If you were presented an opportunity to sit under the learning tree of “Le Champion” Chris Jericho, then drink it in, man. If not, you might just make the Painmaker’s list, and find yourself on the receiving end of the Walls of Jericho. Evolving is all part of the process if one wants to maintain popularity in an ever-growing industry like pro wrestling. For Jericho, evolution is key. Emulating this process to match one of his personal heroes in former six-time Grammy winner David Bowie, the future hall of famer describes the importance of learning how to balance familiarity that fans already know, while introducing newer layers that entice fans unfamiliar with his past work.

“I’m a huge Bowie fan, and he was never the same guy twice,” the former and inaugural AEW World Champion said in an interview with GamesHub. “Every record was different in imagery and sound. At the core it was still Bowie, but you could go to a Halloween party and see ten people dressed as Bowie from different eras and recognize every single one of them. I think you could do the same with Chris Jericho…The main thing for me is I never want to be a nostalgia act. I want to keep changing, keep doing things that make people angry at first.”

He may not have won a Grammy like Bowie has yet, but his growth in the wrestling business has awarded him 36 different championships across the board from ECW, WCW, New Japan, WWE, AEW, and ROH, which was the last company he held its world championship in before his absence. Reports remain that “Le Champion” is still “firmly” under contract with AEW, despite entertaining the idea of returning to WWE.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “GamesHub” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.