Exclusive Interview: Chris Jericho opens up on the 'Jericho Cruise', NJPW, Impact, WWE and his crazy 2018
Today I got to speak to a man who is four days away from hosting a wrestling and rock music event on a cruise ship sailing from Miami to the Bahamas that he has spent the last three years organising - Chris Jericho. On the boat will be a host of rock bands and wrestlers from Ring of Honor, NJPW and Impact Wrestling and the crazy thing is that might not even be the biggest or most surprising thing he's done this year!
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That's right, Chris Jericho's 2018 has been somewhat of a wild-ride with 'The Ayatollah of Rock and Roll' making his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling at the Tokyo Dome in the co-main event of Wrestle Kingdom against Kenny Omega, bringing back 'The List of Jericho' at Raw 25, surprising the world at ALL IN despite having a Fozzy gig on the same day and now the cruise.
Anyone of those moments would be a career-defining moment but this is Chris Jericho we're talking about, the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion doesn't just have one career-defining moment, he has a career-defining moment every time he does anything these days. Which is why I was keen to talk to Jericho about the history making Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea, his highly successful 2018 and what the future holds for him.
The 'Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager At Sea' is set to be a world first, with top talent from Ring of Honor, NJPW and Impact Wrestling coming together for a series of incredible looking wrestling shows, all accompanied by live music, podcasts and an all-inclusive cruise from Miami to the Bahamas. And it all came from the mind of Chris Jericho. I wanted to ask him where the idea came from and why would someone do something like this?
Jericho: "Well it started we did the Kiss cruise in 2015, and it was such a great experience as a professional, as a fan, as a performer, all across the board I was just really impressed with how much fun it was and how easy it was. I mean, you get up in the morning, you hang for a bit, you do you gig, you go back to your cabin take a shower then you've got the rest of the night to do whatever you want to do.
It was a great party, a great time and as soon as we got back from it I called my manager, Fozzy's manager and I said 'Dude, I want to do this, I want to do a cruise that's synonymous with Chris Jericho - Rock and Roll and wrestling' and that's where it all started, three years ago now. So it took quite a while to get it up and running but now we're almost ready to roll man, less than a week away!"
I believe the cruise is sold out now? Obviously, it hasn't happened yet, so it may be a little early but will there be a Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea 2 down the line?
Jericho: "It's not sold out yet, it's at about 96%, which for a first-year cruise is pretty good! But that was always the idea. I mean, it was never meant to be just a 'one-and-done.' I wanted it to be something like an annual vacation and destination just like the Kiss cruise, who are getting ready for their eighth one.
That's kind of what the mindset was behind it so I think that, so far good. I mean we've had a lot of success already before we've even left port, but I think that when we've set sail and people realise exactly what they're going to be getting it'll make the word of mouth even more so and next year we'll be able to sell it completely."
Next: Jericho talks about the 'Streaming for Vengeance' show coming from the cruise, not appearing at Impact's Bound for Glory and whether or not he thinks 2018 is his best year ever