Chris Jericho, reflecting on his future retirement from wrestling, shared his perspective on the matter during an interview with Z100 New York. Jericho, who has yet to seriously consider retiring, emphasized his focus on staying active as long as he remains healthy and can perform at a high level. He acknowledged that wrestling’s evolving landscape, with significant TV deals and enduring star power, allows wrestlers to extend their careers.
Jericho dismissed the idea of a year-long retirement ceremony, preferring a simpler approach. He cited Iron Maiden’s drummer Nicko McBrain, who retired with minimal fanfare, as an example he admires. Jericho expressed a desire for his retirement to be final, avoiding the trend of multiple comebacks or farewell tours seen in acts like KISS and Cher. Instead, he might opt for no formal announcement, leaving the door open to wrestle again if he chooses.
Jericho also noted the pressure of a “retirement match,” fearing that a disappointing final bout could lead to a need for redemption. For now, he’s focused on enjoying his career and will determine his path to retirement when the time feels right.
Here’s what the ROH World Champion said:
“I really haven’t, man, because it could end tomorrow. I mean, Sting quit at 65. You know, times have changed now in wrestling because there’s so much money involved from a television standpoint, and it’s still a very star power-driven business—it always has been. So, you can stay in this job a lot longer than you ever thought you would, as long as you’re healthy and can still perform.
I don’t know; I haven’t really thought about that. I’ve never been the guy who’s like, ‘year-long retirement ceremony.’ That seems a little, kind of like, eh. But having said that, going back to rock and roll, I’m a huge Iron Maiden fan, and they announced one morning that Nicko McBrain, the drummer for 42 years, was retiring that night. Then the next day, they announced the new drummer. You had no time—it was like, ‘Morning: Nicko’s retiring. Last show tonight. Tomorrow: new drummer.’ Like, what?
So there might be some merit to doing a final show, but I don’t think about that stuff. I really live in what’s going on right now. My Sid Vicious, $ex Pistols attitude is like, ‘I’ll just disappear, and no one will ever see me again.’ But I don’t know if I’d be able to do that. So, I’m sure when the time is right, I’ll know it, and we’ll figure out a way to do it and then go from there.
But when I retire, it’ll be ‘I’m retiring.’ I don’t want to do the thing where you come back or keep coming back. So, I might never have that ‘final match.’ I’d want it to be, ‘This is the match, and then I’m done.’ I’m not trying to put that kind of pressure on myself.
You know, I mentioned the Scorpions—they had a retirement tour 10 years ago, and then when it was done, they went, ‘Nah, we don’t want to retire anymore.’ Cher’s had like 30 farewell tours. KISS did it. Ozzy did it. So, it’s like, why? You know who’s never done that? The Stones. The Stones are in their 80s, and they’ve never had a retirement tour. When they’re done, I’m sure they’ll just be done. But to me, it’s like, why put that pressure on yourself?
Maybe I’ll just stop wrestling. Maybe 5 years from now, I might want to have another match. Maybe not. But it seems like there’s a lot of pressure on it. And you know what happens if you have your retirement match and it sucks? Well, then you’re like, ‘Now I have to have another one.’”
WATCH: Tiffany Stratton Half-N@ked:
