Chris Jericho debuted his Painmaker gimmick in 2019 for his NJPW Dominion match against then-IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. Okada called himself The Rainmaker, a darker persona for him.
During an interview with MovieWeb, Jericho, who will appear in “The Terrifier 2,” was asked if he could compete with the film’s killer clown, Art the Clown. Jericho explained what inspired The Painmaker gimmick.
“I don’t know if Jericho could but The Painmaker might be able to,” Jericho said. “The Painmaker was conceived as what a serial killer would look like if he was a pro wrestler… There’s your crossover, The Painmaker versus Art the Clown, a graphic novel waiting to happen.”
