Chris Jericho comments on fans sometimes getting frustrated with storytelling.
Speaking on Busted Open, Chris Jericho discussed storytelling in AEW, as Dave LaGreca noted that if you follow the story, eventually you will understand.
“That’s the thing. I mean, it’s a story. You shouldn’t get the whole story in one show. There’s always little nuances, and we do have three shows a week, and we utilize all three of those for elements of the story. You can’t just put everything on Dynamite or everything on Collision or everything on Rampage. It’s gonna go where you have spaces.
“Sometimes I have story points that have to be done, but we just don’t have another show, another Dynamite. So let’s do it on Rampage before the pay-per-view or whatever it may be. I think a lot of people don’t want that. They want to know everything all up front, and they want to know the whole, ‘This story sucks,’ or, ‘This is terrible,’ or, ‘What’s the follow-up gonna be?’ Just sit back, we do have long-term story ideas and thoughts and plans.”
Chris Jericho: Fans Don’t Really Know
Chris Jericho then noted that he laughed at the way that fans think they’re very knowledgeable, but they still don’t really know. He drew a comparison with going to a movie and not wanting to know the full story in advance.
“That’s something that I really laugh at,” Chris Jericho said. “As knowledgeable as fans think they are at times, they still really don’t know, and I think that bothers a lot of people. Whereas for me, if I’m gonna go see [a movie], if I knew what the whole story was before I started watching, then why would I bother watching it?
“I want to see it unfold the way that the storytellers and the directors and the producers want to see it unfold. That’s how you tell great stories. Some of them are a month long, some of them are six months long. Some of them are a year long. That’s just how it goes in wrestling.”
Chris Jericho On Going With The Flow
Chris Jericho went on to emphasize that it’s important to go with the flow with storylines, as things need to be adjusted based on how the fans react. He reiterated that there are often plans, but sometimes people go in a different direction.
“A lot of times, you don’t know what’s gonna happen. You gotta go with the flow, what the reactions of the crowds are. Lord knows, I know this. So then you have to recalibrate, and that’s part of the fun of doing live TV and doing weekly TV, or bi-weekly live TV. We don’t know what’s gonna happen. If you write a whole story and stick with it from A to B, and it’s four months long, and somewhere along the lines, people go a different direction, then you have to adapt to that.
“So it’s one of those things, like I said, at least for me and for other people I know in the company, there is a beginning, a middle, and an end always,” Chris Jericho said. “Sometimes when people get angry because they think they’re guessed the whole story in the middle and are mad that it’s not ending yet, it’s like just calm down and watch the rest of the show and stick with the rest of the timeline that we’ve got going here. Then decide if you like it or not. “
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