Chris Jericho's new book

Is now available on Amazon, and they are doing it for £11, which isn't bad for a hardback.

You can read it to us all over Skype

I'm not Bernard Cribbins, and this isn't Jack-a-fecking-nory.

I'll take a look when it's cheaper.

But Uncle David...we want storrrrrrrrrry tiiiiiiiiime :p

Grampa David more like it!

Oh yeah I went there!

You lot related...*shudder*

Deep in the heart of Somerset we're all related mate

Down there they can invite their cousin, aunt, mother, and sister to a party and only one person needs to show up.

So, hey. You don't have to read the book to us, David..

But I want to ask... what stands out so far for you, as any shocking or interesting revelations from Jericho that may come as a surprise to some of us.

I really wanna know.

I only had a quick chance to read it yesteray during lunch, and so I'm only 83 pages in, but so far the biggest surprise to me was how close Jericho came to being kicked out the door of the WWF just a couple of months into his first run.

He was told by Vince that he was "Green as grass and fucking clueless, the drizzling shits" and that his contract "wasn't worth the fucking paper its written on"

Also that in the WWF's eyes he completely messed up his debut, and that it cost him a main event instant run against the Rock.

Wow. I've said before that the WWF/E's mentality tends towards egomaniacal self-centered complete bullshit, but that takes the cake.

To this day, and for years, ever since that debut, many people have been saying that was one of the most amazing moments in WWF's history, that debut of Jericho's and the incredible promo of his that followed it.

I can personally recall thinking, the day I saw that on Raw that was an absolutely epic mark-out moment that would live forever and even years later, I look back at that, see Youtube videos of it and still think so. Maybe even on par with the just-recent Rock return only a few days ago.

In fact, I would ever go so far as to say that the worst part of that Jericho debut promo was the fact that WWF had Rock actually take the complete piss out of Jericho's debut, especially since many fans (including myself) wondered where the fuck the following Rock/Jericho feud was, after that. I specifically recall when me and Derek both saw that, for weeks, we were both talking about "When the fuck is that Rock Jericho fued going to happen??" that never did.

So to say that I disagree with WWF/E's standpoint on Jericho's debut would be an understatement.

And to think, if they and Vince weren't blind, self-servicing jackasses that could see past their nose far enough to see the audiences reaction, the buzz that generated, the pop Jericho got and how everyone waited for the fued they just pissed away, we could have seen the feud that we (and Jericho) deserved to have and everyone wanted to see. Idiots.

Well, I think you need to read the book, because by Jericho's own admission he very frankly admits that he totally screwed up his first few months in the WWE; that he got his approach both to the character and to the company completely wrong; that he came off like an arrogant know-it-all prick; that he didn't take the time to understand what the company actually wanted from him; and that now when he watches that entrance with the Rock it makes him cringe.

WWE wanted to bring him in as a top-level strong heel and have him feud with Rocky, but Jericho went out there and played the cry-baby heel he had done before, allowing the Rock to get the better of him and looking cowardly and like a brat in the process. In doing that, he didn't come across as being at the Rock's level, and it killed the angle dead before it started.

He'd have got away with it if he hadn't have then got everything else wrong backstage and created "nuclear levels of heat for myself". I watched the bit again last night after reading Jericho's own comments, and I can now see where he was coming from.

I certainly don't think it was WWE arrogance, or short-sightedness. Quite the opposite. They had big plans for Chris, but his actions in the first couple of months really shook the WWE's confidence in him, and it took until the following year for him to turn it around. As soon as they had confidence in him though, he obviously flew.

BTW, at one point in his early run, Vince made him run every move of his matches past another wrestler for clearance........X PAC!

Buy the book, i think you'll find it very interesting.

Ah. Well, it does still seem a bit from me that the company then sold him and the effectiveness of his character as it was, short. I always did think that his character in WCW was a lot better than his eventual WWE persona.

Maybe it's because I thought that the cowardly, loophole using, wriggling out of dangeous situations and then striking back during the moment of opponents weakness after lowering their defences by pretending to look like a buffoon was a far more interesting and complex character than what he would become.

Jericho had that disarming, somewhat psychotic, and charismatic, nerotic oddness and strange chaotic element that could be said to characterize strange characters like Kefka from FF6, or The Joker from Batman rather than Mr. I'm Going To Kick Your Ass And Beat You For The Title.

As far as my thoughts and why I was a "Jericoholic" at the time, it was the kind of thing that was new and different and very unique to wrestling at a time when the general, standard wrestler as the stereotypical scary looking, hard as nails tough guy was all you'd ever see. And what attracted me to Jericho was that he was doing a character that was rare and no one else was doing, and it was interesting to me.

Anyway, I'm not really arguing the point or anything, as apparently from what you're saying, even Jericho admits that isn't what WWE wanted, and of course when you work for WWE, you do what WWE wants or you turn around and leave.... But I just still tend to think WWE was in the wrong here somewhat and really pissed away a good character. Especially at a time when WWE was doing other strange characters and unconventional gimmicks like The J.O.B Squad, The Truth Commission, Droz, and The Nation Of Domination. I'm just saying that knowing what I felt then, and seeing this now, it's jarring and surprising to me that they hated that debut while I ate it up.

Yes, perhaps Jericho really was supposed to conform to the WWE's sense of "do what we tell you, don't do what you think you should do" and that he didn't conform to that at first. And of course, if he was really being smug and arrogant backstage, that's really not in his best interest.

But to really hear that he was browbeaten, insulted, torn apart, misjudged, undervalued and told that he was "fucking useless" really makes WWE and their mentallity look pretty shitty, I would think.

But at the end of the day, i'm sure the fact is, that it was their rules and their game and you play by those, and that Jericho was struggling to accept their authority for him.

All I know is that, from the sound of it, I'm sure, had I been in Jericho's shoes, I would have been fired immediately. As I have a problem with authority myself, and I most likely would have told Vince, to his face to eat me, had he given me that line.

NightStarX wrote:

and I most likely would have told Vince, to his face to eat me, had he given me that line.

And now as I really ponder that statement of mine, I think it's instantly clear why I've never once held down a normal job in my entire life. :/

NightStarX wrote:

NightStarX wrote:

and I most likely would have told Vince, to his face to eat me, had he given me that line.

And now as I really ponder that statement of mine, I think it's instantly clear why I've never once held down a normal job in my entire life. :/

Sometimes you just gotta suck corporate dick.

I would if I knew if I knew that if I played my cards right I'd get a humoungous pay cheque in a few years!

For the greater good!

*murmurs* the greater good...

Nice "Hot Fuzz" reference - South West, represent

Like I say, read the book, because my severly cut down explanation there doesn't tell the full story. However, I'm not sure it was that the WWE didn't want that sneaky Jericho with the crazy sense of humour at some point (indeed they used him like that less than a year later when he was in the feud with Stephanie) but they wanted him to establish a baseline first and cement that he was a top level heel, then introduce those elements.

Like you say, you go to work for a company like the WWE and you have to know that there is a way they want to do things. WWE likes to mould its wrestlers to its way of working, and Jericho had been around long enough to know that that was what he should have done. Vince didn't rip him for night - he ripped him for several months of creating massive heat for himself, and for a run of very mediocre performances.

In the end, you have to look at the facts - when Jericho did work with the WWE rather than against them he went on to become a massive star in the business and improve greatly as a performer. Same is true of CM Punk - he's miles better now than he has ever been - and the same will be true of Daniel Bryan in due course.

So as much as I also like Jericho's WCW sneaky heel persona, the WWE know what works for them in the longer term, and if Jericho himself says it was his own fault, then you have to tak that at face value.

I think Jericho DID make a mistake when he came in. I love the guy. I think he;s up there with the best in-ring, out-of-ring guys you can possibly have. But I don't think he was worked over by the WWE. They had an idea they wanted him to sell, he didn't and, worse, he let The Rock get the better of him.

I like him as a brat, I think it works well for him. But I also think he's got enough talent to sell himself as a strong heel too. I don't know if I see him as a Joker or a Kefka. But I do think he works well when he's let loose.

I think the most telling thing is his own admission that he got it wrong. If he thinks that, and that the company got it right, I guess that's the answer.

wow....

but could you imagine how things would have been had he gotten it right? Jericho would have had a feud with The Rock and would have been a main eventer alot quicker then he was. A top guy during the Attitude era with guys like Austin, Rock, Taker, HHH, Mick Foley....

Interestingly enough as I've got further into the book, it does appear that there were certain people who still didn't believe in Jericho, and it took him a HUGE amount of time to not only win them over, but also to actually gain his own self confidence back. Even into his run as undisputed champion the WWE considered taking the belts off him on RAW leading into Mania, and having Nash face HHH.

However, in the end Mike will be pleased to know Chris did let Vince have it in return. Backstage he confronted Vince and told him he was sick of the bullshit he wad having to put up with. He told Vince "I'm the undisputed champion. If people don't believe in me they can go fuck themselves, and Vince, if you don't believe in me, you can go fuck yourself as well!" Amazingly enough, that won Vince over, and Mcmahon laughed and said that was exactly what he was waiting to hear him say!

O_O

That just now singlehandedly challenged my pre-conceptions about certain things on so many levels.

Ha! I'm surprised Vince would have laughed. Having the people not believe in the Undisputed champion surely means he shouldn't be said champion?

They hadn't really done enough to get strongly behind him before they made him champ, and then when he became champ they didn't do anything much on TV to make him look like he deserved it.

Then they wondered why he didn't get monster over as champ!

Thing was though, the WWE knew he could work. Off TV he was having 5star matches with The Rock on the Asian and Hawaiian tours after Rock demanded they were paired up.

He just suffered from the backstage politics, sadly, and from WWE making some strange decisions. Austin told Jericho nearly 2weeks beforehand that he was down to win the titles. Vince didn't confirm anything directly with him until the day before. When he got the phantom title win over HHH he was told 3 hours before the show.

Wasn't there some beef between Trips and Jericho? I seem to remember that Trips didn't fancy him as a champ.

Also, it was Jericho that tore Triple H's quad that kept him out for 8 months.

I'm sure Triple H blames and holds a grudge against Jericho entirely for that.

I'm not sure that was the beef I'm thinking of. Not to say it wasn't there. My thought was that it was more political, that Trips simply didn't like Jericho which held the latter back somewhat. I might be wrong, tho.

There certainly was some political beef between HHH and Y2J and Trips held a grudge at the way Jericho acted when he first came into the company. He wasn't convinced that Chris should have been Undisputed Champion, and was annoyed McMahon decided to do it while he was out injured and so he never got the chance. He was certainly having words in ears during Chris' run with the belt.

As for the quad injury, no, absolutely not. It wasn't Jericho that tore his quad. HHH tore his quad in a freak incident as he planted his foot to hit Jericho in the back. It was a million to one thing, not any move Jericho did. HHH also insisted during the match (and after the injury) that Jericho still apply the Walls of Jericho on him on the announce table, and Chris applied it as loose as possible.

There is no suggestion whatsoever that HHH in any way blamed Jericho for his injury or held a grudge over it. In fact, by then, he and Jericho got on perfectly OK. Jericho never even suggests that there was any beef between them after that.

Seems as if they worked it through. Which is good because those two are both top end talent and you want them working together.