STW

On this episode: Chris Jericho debut on WWE television 20 years ago today. There is no doubt that Jericho's impact on the industry of professional wrestling is hall of fame worth. Now Bruce and Conrad take a look back at his introduction into the company and the first three years of his tenure.
Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard is an audio podcast that discusses topics, events, wrestlers and memorable moments through the lens of former WWE executive Bruce Prichard co-hosted by Conrad Thompson.
STW was launched in August 2016 on MLW Radio. The episodes typically range from 2 hours to 4 hours in length, and include discussions about previous WWE pay-per-views and former WWE wrestlers.
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Videos edited and uploaded by Steve Kaufmann
Some copyrighted images may have been curated and altered to create uniquely transformative content.

[@scottishdanny2432]

Cant wait for Jericho 2002-2003 era to be discussed.

[@willisrose9756]

Me too.

[@jrblanton9284]

Friday Afternoon Jericho begins @ 4:05, junior.

[@Davidjon1946]

Great job you just made the list

[@Dizzy1980]

Jericho's entrance on 8/9/99 was the greatest debut in WWF history. Hard to believe it's been 20 years since I was watching it live! I still have that episode of Raw on tape.

[@Super122291]

Send it to me babe

[@falseshepherd-490]

Jericho calling people by the wrong name still cracks me up. Vince McMahon =Vance...Michael Cole=Mitchell...Kurt Angle=Kirk Angel etc. I still laugh out loud today watching his promos.

[@JosueYong]

Mean Gean = Gene Mean, Chris Benoit = Chris Benoit (pronouncing it "BA NO IT"),

[@jees4711]

I liked when he called Goldberg Greenberg

[@ericeimen1946]

Ron Mysterio, Jr was my favorite

[@danielescalera6638]

Skee A vone

[@pikkon899]

The Kurt Angle one was my favorite, specifically when they had the entire roster out during the story line where Mick Foley was trying to figure out who ran over Steve Austin. Jericho's line was "I think, that Mr. Kirk Angel has a point"

[@jees4711]

If you watch the first SmackDown you'll see some classic Jericho shenanigans

[@BrandonMobley614]

After 20 years exactly of watching wrestling, Jericho is my favorite of all time. Just the total package. Great wrestler, I'd argue top fifteen of all time, great character. Constantly reinventing himself. My favorite has to be the suited, low talking, big word "hypocrite" run. Although I loved Y2J and the list, and he's having an incredible run right now in NJPW and AEW. A bit more the brawler in-ring wise, he's still putting on phenomenal matches at nearly fifty years old. He's said in interviews he drew inspiration from Nick Bockwinkel during his suited run, and there's many comparisons you can draw between the two. I believe he's going to beat the Hangman to become the first AEW heavyweight champion. Bockwinkel was AWA champion, in his best run, at 52 years old.

[@keithcain8333]

Well stated. If it's possible to underrate a superstar, this is the patient zero. Love me some Jericho. His debut is the largest... pop... ever.

[@BGLEE001]

44:14 his Hardcore Holly impression killed me 💀

[@TheSonofafrog316]

Just had to stop at the beginning of this and go to the network to watch his debut

[@Super122291]

Me to Robert , me too

[@TheSweetestScience]

Me too. Not his promo debut tho.. I wanted to see his IN RING debut, vs Road Dogg on the inaugural SmackDown! episode. I had seen the promo with Rock THOUSANDS of times..

[@grumpyoldbiker1118]

A good old fashioned Meltzer inspired meltdown from Mr. Bruce.....damn I needed that. Also, "BRUCE, TAKE YOUR PILLS!"

[@josephboza7448]

Meltzer is so full of shit. Its funny when Bruce loses his shit. Meltzer acts like he is god and especially about Chris going for the WWF Championship in that triple threat match.

[@seanmcauley9732]

20 years of jericho relive it in maaaaaaaaaan

[@whatyes5081]

Thank you Steve Kaufmann. Your KZbin dedication keeps my phone battery constantly low

[@EmperorTaebok]

I love listening to Bruce defend the indefensible.

[@Calculon1712]

I know it didnt last but why didnt they talk about the short feud Jericho had with Shamrock they were supposed to have a match at Unforgiven until Shamrock left due to injury. I always wondered how far the feud would've gone if he didnt decide to leave

[@33malone]

Jericho is one of the best at reinventing himself. You can't deny that. Appreciate his work. Also Bruce & Conrad's as well!

[@clubberlange4119]

Jericho is arguable the greatest all around performer EEEEEVER in the business. C'Mon Baby!

[@debking3064]

Are really getting a new show iam getting ready to cry

[@freakinflax]

38:20 “Shaltman!”

[@henrikschmidt3964]

At first when I heard about three-way matches, I kinda figured it would be with two guys in the ring and them both being able to tag out with the third person. Guess I figured that one wrong.

[@kjdenton6248]

Great promo ..........

[@TMBales]

My favorite episode yet, and a major y2j mark

[@RobBattler]

Fucking howled when Bruce was like ITS RHAT Y2j he gona come and fuck up all the computers😂😂😂☠️

[@jasondouglas152]

I wasn't much of a Jericho fan when he jumped to WWF, he looked too small and I figured he'd get buried into the mid card of wwf hell. But he really surprised me by staying afloat and winni g the 1st universal title ( which was a huge shock at the time) idk if anyone picked him to win that match. Props to Jericho, he never gave up , earned his spot and everyone's respect in wwe / wwf and became a 2nd tier top guy.

[@dalynsanders]

You couldn't resist haha good way to wrap up....silence haha

[@kjdenton6248]

U just made the list

[@dalynsanders]

The Eddie Guerrero story was top-notch 8:34-10:01

[@Thumbperhand2]

😁😁😁

[@loveallah512]

There should be a cornette cartoon with Bruce as the voice over

[@JonathanHassingerChannel]

Best pop in RAW history

[@rsr3162000]

Lol at Bruce's Canadian Wrestling Mount Rushmore. Here is mine. 1. Bret Hart 2. Roddy Piper 3. Chris Jericho 4. Edge

[@loveallah512]

Chris Benoit Jericho The hitman Hot rod But not in any order

[@78zappaf]

What the H? They got rid of that opening! I kinda miss it.

[@lo1bo2]

OK, I'll be THAT guy. A countdown clock to the year 2000 wasn't a millennium clock. That would be midnight from December 31 2000 to January 1 2001.

[@AngieTaber]

*crickets chirping that you’re correct*

[@bradvestby]

"Bruce, take your pills!!" - Conrad

[@heisensaul5538]

I like that they made a powerplay for Ralphus lol

[@tommyhallum3020]

RAW IS JERICHOOO!!!

[@jeremiahbreitenbach4663]

As far as the Kane last Man standing match. Never forget this Vince McMahon quote: "We make movies".

[@shattaredentertainment4782]

Jericho's my boy!! Hes my fave wrestler and got me back into wrestling in 2001. Not only is he the first undisputed champ hes also the longest reigning.

[@priimovalentiino1640]

His promos with AEW recently got me back into wrestling after a long time off.. He can't go like a 3 years ago even..but he can still cut a fucking banging promo

[@bradshelton6882]

He made a great debut he was heel right call

[@jasonbailey960]

"Ralphus wasn't available? !"

[@nathanielparham319]

The goat

[@bb-gc2tx]

He went from y2j to y2botox

[@DBonaldi]

Why no mention of Ken Shamrock when Y2J debuted?

[@Super122291]

Hhmmm why is that Danny

[@DBonaldi]

You tell me.

[@gothchicksbongrips5712]

Bruce hasnt got this hot in a while 😆

[@jiggyjaguar]

Thank the lord for MR Steve kauffman

[@HeatseekersUK]

I realise this isn't the place to do stuff like this but is it possible that Something to Wrestle With Bruce prichard could do an episode on the late great Earthquake??? The modern day guys seem to have the majority of podcasts but I'm sure a good number and listeners would like to hear stories about some of the old stars & I'm my opinion quake was one of the best heel characters the WWF/E have ever had.

[@falseshepherd-490]

there was quite a bit in an old Hogan episode, and in another if I remember right. Not sure if there's enough left to do a whole episode (Coming from an earthquake fan)

[@michaelforsythe9350]

Pretty much all the bio episodes they have done are all about guy's from the 80's & 90's, I think Jericho might even be the only episode of someone that is still active today, unless you want to count guy's like Goldberg, HHH, & even Cena, & I wouldn't consider those guy's fully active, only Jericho. If you go to the STW homepage on KZbin & hit playlist they list all the bio episodes separately. You should find plenty of guy's from the 80's on that list.

[@jaserogers997]

1:53:52 "which sets up the Survivor Series [2001] pay per view, which we've covered before"... Nope, we're still waiting for that one, Conrad.

[@sausageeater9357]

Hey guys! Be careful. The headstock on that #Les Paul is the open book style copyrighted by #Gibson Guitars. They are extremely protective of their design's.

[@brobsty1856]

Well thanks for tagging them in the video... 🙄

[@guyincognito5706]

Because the images they use in thumbnails aren’t copyrighted and the music used during the ad breaks is legally licensed

[@albyyourfriend5843]

How is this only 2 hours with how long jericho was in the wwe u guys should have spent about 3 hours on this 1

[@nateputerbaugh5709]

Too be fair Bruce wasn't there for Jericho's returns as far as I'm aware

[@eddie9244]

because theyre only talking about 1999-2001

[@Super122291]

Eddie Torres where’s 02-08 Eddie

[@freakinflax]

I’m wish this show was 20 hours long, spanning his entire career

[@chadpugh1490]

I remember the countdown. When it reached all zeros, I was soooo disappointed when it was Jericho.

[@Rschr101]

Jericho is a mid card talent at best. The biggest disappointment was seeing him win the Undisputed title. The audience virtually disappeared after that.

[@rafmeinster]

@@Rschr101 No.

[@guyincognito5706]

30:37 I love that the only two options are to either have Rock own Jericho with no comeback or “have Jericho beat everyone in the company in a gauntlet and win every title his first night in”

[@guyincognito5706]

By the way, there was no “banter back and forth”. Jericho interrupted Rock, Rock belittled him, Jericho had a stupid look on his face, end scene.

[@henrikschmidt3964]

That how Bruce argues. He sets up an outragous alternative to make the bad storylines and angle sound like the sane choice. Jericho was booked horribly in 1999.

[@jees4711]

Maybe they should have done that gauntlet His career was ruined after the Rock promo and losing on PPV to X-Pac

[@bigb860]

@@guyincognito5706 Yep. I remember watching it live and even 11 year old me at the time, knew Rock made Jericho look like a total chump. While it was a great way to debut, with the countdown and a segment with the second biggest star in the company, there was no back and forth. Jericho interrupted, rambled on, and then The Rock owned him.

[@keithcrockett9539]

@@jees4711 .... YEAH THOSE EARLY STRUGGLES STOPPED HIM FROM BEING A 6 TIME WORLD CHAMPION....

[@derrickmaul6464]

They didn’t talk about the second time he interrupted the Rock and when he interrupted Undertaker. How is the short feud with Ken Shamrock omitted?

[@jrblanton9284]

1:35:20 is when Bruce loses his sh#t about Meltzer...again.

[@flexinbroproductions]

I wish Bruce wasn’t working for WWE rn so he could go over SummerSlam 2004. We all know why we can’t talk about it

[@daleharris3809]

If you're referring to the Benoit stuff...they clearly have no issue talking about him now. I don't see why that would stop them.

[@MahdiRanger]

They just did that episode. Relax dude with you theories lol

[@whidoineedthis]

When Kane used to be somebody...smh

[@Rschr101]

They ruined the character when they took his mask off.

[@kennethrawlings7265]

Kane is my favorite of all time and the way he wasnt protected like undertaker or other top guys pissed me off all the time. Kane always lost smh

[@TheGenerationX78]

3:20

[@dalynsanders]

Chyna was a good choice for Chris Jericho at the time. I have to disagree with you there Conrad

[@MikeD974]

I actually picked Jericho to win my friend picked angle which I could have seen too but I thought they were gonna go with the least likely to win both titles I was still shocked thou when it happened

[@Rschr101]

And the business never recovered.

[@MikeD974]

@@Rschr101 what are you talking about alot of people wanted to see Jericho finally win a world title he he was a great champion was better when he held it a few years later but still a guy many wanted to see hold a world title by this point wcw was dead the attitude era was ending it the business going downhill had nothing to do with Jericho as a champion but going pg thanks to sponsors even so business was still great at this time it wasn't till a few years later

[@guyincognito5706]

35:20 yeah, Brock Lesnar lost his first match on WWE TV. Oh wait.

[@jasondouglas152]

I still have the shrill voice of Jericho calling Steph a trash bag ho burned into my brain , via him screaming it twice a week for 18 months on tv and reading the text on WWF No Mercy on n64 .. Also..... Dealin with the XFACTOR!!

[@Rschr101]

Good old days.

[@ROSTAFA]

1:34:21 - 1:36:58 Bruce gets hot at Meltzer. 1:37:44 - 1:38:15 Bruce, take your pills

[@jacobcook7]

I'm having trouble coming up with a better debut.

[@devinsmith7089]

Jerichos was best. Raven was a good one (wwe debut)but they never did much with him, Kane, Tazz the Radicalz, and John Cena(vs Angle) all had great debuts but the y2j debut takes the cake.

[@Davidjon1946]

Hopefully the feign will be next ?? I hope they let him in just not every week and every show

[@oscarp1777]

@@devinsmith7089 The shield was pretty cool

[@CreepyJoeMustGo]

As far as crowd pop, it’s not even close! Jericho’s debut still gives me goosebumps....

[@nickchislom9499]

I love it! 😆. Bruce hates D. Meltzer. Bruce gives Dave zero cred. I applaud Bruce for that. I too am not a fan of Dave Meltzer. He thinks that he is so plugged in. Not!!!

[@vongola11thboss67]

I don't understand why he cursed Dave when he gave the match 4 3/4 stars and praised it. Sometimes the hate isn't justified at all.

[@kashmir047]

F**K DAVE MELTZER

[@ethanhackett8268]

I know he always is in some form during these shows, but damn! Bruce is SUPER defensive in this episode! Apparently Chris Jericho's WWE career was perfect from start to finish.

[@RyanDMoore]

Prichard turns into a blithering baby back, big buford, ball-busted bitch boy sometimes. He doesn't understand a lot of questions with the right context. I think he firmly believes that every decision he has made is right. Now that he's working for WWE again, he buries everything Conrad even asks in favor of towing the company line. What does Jimmy Corn call him, the Artful Dodger? Fits him perfectly. Instead of saying fuck that idea, he explains why Conrad is wrong by being sarcastic, smarmy, and dare I say sassy with every retort. "Here's why what we did was absolutely correct." "What about booking it this way?" asks Conrad. "Oh yeah we just buried him, look at him today, everybody hates him and we just hated him even more. Yep. Killed his whole career." Its harder to listen to than ever before.

[@AlSween]

Chyna was big enough of a star to win the title and big enough to beat Jarrett. Losing to the IC champion is NOT a bad thing.

[@manbearpig7359]

Conrad, like a lot of his type is such a mark about,wins and losses. W and Ls generally don't fuckin matter...it's the story and character development that matters.

[@bigb860]

I'm going to respectfully disagree that wins and losses don't necessarily matter. You are absolutely right that story and character development are key factors but people want to get behind and typically stay behind a winner. If a character constantly loses, at least the "big matches", people may begin to lose interest. Who wants to route for a loser?

[@justintoombs195]

HOW BOUT I BEAT EM, AND THEN FOR THE REMATCH I BEAT EM AGAIN 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@diamondj.4076]

😂😂😂😂

[@dalynsanders]

Canadian mount Rushmore Piper, Chris Jericho, Pat Patterson, Owen Hart Strong alternates Ivan Koloff, mad dog vachon, Bret Hart, and Edge

[@Davidjon1946]

Piper was Canadian???

[@dalynsanders]

@@Davidjon1946 haha that's what I said

[@joshuabowman2970]

If everybody realized that this podcast isnt really a shoot then they wouldnt get so pissed at bruce for his vince & hhh apologizing. Bruce is half ass in character during the podcast and plays the heel to conrads face. Its almost like early jr & king on commentary.

[@Super122291]

U gotta love it Joshua

[@folkrocksage9666]

Imagine if Jericho ditched AEW and returned to the WWE as Doink the Clown resurrected in 2020.

[@michaelriley8879]

He'd be more over. AEW is dead in the water

[@rdtworld9720]

Wouldn't that be taking Bray's gimmick

[@folkrocksage9666]

@@rdtworld9720 I get what you're saying but I still think that a resurrected Doink (portrayed by Jericho) and Brey Wyatt's current fiend character could co exist in the WWE regardless of any character similarities. I actually don't like Brey Wyatt's current fiend character. It seems to me that the writers and production staff have borrowed too many theatrical concepts from contemporary horror films and incorporated these tastelessly into Bray's "messy" vignette's. Jericho wouldn't need all the "over the top production" to get "Doink Resurrected" over with the fans. If it were up to me Jericho's ring attire would replicate the classic Doink the Clown costume and I'd even consider bringing back Matt Borne (the original Doink) to play Jericho's manager and behind the scenes mentor.

[@rdtworld9720]

@@folkrocksage9666 uh, you do realize Matt Borne is dead?

[@folkrocksage9666]

@@rdtworld9720 uh, obviously not if I referenced him as a potential returning talent. I still think that Jericho would make a great Doink regardless.

[@danl2136]

41:26 Bruce don't have a clue on what he's on about. Austin in his first two years won KOTR and two Royal Rumbles lol.

[@keithcrockett7838]

FYI jericho and benoit lost the titles 3 days BEFORE KING of THE RING....

[@bigb860]

First of all, wins and losses do matter, and I don't care what anybody says. Secondly, Bruce's logic for Jericho not joining the Alliance because he was looked at as a WWF guy. Then how do you explain Austin? Who played a pivotal role in WCW losing the war. Then he joins them? That makes A LOT LESS sense than if Jericho would've.

[@joshuabowman2970]

Exactly! I remember when bruce was explaining why they flipped austin to the wcw side he said the wcw side needed a star and they didnt have anyone else associated with wcw to use...i was thinking wtf what about jericho?

[@Super122291]

Joshua Bowman Austin a bigger star than Jericho so it’s only right he’ll join wcw/ecw Cmon don’t act dumb

[@rafmeinster]

@@Super122291 You're the one that's acting dumb.

[@guyincognito5706]

22:49 bullshitter

[@danielescalera6638]

Ski aaa vone

[@tomgilmartin672]

Come on Conrad wins don’t matter, what do you think this is AEW

[@yourhero34]

I have to disagree with Bruce about wins/losses don't matter, look at Bray Wyatt and Dolph Ziggler in recent years. They lost so much that fans just stopped caring about them. Hopefully Bray will be booked better with the Fiend.

[@420bengalfan]

fans only really cared about ziggler because they thought he was underutilized when in reality his best attribute is making other people look good

[@markmenning1804]

Why didnt he have Ralfus with him?

[@teashdrinks714]

That’s a terrible impression of Cornette lol

[@morethanawheelchair2344]

Welcome to Madison Square Jericho

[@dudeiousmaximus650]

Not 20 years of Jericho more like 10 no mention of anything after vengence! Maybe should rename the title! Could of done this as part 1 then done a second part as it is a pretty long story!

[@Davidjon1946]

Yeah fuck these guys !! So much missed

[@Rschr101]

Yeah well the business basically died after Vengeance so there really isn't much to cover other than Hogan coming back, Rocky selling out and Austin retiring.

[@diamondj.4076]

She's not just a girl she's Chyna 😒

[@Dizzy1980]

Bruce can defend it all he wants, but Jericho/Chyna was a terrible idea, and having them as co-Intercontinental champions was even worse.

[@baburaoboltoy3434]

Rock wasn't the biggest star at the time in the company. It was Stone Cold Steve Austin. That's the bottom-line.

[@tkbass01]

Am I the only one who hates when Conrad says, "Chat me up..."

[@bb-gc2tx]

You know Vince told Bruce to make more fun of JR on these podcasts and kiss ass Bruce was more than happy to oblige

[@burnsy9419]

this podcast is going the exact same way as the wwe product straight down the shitter, it is so painful to hear bruce try and change the narrative of every question asked by conrad instead of giving real answers, this has become even more noticable since his return to wwe, conrad tries so hard for truthful no bs answers but bruce just spits the same vince/hhh bullshit that has been driving us fans away from wwe for the past 10 years and this is from a 35 year life long fan, i love wrestling, i love wwe, but after 35 years of watching i am now done with this dying product, we as fans tune into this podcast for insight to the inners of wwe, we do not tune in to hear bs answers, meltzer bashing or wwe product ass kissing, since bruce returned to wwe this podcast has died as we will never get any real negativity toward anything wwe, we as fans are not damn stupid and can read between the lines and sniff out all the bs answers from bruce, also as for bruce saying chyna was more over than jericho in there match as to why she won is fucking ridiculous and made bruce sound like an idiot trying to justify that bs, even conrad quizzing him on it showed that conrad thought the exact same as us fans, wwe was my entire life i loved it so much now its a damn disgrace of a product to be associated with hence the dwindling numbers of fans going to watch the thing in 2019 and the insane cry out from hundreds of thousands of disgruntled fans who put wwe where it is on the map over the years praying for change only to be ignored by people as delusional as bruce has become. Great podcast from conrad btw you try so damn hard, bruce you are losing so much respect nowadays with this bs ass kissing such a shame DAMN!

[@brobsty1856]

Jericho seems gay for Mcmahon

[@brobsty1856]

I remember thinking the same thing during the 83 Weeks episode on him...

[@MartyMcElwee]

Aren’t we all