Chris Jericho on Narrating Season Two of Dark Side of the Ring, How the Show Taps Into Wrestling History

Speaking with Jeffrey Harris for the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast, Chris Jericho talked about his role narrating the rest of Dark Side of the Ring season two. Jericho, who appears prominently on camera for the Chris Benoit episode that premiered last night, talked about how he came on to narrate the remaining episodes for the season and what he appreciates about producer Evan Husney and director Jason Eisener’s approach. You can check out some highlights below:

On being the narrator for the rest of season two: “Basically, I mean, like I said Chavo got me involved with the Benoit shows. And then Evan [Husney] and the guys came over, they asked me quite a few questions about Owen Hart as well, who will also be profiled on this season. And then they just asked me to narrate it, and I was more than happy to do that because I was really a fan of the show. I watched the whole first season. I liked how they did it. So I felt that it was a really cool little thing to be involved in. And I really appreciate the history of wrestling, so I enjoyed the fact that I was involved and learned quite a bit. Was able to kind of see these shows from the ground level up.”

On Dark Side of the Ring tapping into wrestling history and shedding a new light on wrestling stories: “Well I mean, like it should. I think there’s a lot of stories that if you’re a wrestling fan you kind of have heard before. Obviously there’s ones that are more prominent like Benoit. Probably the biggest news stories that happened over the last 25 years was the Benoit tragedy and the Owen Hart tragedy. So you know these things, but you might not know everything about it. You definitely haven’t heard from the principles involved. But when you talk about like the Brawl For All for example, Gino Hernandez last season. I didn’t really know about these stories. I’ve heard about them, and obviously Brawl for All is a tragedy. But just the whole concept behind it was so interesting.

“I really enjoy watching these shows. The New Jack show, I had no idea the reign of terror that he went on in the late ’90s, early 2000s — and [New Jack] could give two s**ts about it. I just thought that was unbelievable how nonplussed he was over these horrible things he had done. I, once again, like watching wrestling history. I like seeing it from the horse’s mouth so to speak. And I appreciate how the guys produce Dark Side in that it’s very informative, it comes from the source. It’s not sensationalistic. It’s not garish, it’s not — it doesn’t make you feel dirty when you watch it. It’s done very classy, I guess you’d say. So it was a pleasure to be asked to be a part of it.”

In the full interview, Jericho discusses his involvement with season two of the show, the season premiere episode on Chris Benoit, his match with Jon Moxley at AEW Revolution and more.

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0:00: Introduction
0:51: On being brought on for the episode and whether he had any reservations doing it
2:18: On the episode’s different approach to the Benoit story
3:25: On Benoit’s importance to his own career and Benoit matches not being included in WWE retrospectives
5:04: On Chris and Nancy Benoit’s family members participating in the episode and telling their story and bringing them together
9:29: On narrating the rest of season two’s episodes, being a fan of the show’s first season
10:24: On Dark Side of the Ring tapping into wrestling history and shedding a new light on wrestling stories
12:43: On losing the AEW Championship at AEW Revolution to Jon Moxley, Moxley being one of AEW’s early big stars

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