AEW stars Chris Jericho and Renee Paquette say social media is changing pro wrestling – Winnipeg Free Press
TORONTO – Professional wrestling is an art form that relies on performers understanding and responding to their viewers, and it’s a dynamic that’s being reshaped by technological innovations, according to All Elite Wrestling stars Chris Jericho and Renee Paquette.
Jericho and Paquette attended the Collision technology conference this week and reflected on how the internet is changing pro wrestling after their discussion of how AEW is turning their industry on its head. Jericho said that when he started his career in the early 1990s, he was able to advance in the ring because he was able to learn from his missteps, but social media and YouTube make it difficult for young wrestlers to make mistakes without ruining their reputations.
“Back then, you could have really bad matches for years and learn from them,” Jericho said backstage at the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place in Toronto. “Today, everything is there for everyone to see.”
“I think that because of experience, boys and girls are put under pressure because of this.”
However, that doesn’t mean that social media is inherently bad.
“One of the advantages is that you’re on YouTube and if you’re really good, you can suddenly get exposure much quicker than you could before,” said Jericho, who is originally from Winnipeg. “Earlier in my career, it was more word of mouth, magazines, the different areas you worked in in Japan, things like that. You could build an image and then come to the States.”
Paquette, a backstage interviewer for AEW who started on the now-defunct The Score Television Network in 2009, agreed with Jericho. She also added that personalized algorithms on social media can be misleading for young people entering creative fields, not just in pro wrestling.
“I think social media is very specific to each person, so it only gives them a certain impression of what they’re doing rather than the bigger picture,” says Paquette, who is from Toronto. “But if you want to try something, try new characters, put a new spin on a story on Instagram, do something on TikTok and it suddenly takes off, that can be good and that’s a good place to try things out.”
“But now it’s also intended for the public, although perhaps it shouldn’t be yet.”
Jericho said when you venture into the waters of social media, you have to be aware that half the people are going to say you’re the greatest of all time and the other half want you to “basically curl up and die.”
“One of the trends is that younger guys and girls are looking for comments on Twitter or Instagram or wherever after the match to decide if their match was good or not,” Jericho said, pointing to his chest to emphasize his next point. “You know here, in your heart, the moment the match is over, if it was good or bad.”
“At any performance, whether you’re a musician performing on a live stage or an actor performing a Shakespeare play in the park, when the audience is there, you know immediately what it was like.”
Paquette agreed that artists must trust their own instincts and rely on their experience.
“I think it’s really important for us to remember that we’re creating the art ourselves and not letting others dictate what direction we want to go based on what fans say online,” she said. “It’s nice to do fan service in certain cases and listen to what people like, but I think we should also remember that we’re the professionals and that we’ve been in the thick of it more than once.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2024.
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