Chris Jericho v Juventud Guerrera

[Loss]

Chris Jericho v Juventud Guerrera - 02/22/98 (WCW) Mask v Title

 

Jericho's infamous WCW character was in full swing here, wearing his hair in a strange style, ripping signs from fans that support him in half, and demanding to wrestle the match while wearing the cruiserweight title! The announcers are quick to point out that he has been wearing it while working out, eating lunch and sleeping, and he's also refused to take the belt off in some cases in the TV preceding this match. Jericho can't compete with the best workers of the division; he does pretty much everything well, but he's not the best at anything. So, he found his niche in this role, which made him the most compelling character the division ever had, and also clearly established him as the top heel, following in the footsteps of Dean Malenko, Ultimo Dragon and Eddy Guerrero. There's a cool payback spot when Jericho is dropped abdomen-first while wearing the belt, and he looks at the ref and says "Take this belt off of me!" Funny stuff. Jericho's comedy spots are gold all the way through the match, actually; at one point in the match, Juventud attacks him outside the ring and Jericho decides to lay there to save his title, occasionally looking up and seeing the camera and immediately closing his eyes again. Juvi decides to "revive" him with a well-timed elbow drop, which causes Jericho to let out a high-pitched shriek. His act was a riot.

 

Comedy wasn't the only thing Jericho did well, however; he brings all sorts of great moves to the match and he plays a great heel. He drops a German suplex, a stun gun and a Michinoku driver (!), along with a great, extended vertical suplex. He channels his character into the direction the match takes instead of using it as a crutch to get heat, and gives Juvi all sorts of interesting things to work with -- he uses a backbreaker as a hope spot for Juvi, along with a really fun sequence outside the ring where he moves the steps and tries to use them as a springboard so he can splash Guerrera on the guardrail, but Juvi moves and Jericho goes sailing into the crowd. He gives Juvi lots of teases to build to his eventual comeback by cutting off the hope spots nicely; powerbombs and lariats establish his dominance.

 

Juvi doesn't need Jericho's help to be interesting though, as we all know, as he more than does his share of work in the match, unloading on Jericho with tons of great highspots. He admittedly isn't as charismatic as Jericho, at least not in this match, so he does suffer from being a little overshadowed at times, but he pushes himself back in the spotlight when he does things Jericho can't do, like a springboard huracanrana to the outside, for example. Jericho's offense also wouldn't have been nearly as credible had Juventud not sold it as such. He knows when to stay back and when to move forward. He's nearly sloppy at times, but thinks on his feet well enough to cover for it. The crowd is very into all the nearfalls toward the end, which is a credit to both performers and how they set those falls up. We get a clean finish with the heel going over, which is always nice, and sadly, Guerrera has to unmask after losing the match. WCW, for whatever reason, felt it necessary to disrespect the lucha libre culture by having Juvi, and later Rey Misterio Jr and Psicosis, unmask, thinking it would make them more marketable. We know how true that is now, since Rey is one of the top merchandising cash cows in WWE, and he's wearing his mask again.

 

If this match was missing anything, it was the feeling of danger. Jericho almost gave Juvi *too many* hope spots, and as a result, the match went back and forth more than it should have in the middle. Besides that, this match is actually a great performance from both, perhaps the best match each man had in his time in the company, at least in singles. I don't understand why this one hasn't been more heralded.

 

****

[goodhelmet]

I don't understand why this one hasn't been more heralded.

 

I am only guessing here but probably because his feud with Dean Malenko would start to take shape soon after. He would beat Dean at Uncensored the next month when Malenko goes "home".

 

Then, two months later, the famous cruiser battle royale would take place with the peak of Jericho's charisma shining through.

 

When I think of Jericho in '98, I think of the cruiser battle royale and Dean Malenko... not the cruisers he dropped on his way to feuding with Malenko. I am not saying this is right, just giving a possible explanation.

 

Now, that I have the VHS-to-DVD capability, I may have to compile all of the 1998 PPV matches worth mentioning onto a few comps.