Chris Jericho Pokes Fun at DX While Talking About Reinventing Himself

Even at 49 years old, Chris Jericho never fails to stay relevant in the world of pro wrestling. He’s currently the AEW World Champion, leads the young company’s biggest heel faction and picked up an impressive submission win over New Japan’s Hiroshi Tanahashi at the Wrestle Kingdom 14 event on Saturday night. Jericho appeared in the arena in his “Painmaker” gimmick, a look that is completely removed from anything he was doing in his last WWE run, and has avoided going back to any of the old tricks that helped him move up the card during his final run with the company in 2016-17.

Jericho was asked about how he approaches and reinvents his persona during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, while also taking a little jab at the D-Generation X faction.

“I have a great list of hits, but a lot of those will never be played again because I’m too busy concentrating on new hits and performing at the highest level,” Jericho said. “It’s hard to leave all the old gimmicks and catchphrases, and take a chance, but if you don’t do that, it’s like DX coming to the ring in 2019 and yelling ‘Suck it!’ It looks like a relic from the past, and I never wanted to be that.”

“If I was still in the WWE, I would still have to be doing ‘The List’ and it would feel so old,” he added. “I love all the great stuff I did in the past, but to go out there and say ‘Raw is Jericho’ or ‘I’m the Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla’ would really feel like a rock and roll band that tours that never puts on a new record and tours every summer. I always appreciate when bands play new songs, because I’ve been playing new songs, too. Otherwise, for me, there’s no reason to continue on.”

DX, comprised of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, X-Pac and (posthumously) Chyna were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame back in April 2019. Hunter and Michaels helped recreate the faction’s classic “Invading WCW” angle from the Monday Night Wars back in November when they helped the NXT brand invade an episode of SmackDown while riding an army jeep.

Jericho is booked to appear on AEW Dynamite this week, where he’ll learn whether or not Jon Moxley chooses to join his Inner Circle faction.