Chris Jericho is a future WWE Hall of Famer and a true living legend in pro wrestling. He has been able to find his spot in every major promotion he has worked for. His list of accomplishments is a mile long.
However, way back in 1999 Chris Jericho was just the newest guy jumping from WCW to try his luck in WWF. On a recent episode of INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, Jericho talked about the very little planning before the infamous “RAW Is Jericho” debut during a Rock promo on the August 9 episode of RAW.
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“It was my first show. I’d been to Detroit to watch Sunday Night Heat the night before, just to be around the set, the guys and everything … We didn’t have a rehearsal, which is crazy to think. The Rock and I, and Vince Russo, kinda went to a back area and came up with some ideas. I remember Rock came up with the ‘Y2J KY Jelly up your ass,’ and the Juventud Guerrera line in there as well. Those were both Rock’s ideas. So we just went over it ourselves.
“Then I saw Vince, before I had my hair up in a ponytail and had kind of the billy goat’s gruff beard, he looked at my hair, ‘Interesting hair.’ I said, ‘Cheap heat, brother,’ or something like that, and he’s like, ‘Indeed.’ I remember asking, ‘Is there anything you want me to do?’ and he said, ‘No, I’ll be watching you like a hawk. If there’s anything I don’t like, I’ll tell you,’ which he never told me anything and I found out afterwards that he didn’t like a lot of the things I did, but he never said a word.” H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
With that debut Jericho cemented his place against one of the top wrestlers on the roster. He proved he could hold his own against The Rock on the mic and that was something very few could say back then and today as well.
Of course Jericho was no stranger to WCW fans as he had spent years developing from a babyface cruiserweight wrestler to one of the best and highest regarded guys on the “B tier” of the roster. Fans were very excited to see what he could do on WWF TV.
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However, just because he made it over to WWF it doesn’t mean he will succeed. He still had to prove that he was deserving of the push and having his debut against The Rock carried a lot of pressure.
Jericho talked about the pressure he felt debuting in WWF and having to do it against one of the top guys in the promotion. He revealed that it was McMahon who came up with the idea of debuting against The Rock.
“And then I remember when the idea came up for the countdown clock, which we had been doing it for about a month before on RAW, when the idea came up to end at zero during The Rock’s promo, which is Vince’s idea which doesn’t get any bigger than that. Rock was the number one guy in the company at the time, probably still is now, but to have that interrupt him was like, ‘Damn dude, here’s your teed-up chance at hitting a home run.’
“I just remember being backstage thinking, ‘Okay, this was nine years into my career, all the miles I’ve traveled, all the matches I’ve had, all the places I’ve been. This is it. You have to hit a home run. If you don’t, this could be the end.'”
Jericho went on to have a legendary career in WWE. He won every title available to him and had legendary feuds which will go down as some of the best feuds of all time.
However, Jericho isn’t done yet and is still actively wrestling in the number two US wrestling promotion, AEW. He is a founding member of the promotion and helped to make other big name wrestlers comfortable with coming over to AEW. Even though he hasn’t won many championships in AEW he was the inaugural AEW World champion and that shows the trust they have in him.
Jericho has worked with some of AEW’s best wrestlers and helped bring out the best in his opponents. His career shows no sign of slowing down even though his age would suggest he should retire.
What have you thought of Chris Jericho’s time in AEW? Do you think he should think about retiring? Would he be achieving as much success if he had stayed with WWE? Do you think he should be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame? Who should induct him? Let us know what you would like to see from Jericho in this upcoming year on social media.
Sources: INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, Wrestling Inc.
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