During an interview with British-based DigitalSpy.co.uk, former WWE champion Chris Jericho jumped to Ryback’s defense over what he claims are unfair accusations.

Jericho was referring to CM Punk’s interview on the Colt Cabana podcast where Punk ripped Ryback to hell and back, saying that Ryback injured him multiple times and that he can’t wrestle, calling him dumb.

“He was unfairly accused [by CM Punk], in my opinion, of certain things, but I worked with Ryback for months and loved it. I know he’s not dumb and I know he’s not an idiot,” Jericho said.

Ryback appeared on Jericho’s podcast Talk Is Jericho afterward and gave his side of the story and then decided to give it to Vince McMahon and the result was a Ryback promo on Raw that was different than anything else he has done before.

“The fact that he took that to Vince McMahon, and he listened to it and decided to do a whole 5 to 10 minute promo based around that, I take great pride in that fact. I had a mission to let people see Ryback in a different light – they did, they enjoyed him as a person, they enjoyed his real attitude and his real personality. That’s good for me, that’s good for my business,” Jericho added.

Y2J also revealed in the interview that he has no plans to be in the Royal Rumble as he’s booked somewhere else and won’t be part of WrestleMania as he’s booked during that week as well.

“My days of being a full-time wrestler are over,” Jericho said. He recently signed a two month deal to appear at non-televised live events up until the beginning of March.