Chris Jericho Discusses the Early Years of His WWE Run
During the most recent episode of Talk Is Jericho, Chris Jericho sits in the passenger seat as Conrad Thompson takes over hosting duties to discuss his early years in WWE. This podcast topic came together following Something To Wrestle With’s episode called 20 Years of Chris Jericho as Le Champion wanted to share his side of the story and refute some of Bruce Prichard’s stories.
Read the full summary of the entire episode below:
Chris kicked off the show to explain this would be a rebuttal to Bruce Prichard’s episode on Jericho as he sent Conrad multiple text messages refuting many of the stories and facts.
Jericho noted that since Bruce is employed by WWE again, he’s very pro-WWE constantly and some of that is like “come on dude, you know you’re not telling the truth on that one.”
Conrad brought up how before Chris bringing it up, he was unaware that gimmicks as such TL Hopper, The Goon etc could have potentially been a gimmick for Jericho back in 1995.
Jericho noted that while he was working in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, there was an offer for Jim Cornette to bring in a tag-team to work with The Bushwackers on some house shows. Jim suggested Chris Jericho and Lance Storm, but Chris was already booked in Japan.
Fast forward a bit later and Chris was working with ECW and Japan then received a call from Jim Cornette. He said, “we’re doing this new thing, we’re bringing in guys that all have gimmicks and characters, but they’re not necessarily going to get a push.” Chris noted that while Jim Cornette didn’t say it, he felt it was highlighted, jobbers. Jericho wanted nothing to do with this, but given his background, he believes the gimmick of The Goon would have been bestowed upon him.
Conrad brings up that based on Chris Jericho’s epic debut in WWF, you would figure that he was destined for big things, but didn’t exactly go on a winning streak.
Jericho noted that when he came into the company, he was brought in by Vince Russo, who was a big supporter of his. Chris believes that when Russo left for WCW, he became one of the scapegoats.
Chris brought up how he was brought in with pomp and circumstance cutting promos on The Rock along with The Undertaker the next night. He would then pick up a couple of basic wins including one over Road Dogg during the first episode of SmackDown.
Russo would note that the night he quit, he wrote Jericho vs Rock with Chris going over. Jericho did not he doesn’t know if that’s true or not.
It wasn’t long after his debut that he lost steam by losing to The Rock clean along with D’Lo Brown on Sunday Night Heat, Gangel etc. Jericho feels something must have happened that turned it all around, so he figures it has to do with Russo leaving.
Conrad brought up losing to X-Pac then moved to a feud with Chyna. Jericho believed there was a big target on his back when he arrived from WCW since the Monday Night War was very real. Unfortunately, Chris didn’t have any friends in WWF at the time.
Chris specifically brought up the segment where he interrupted Undertaker’s where his character noted it was a super boring promo. Shawn and Steve Austin would note that for future reference, he should avoid calling the biggest name in the company boring next time. They were providing him with a heads up.
The pairing with Chyna was the week after Russo left and they worked three consecutive PPVs together. Jericho was perplexed as to why they would have her go over since he came in with so much steam. Chris felt the two had a great match together, but the crowd didn’t buy the fact she beat him. Management then questioned if he could even be a proper heel because the audience booed Chyna.
Jericho brought up how there was a miscommunication where he ended up kicking her in the face during a match and gave her a small black eye. Vince would tell him not to take it easy on her and to work as he normally works yet the next day after the incident, Jericho was called into McMahon’s office with Jim Ross and Jack Lanza present. Vince would go off on Chris for giving Chyna a black eye and proclaimed “you’re not worth the paper that your contract was printed on.”
Vince would also note the next night on Raw, if Chris didn’t have a good match with X-Pac, he would be fired. Both Conrad and Chris found this odd since the match with Chyna was one of the best on the PPV. Fortunately, X-Pac provided Chris with a good match and gave him advice on the WWF style of wrestling. Furthermore, Pac would apologize years later for being a dick noting it was a pack mentality back then.
Jericho theorized that Triple H was in Vince’s ear and had enough.
Conrad asked if Chris thought he was doing that to defend his girlfriend Chyna or wanted him out of the way. Jericho would note him and Triple H discussed it together years later and they didn’t know. Chris would once again bring up the target on his back along with Triple H offering assistance to call him anytime. Yet when Chris once called him for directions to the Cow Palace, Triple H would laugh and tell him, “how do you get there? You buy a fucking map” and hung up the phone.
Chris noted the only thing that saved him during these early months was having 9 years of experience along with the fact he wasn’t an asshole. Jericho realized it was going to take a while to prove himself, but he wasn’t going anywhere.
Jericho noted how he brought all of this up with Benoit, who was in WCW at the time. Chris Benoit would then relay Jericho’s situation to Bret Hart who noted the following about Vince: “Vince is like a drill sergeant when you first come in from boot camp. He wants to tear you down and rip you apart then build you up in his image.”
Conrad would note how the critics enjoyed the match with Chyna at Armageddon and the next time they competed was at Royal Rumble 2000 with Bob Holly added to the mix. He asked Chris how he felt about Holly being apart of the match. Jericho would note that management didn’t want Chyna to take another loss, so Holly addition would be to take the pinfall. Chris put over Bob as talented and very believable.
In January 2000, The Radicalz would join the WWF. Conrad asked how Chris felt about his friends joining the company. Jericho was very excited to have his boys back. While he was travelling with Edge and Christian, he was excited to have them there. Chris would note how each of them had to go through the same right of passage providing a specific example that Chris Benoit would lose to Triple H upon debuting. At the time, Benoit entered WWF as the uncrowned WCW World Heavyweight Champion.
They collectively didn’t like WCW and while WWF wasn’t a giant improvement, it could be if you worked your way up the ladder. Chris would compare it all to an initiation.
Conrad brought up working with Kurt Angle who Jericho noted as an absolute natural who was destined for greatness.
Thompson would bring up the three-way match at WrestleMania featuring Jericho, Benoit and Angle with both of Kurt’s titles on the line. Jericho noted he found the stipulation took away from the match and only confused the fans since Benoit would win the IC Title first then Jericho would claim the European Championship second. He was ultimately pretty disappointed with the match. Chris brought up how he was originally supposed to be in the main event with a McMahon in each corner but was replaced with Mick Foley. It was even featured on the early posters.
Jericho refuted having his boots hidden since no one ever did that, so Bruce made up some kind of shitty rib for the show.
Jericho also brought up how the Co-Interconential Champion angle with Chyna was easily the worst idea he ever had to be involved with.
Conrad pointed out how Jericho would lose the European Championship the next night on Raw to Eddie Guerrero after Chyna would align with Latino Heat. Jericho was grateful to lose the title as he also wanted to be away from Chyna.
Chris explained that the reason Eddie is a million times better than him in any way, shape or form is the fact he made the angle with Chyna compelling. He also noted wanting to originally work with Benoit upon the arrival of the four, but Vince believed Eddie was the star of the group.
Conrad brought up the bout on Raw where Jericho pinned Triple H in a World Title match due to the fast count from Earl Hebner that was eventually reversed. WWE never acknowledged the switch. Thompson wanted to know when he was made aware of the switch. Chris would lose to Viscera on Sunday Night Heat and after that, he considered quitting the company. He figured there was no future for him. Chris would arrive at State College, Pennsylvania pissed and was ready to chat with Vince. Before the convo, a writer informed Chris that was going to win the World Championship, so his tone changed. He loved the idea but felt weird about giving the title back. At the time, he was scared to chat with Vince but wanted to know the story about giving the title back. McMahon would explain it was just the story for the evening and he was going to receive it again anyway. Take it, do it and go from there.
Chris believed this was his first great match in WWE and the crowd exploded over his victory due to the surprise.
Jericho would go on a losing streak to Benoit, Kurt Angle and Triple H over various PPVs. As a babyface, Chris felt the losses were hurting his credibility and even pointed this out to Vince. He lost 10 Raw matches in a row and did not believe that’s how you build a character.
Conrad noted how Jericho would eventually win some matches and asked about his feud with Kane. Chris felt he was so easy to work with due to a lack of politics along with the fact he has a heart of gold.
Chris brought up how there was an A and B crew featured on house shows and he was headlining the B crew shows with Kurt or Kane, so it was obvious they knew he was good and grooming him for something more.
Conrad would mention agents working on matches. Chris noted that he loved working with Pat Patterson since he was the one agent who wouldn’t get his feelings hurt if you didn’t like his ideas. Upon arriving, Jericho would often shoot down ideas that he didn’t think were better than his and it’s certainly an additional catalyst for any heat received early on. Chris credits Pat as the person he learned the most from in his career related to putting together finishes.
Conrad would turn his attention to the Royal Rumble 2001 where Chris squared off against Benoit in an Intenconential Championship Ladder Match that stole the show. Reflecting on the match, Jericho believes it’s often forgotten believes it’s one of the great ladder matches. He would point out that much of that has to do with Benoit’s body of work being erased. As opposed to high-flying spots, the two chose to use the ladder as a weapon instead. This mentality would be leveraged again when Jericho faced Michaels in a ladder match at No Mercy in 2008. Chris shared a story of wanting to utilize Bret’s figure-four around the ring post, but with the ladder instead. When Vince saw him practicing this, he shot it down since it was too connected to Bret. Benoit would propose the bridged Walls of Jericho on top of the ladder to replace it.
Conrad Thompson moved to the feud with William Regal along with moments such as Regal drinking the tea that Jericho peed in. Chris felt that what Regal lacked in the later years of his career as a worker, he made up for it with personality. He was very easy to work with since his reactions were remarkably entertaining.
Conrad asked about the time he dressed up as Doink to attack Regal. Chris brings up how he remembers walking backstage at a show in Cleveland at a time just prior to Shawn Michaels cleaning himself up, where was out of his mind and said, “Hey, they got you playing Doink now? No. I don’t like it. It’s a terrible gimmick. Don’t play Doink.” Chris would respond with, “It’s just for tonight” as Shawn would interject that it would kill his career. He couldn’t grasp the fact Jericho was dressing up as Doink for one night.
Conrad touched on the famous tag match featuring Jericho and Benoit vs Triple and Steve Austin which is considered one of the best Monday Night Raw matches of all time. Jericho noted that at the time, it was a 5-star match until Hunter legitimately tore his quad. Chris put over Triple H’s dedication as a professional and mental fortitude to complete the match despite the serious injury.
Conrad asked what the plan coming out of the match had Triple H gotten hurt as Chris just previously noted it really killed the momentum that he and Benoit gained. What Chris had heard the day before was that Jericho would branch off to challenge Austin for the World Title and Benoit would branch off to face Triple H for the Interconential Title. Everything changed when Hunter got hurt.
The match between Austin, Benoit and Jericho is brought up at King of the Ring 2001. Chris would note that Vince lost faith in him and Benoit. He found it weird how Spike Dudley was involved and given promo time. Jericho didn’t understand why it wasn’t him versus Austin one on one since having him and Benoit lose to Austin was nonsensical as it killed the top two babyfaces.
Conrad brings up the Invasion PPV. Jericho felt the show was great and was happy to be included since it was a big honour for him. Chris noted this was his biggest WWE payoff outside of a few WrestleMania events.
Chris Jericho enjoyed working with Rhyno but was not particularly satisfied with the match since he proposed a spot that potentially concussed him. He did put over Rhyno as a solid worker to this very day.
Conrad brought up Jericho’s match with RVD at Unforgiven and how it was well-received by critics. Chris felt he always had good matches with Rob and he was definitely stiff. He joked that Rob Van Dam has added more stitches to his head than anyone else ever. Jericho noted how RVD didn’t take too kindly to being told what to do.
Jericho was then programmed with The Rock for the WCW World Title in October where he became the new champion. Conrad asked if this was the big break Chris was hoping for, which he confirmed. Other than their first match together, Jericho noted that they always had great chemistry together and stated he’s one of the best he ever worked with.
When Chris won the championship, he would give an interview stating Eric Bischoff can fuck off since he believed Jericho would never be a World Champion in WWE. They have since reconciled, but Jericho had a sizeable amount of animosity towards Eric at the time.
Due to Rock being pre-occupied, the two didn’t have much time to put the match together and since the Rock is very meticulous with details, he was averse to calling matches on the fly. Jericho called most of the match and brought up how Rocky unselfishly always put him over.
The blow-off to the Invasion was brought up. Chris touched on the names in the match and noted how it’s often forgotten that the angle generated big business for the company.
Conrad then brought up the speculation that had Hunter not being injured, Chris wouldn’t have had the spot he was in related to the four-man tournament to crown the Undisputed Champion. Jericho noted that it’s impossible to validate that speculation since plans changed after he was injured and this was a new storyline.
Vengence 2001 was obviously the biggest night of Chris Jericho’s career as he defeated both The Rock and Austin to become the first Undisputed Champion. Weeks prior, Chris asked Paul Heyman if it made sense losing to Austin on Raw. Heyman said, “just do it, trust me.” Pat Patterson then approached Jericho and brought up how the idea was for him to go over in the match. Jericho then bumped into Kurt Angle, who he joked was Canary Kurt since if he heard something, he would tell you, who told Chris he was going over. The day Chris got to San Diego, Vince was in catering and was standing fairly close to him with Undertaker. Jericho was within earshot and they knew it, so Vince said, “Hey Take, you know how I know the business is going down the toilet? We’re putting the title on Jericho.” And that’s how Chris found out he would become the first-ever Undisputed Champion.
Jericho noted the San Diego crowd was dead silent and in a state of shock. By the time he got to Gorilla, everyone was gone including Vince. No one congratulated him or even said hi. Roddy Piper once told Chris that being in the main event is the loneliest position of all since they use your match to beat the traffic. Chris would drive down the road from San Diego to Anaheim and checked into a hotel. Jericho would joke about the employee’s nametag and that no food was available other than pizza. 20-30 minutes later, he would receive a call to come down and pick it up. By the time Chris returned to his room, he had forgotten his key and was locked out. He walked back down and the employee noted that an ID would have to be shown, but Chris locked it in a room. Plus, he was just checked in 20 minutes ago, so the employee should have remembered him. This employee noted he would escort Chris to the room but would need to enter first. Before entered, the employee requested to know what was in there. Jericho would reply with, “Oh, really? You’re going to go inside that room. You’re going to see two championship belts and you’re going to open the fucking door and let me in because I’m the Undisputed Champion, bitch.”
Chris would accidentally also knock over his pizza topping side down and celebrate his victory by consuming a dusty, dirty pizza at a Holiday Inn with an employee named Regis J O’Rourke downstairs.
This was an incredibly entertaining episode that does provide even the most passionate wrestling fan with new tidbits of information from Chris Jericho’s early days in the WWE.
Note: The full Talk Is Jericho episode The Early Years of the Savior of WWE can be listened to below.