Chris Jericho Reveals How He Came Up with “King of New York” Gimmick

Chris Jericho is known for constantly reinventing himself, and he continued this trend during his time in both WWE and AEW. That is exactly why Jericho has revealed how he came up with his “King of New York” character in AEW, explaining the creative process behind this unique gimmick.

While speaking to Gabby AF, Chris Jericho talked about how he created his “King of New York” character. He said it came from his own experiences. Jericho noted that he quickly went online to look up New York merchandise, like the “I love NY” shirt and a scarf, and even a bad hoodie he wore on Dynamite.

The hoodie just said “New York Baseball” without mentioning the Yankees or Mets, which Jericho thought was funny. He compared it to buying an Iron Maiden shirt that just said “London Heavy Metal” and calling it an Iron Maiden shirt.

“I think that just comes, once again, from experience and being able to, you know—like with King of New York. I instantly went to Amazon and looked up New York merch—like ‘I love NY,’ that scarf I just showed you, or this terrible hoodie I wore on Dynamite last night. It just says ‘New York Baseball.’ It doesn’t even say Yankees or Mets! What New Yorker would buy a shirt that just says ‘New York Baseball’? So bad! It’d be like me buying an Iron Maiden shirt that says ‘London Heavy Metal’ and going, ‘It’s an Iron Maiden shirt!’ What?“

Jericho explained that he wanted to have fun with the character. He imagined playing someone who thinks they’re a New Yorker but does things real New Yorkers wouldn’t do. He said tourists might wear things like an “I love NY” shirt, and he thought that was funny. He even wore one himself.

Instead of thinking the “King of New York” idea would be short-lived, Jericho saw it as a challenge and Jericho added that he wanted to make it great and keep it going as long as possible.

“So I just thought I could really have some fun with this—being this clueless idiot who thinks he’s such a New Yorker but does all these things real New Yorkers would never do. And non-New Yorkers would think, ‘That guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about,’ because when they go to New York, that’s what they do—like touristy stuff, you know? Like wearing one of those ‘I love NY’ shirts you get on the street, which I wore last night and the first night.

To me, it was like, ‘You can really have fun with that.’ Where someone else might go, ‘King of New York? That’s stupid—it’ll only be relevant for a month or whatever,’ I look at the other side of the coin. It’s kind of a challenge: let’s make this as great as we possibly can and push it for as long as it can go.”

Jericho also shared his belief that a story should guide itself. He said that trying to force a story in a direction it doesn’t want to go is like trying to push a dog into a room it doesn’t want to enter. It won’t work. If the story is going in the right direction, it will lead you there, and all you have to do is follow and figure out how to make it work.

“That’s always been my motto. You have to let the story lead you—you can’t lead the story. If you try to push the story somewhere it doesn’t want to go, it’s like trying to push a dog into a room it doesn’t want to enter. It’s not going to work. If the story is where it needs to be, it will take you there. All you have to do is be smart enough to realize that and just go with it. Then you figure out the best way to make it work.”

In the meantime, Chris Jericho is set to defend the ROH World Championship against Matt Cardona at Final Battle on December 20th, so we’ll have to see whether “The King of New York” will prevail over the “Indy God” once and for all, as fans certainly want Cardona to win the bout.

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