By James Caldwell, PWTorch columnist

When Chris Jericho was ready to return to the wrestling business last year after taking two years off to tour with his band and write his first book, he says the only company he considered returning to was WWE due to his relationship with Vince McMahon.

"I enjoy working for Vince. If I'm in the wrestling business, I'm working for Vince and nobody else," Jericho told Mike Mooneyham. "People ask me if I'm going to TNA or to Japan. Why would I? I work in the major leagues and there's no reason to go anywhere else. I was really happy to come back when I came back, and Vince was really happy to have me."

Jericho's relationship with McMahon has been strong for years, even when he was away from wrestling. "I think I was one of the only people who ever left on great terms and kept in contact with him the whole time I was gone," he said.

One of the benefits of having that strong bond with McMahon has been the ability to have a significant amount creative input into his storylines, especially the feud against Shawn Michaels.

"Nobody knows our characters better than ourselves. When you get to this level, you're almost looked upon to create," he said. "Nobody gives us a piece of paper and tells us this is what you're going to say and this is what you're going to do."

Caldwell's Analysis: It seems like Jericho and McMahon have different personalities, but there's a mutual respect in that both work as hard as they can when they're at work. Jericho said that when he's on the road working, he's a machine. McMahon has definitely been described that way, so there's a common bond between them and the mutual respect means McMahon can trust Jericho to do what's right for business when having so much creative input into his storylines and matches.

FYI: Jericho left WWE in August 2005 when his contract expired after reaching a point where he felt mentally burnt out. He toured with "Fozzy," hosted an XM satellite radio show that was canned due to jokes about Oprah, and made appearances on VH-1 that helped build his image that led to his hosting gig for "Redemption Song." Jericho then returned to WWE two years later in November 2007.

Link: Jericho interview with Mike Mooneyham in the Charleston Post and Courier.

RELATED ARTICLE at PWTorch.com: Additional Jericho interview on Shawn Michaels program.

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