Chris Jericho’s Advice to Young Wrestlers, What They Misunderstand

It’s an ongoing debate among wrestling pundits as to what makes a “five-star” match. Are high spots the peak of pro wrestling, or can a match be great even with relatively few scientific moves? Ultimately, it’s the audience who decides. And asked by Dan Marston what it is young wrestlers misunderstand about making the connection with the audience, Chris Jericho weighed in on what matters most.

“I’m not going to throw stones at at the style of wrestling nowadays,” he stated, “because when I started, our style was the version of what’s going on today, but the the peak of athleticism in 1991 was a moonsault, right?”

Jericho would eventually modify it into a Lionsault, of course, which remains a key part of his arsenal. “I remember the first guys to do a moonsault in Japan was myself and Lance Storm. Now a moonsault is, you know, the opening move, but that’s fine. The athleticism grows, but the same principle for wrestling never changes. It’s all about your personality and about your character and about your charisma and connecting with the audience.”

He emphasized, “You have to connect. If not, then you’re just a couple guys out there doing in high spots and and not getting any reactions because there’s so much going on. No one’s paying attention because nothing is special. There has to be a reason for what you’re doing, a reason why the match is even happening. So it’s up to to all the guys and girls to figure that out for themselves. You have to find a character that’s going to connect and be a little bit unique that people are going to remember.”

And, of course, change the character when it gets stale.