Chris Jericho on the Creation of The List and “Stupid Idiot” Catchphrase

Radio show Bailey and Southside had a recent interview with Chris Jericho discussing his recent run in the WWE and the creation of The List of Jericho and his “Stupid Idiot” catchphrase.

On the topic of the creation of The List of Jericho gimmick, Jericho revealed it was WWE writer Jimmy Jacobs who came up with the idea for him. Both of them quickly realized the comedic potential of the idea and decided to make it a big part of Jericho’s recent run in the WWE.

“Working with this guys who’s a writer in the WWE named Jimmy Jacobs. He used to be a [pro] wrestler. He came up to me one day and said, ‘what if we do something where you put somebody on this list?’ I’m like, ‘I knew this guy once who had a list of people he didn’t like.’ I’m like, ‘oh, that sounds funny.’ So I said it and it kind of got a reaction.” Jericho said, “the whole concept of The List went through the roof. The List is more popular than 85% of the guys on the show. The List is more popular than I am! And you just never know what’s going to make an impression with fans.”

When discussing Jericho’s “stupid idiot” catchphrase, Jericho revealed he has been saying the phrase for years but it wasn’t till recently Vince decided to make the phrase a bigger part of his character. Also believed Jericho was one of the few guys in the WWE who could get a catchphrase genuinely over with crowds.

“They’re chanting it now, ‘stupid idiot’ and I remember when I started saying that, Vince was like, ‘nobody could say this, nobody can get away with this, but you can. You’re the only guy in the world who could do this’ because when I started using ‘stupid idiot,’ it got heat. I would call the fans, ‘you’re a stupid idiots’ and they’d be like, ‘boo!’ and then, like everything else, suddenly people loved it.”