It is probably just temporary, but fans had strong opinions about it.
Chris Jericho is an absolute legend of the wrestling world. In his 25+ year career, he’s wrestled in his native Canada, the USA, Japan, Mexico, Europe and all over the world. He was an integral part of the Attitude Era in the late 1990s, and his theme music and Walls of Jericho finisher are both iconic (hands up if you got put in the Wall of Jericho in the playground…).
But he’s also never been one to rest on his laurels. Since the end of that boom period for wrestling, he’s constantly reinvented himself, keeping himself relevant and helping young talent get over. His most recent run with Kevin Owens and ‘The List of Jericho’ is arguably the funniest he has ever been.
Last year though, he shocked the wrestling world by making a surprise appearance in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and faced fellow Canadian Kenny Omega in Tokyo in January. Fans had eagerly been awaiting to see if he would return to Japan, and on Friday he finally did, attacking fan favourite Tetsuya Naito.
https://twitter.com/BulletClubItal/status/992336950068764673
He jumped the barricade, dressed as a fan after Naito’s match. The thing was though that Naito is part of the goth-themed stable Los Ingobernables – which meant Jericho wore white facepaint and eyeshadow to fit in. And on 47 year old dad Jericho, that just looked, well, a bit weird.
https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/992337893141221377
Some fans though he looked a bit familiar.
https://twitter.com/VcrWrestling/status/992427086966153216
He also struggled to get his mask off.
https://twitter.com/judekilgour/status/992430608591785984
Fans think Jericho will face Naito at the Dominion event in June, though that is yet to be confirmed. The facepaint is also almost definitely just a onetime thing, but it would be fun if he did it again. He has managed to make both a light up jacket and a scarf part of his character, so why not facepaint?
