already said he would never retire. You won’t see him as a full-time wrestler, but you’ll see him in a ring for a long time.”
“Everyone is different. For me, I just live in the moment and enjoy going to work every week and doing cool sh*t. As long as I feel that way, I will continue doing so.”
At the AEW All In PPV this Sunday, August 25th at London’s Wembley Stadium, “The Learning Tree” Chris Jericho defends the FTW Title against Taz’s son Hook, who is 29 years younger than Jericho. It’s a rivalry that has been brewing for several months as Hook tries to win back the title that Jericho won from him.