Loss Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 Just wondered if you could scan/post it if you get a chance. It's my understanding that he talks openly about some of the things HHH did to undermine him in his time in WWE and talks pretty honestly about a lot of subjects. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cam Chaos Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 I'll try put it up later on. It's a six page interview and he does explain in detail why he feels he never really got a top run, where he views himself in the pantheon of superstars, his feelings in regards to DX trying to sabotage him when he first joined the company and other things. Also a pretty good Vampiro interview which sort of explains how Mistico and Ultimo Guerrero may end up in TNA, apparently Vampiro and Konnan have patched up their differences and Vampiro served as a diplomat and has helped mend fences between Konnan and some mexican promoters. Here we go: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CanadianChick Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 Thanks alot for the interview man. Much appreciated. I know a couple of the things DX did back in '99 with Jericho (The Thanksgiving episode of SmackDown with the "Jericho can't work" joke comes to mind), but what were others? I wasn't really on the internet back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 From what I recall it was pretty much HHH telling Vince that Jericho wasn't up to his standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Evil Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 Thanks for the intervies. Very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 Well, HHH once suggested that Chris Jericho do programs with X-Pac and Kane so they could teach him how to work a match. He also said to a homeless person on the Thanksgiving '99 Smackdown -- "You're just like Jericho. You don't know how to work" when they were both heels and weren't even in a program together. I guess this is the first time ever that Jericho has been in a position where he could publicly confirm some of the stuff being said and that was going on at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 I'd be willing to bet that HHH's beef with Jericho is some extension of his problem with the Rock, since Chris was one of the guys that Rock put over as a star. HHH's life quest was to destroy anyone the Rock made look good, and Chris was one of those guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 The rumor also at the time was that HHH didn't want someone else with long blond hair who was a heel becoming a main eventer, because it would have hurt his heat. I guess he felt two blond heels on top would make them both ineffective because they wouldn't be unique or something, but that's really all that Jericho and HHH had in common. There were also rumors at the time that since WCW had misused him so badly, Nash asked his friends to make sure Jericho didn't take off right away because it would have made him look bad as a booker for not pushing him in WCW. Who knows if there's truth to that or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted February 5, 2006 Report Share Posted February 5, 2006 The company put Jericho with Kane so Kane could teach him how to work the WWF style. Kane was loved by the company (and other top guys) because his offense looked credible and lethal but in actuality it didn't hurt at all. Jericho supposedly had the opposite problem where his offense looked soft but hurt tremendously. The feud was a huge flop that killed both wrestler's heat. Although as a result of the program Jericho and Kane became great friends and Jericho even requested his last match before jumping to SD in the draft be with Kane. Plus, there were rumors that Vince really didn't know Jericho from WCW and when he first met him was already soured on him because of his size. Jericho as a result started wearing lifts in his boots which made for some clumsy blown spots in his matches. Jericho also injured X-Pac in the build up to WM 17 and was relagated to opening match status instead of having a major match on the show. During his title reign Vince openly called him the worst champion in history. He was paired with Stephanie to give him the rub to be over enough to main event Wrestlemania. The idea was Stephanie was going to save Wrestlemania. Jericho requested a storyline where he would have an affair with Stephanie to save heat but HHH shot it down immediately. It came down to Vince just not being able to get behind someone who he considered "too small" and the fact that Hunter saw him as a threat to his spot. The ironic thing is that HHH probably never had to worry because Vince would have never given Jericho a mega push anyway because of his size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 What I've often wondered is ... with Vince being as down on Jericho as he reportedly was, who was pushing for Jericho that allowed him to achieve everything he did manage to achieve? I know he only won the belt so HHH would have a heel to go over, but why was the feud with Rock even started? Why was he kept in a fairly strong midcard position for most of his time there? Was it a case where certain people were pushing for him or did he impress management, but only to a certain point? He was the first top guy to get a raise in contract renewals after the death of WCW, he was given the program with Michaels, for better or worse. They obviously thought something of him to let him get to the level he did. My guess is that after he lost the belt, they saw him as someone who added a lot to the show in the upper midcard, but not as the top guy, but who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teke184 Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 Some combination of Rock, Patterson, and Heyman would be my guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheShawshankRudotion Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 I think people knew that Jericho could make you look good and was always a "safe" feud to go to. They kept him on a leash. By "people" I mean HHH. By "they" I mean HHH. By "you" I mean HHH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 Chris Jericho's and Chris Benoit's big push in June 2001 came after Paul Heyman convinced Vince he needed to go in a new direction when The Undertaker's feud with Steve Austin flopped. Unfortunately it only took Vince a couple of weeks to give up on their push despite Benoit and Austin having great chemistry in the ring together. <_> Jericho's Undisputed title reign push I believe was due to them wanting a heel champion for Hunter to win the title at Mania and Jericho was thought to be the best person for the job. His feud with Shawn was probably due to Shawn wanting it and what Shawn wants Shawn usually gets. Same goes for The Rock feud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 Cam, thanks for posting the interview. Anyways, regarding the Undisputed title reign, didn't Jericho get the title also as a reward for taking the WCW guys under his wing and showing them the WWF way, so to speak? I think Loss brought that up at one point to me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 Yes, I believe that is why Jericho got the feud with Rock. It's just that you hear so often about management not being very high on certain people, which makes you wonder how they even keep their jobs at all. Obviously, Vince saw something in Jericho, but only to a certain degree, because he was consistently getting more TV time in 2003 than anyone on either show and he had high profile feuds with Michaels, Goldberg and Nash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 I think Jericho had got so over to the point where it would be bad business not to push him. I'm guessing he remained in the upper midcard for so long because he was consistently over, and could work a solid match with most people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 It was more that he could polish shit. He was the "go to guy" when they needed to make someone look like a credible threat. Kevin Nash, Batista and Scott Steiner all come to mind as they all ran over Jericho during their build-up. I guess that's the whole "solid match with most people" thing though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted February 6, 2006 Report Share Posted February 6, 2006 The company saw Jericho as what Vince McMahon likes to call a "mechanic". A good worker that you can easily shift your top guys into programs with to make them look good. That's what they called Steve Austin when they signed him in 96. A good worker who they thought didn't have main event charisma but could make your top guys look like world beaters. Same deal with Dibiase and Hennig in the 80s and 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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