The True Story Of Chris Jericho's WCW Exit

[@IggyStardust1967]

My wife and I met Chris at a book signing some years back. He was a really chill dude to talk with for a few minutes, and was very approachable. Dude deserves all of the success he's had in and out of the ring.

[@MariuszMroczek-dd7ku]

Have you signed an NDA?🤣

[@IggyStardust1967]

@@MariuszMroczek-dd7ku Heh.... not at all.... nor did I "Make THE LIST!" LMAO! Seriously, though... he was really, really cool to spend a few minutes with (personally, during our turn to get our copy signed), and his "speech" prior to that was very casual. One thing I'll mention, though... and I have no idea if he told other attendees this or not, but he said that the reason he wears sunglasses to book signings, is so that when people take pictures with him (we did), they can never tell if his eyes are open or closed. LMAO!! He was just so genuine and down to Earth talking with us. If you haven't read his books, I can recommend them. He and Mick Foley have books that are wonderfully easy reads. My wife and I also met Paul Bearer (I was actually a pen-pal with him through e-mail the year leading up to his passing), he was also a great person to interact with. I truly miss that man. We had been chatting through e-mail for months when he came to a local show, and he recognized me as soon as we approached him (I had sent him a picture before the show was scheduled). He was a very humble, intelligent man who was a joy to get to know. Wrestling isn't all we talked about, but he seemed impressed with my "historical knowledge" of the business (I've been a fan since I was 3 years old in 1970), and not JUST with regards to WWWF/WWF/WWE, but that I followed it all.

[@MariuszMroczek-dd7ku]

@@IggyStardust1967 👍

[@tobiasfrost86]

Agreed

[@Soon_Solstice]

I got to see WCW live in Denver, CO, as a kid. At the time Jericho was a mid-carder and Goldberg was the main event. The Jericho fight was a lot more entertaining, and lasted longer than a minute.

[@michaelsinger4638]

Jericho leaving WCW was the best thing that ever happened to him. His buddies The Radicalz would bail not too long later. WCW had SO MANY super talented younger guys that they could have elevated over time. But they just, didn’t.

[@burnedsmackdown4209]

Arn Anderson would go on say he, Flair and other veterans kept pushing for creative to give the Crusierweights more, but they refused to listen

[@michaelsinger4638]

Too many old guys with big egos and creative control.

[@ilovebbw2573]

⁠tbh u wouldn’t be surprised that arn and flair wanted to the both genuinely seem to care about the business and wcw and the definitely knew where wrestling was going in ring wise

[@daviddalrymple2284]

Yeah. Eric Bischoff was perfectly capable of taking an unknown talent and propelling him to the top of the promotion in just a few months. After all, that's exactly what he did with Goldberg in late 97 and early 98. The problem was that Bischoff was laboring under the delusion that smaller wrestlers weren't credible as champs. He was happy to build them up in the midcard, and the cruiserweights who "graduated" to the regular roster (Malenko, Benoit, Jericho and Guerrero) were winning midcard titles and getting lots of TV time, but Bischoff wasn't willing to put them over to the next level.

[@Soon_Solstice]

Jericho did great for himself after he got out of everything that the NWO did to accidentally bury the WCW. Both him and Booker T.

[@SkateSoup]

I remember his appearance on Raw not just because the roof and all the windows blew out of that building from the fans going insane,, but I could hear similar cheers from a couple of the other houses in my neighborhood as I had a window open.

[@MrTheSmurf]

As I had a window open is one the funniest ends to a sentence I've ever read 😂

[@christodd5925]

The man of a 1004 holds was one of the best things ever!! I loved it!!

[@andrewreinwand4942]

I was in 6th grade (yikes) when the Y2J countdown clock started in WWF and was confused at the timing. Every week is ask my mom to confirm how far away New Year’s was, utterly baffled by if the clock was wrong or if something else was happening 😂

[@jerodtabb311]

I was in sixth grade too 😂😂what a time to b alive 💯💪

[@pri0r_t0_a_weekago...fukwi48]

Wow I was in 4th grade and same lololol

[@nighttrain3623]

I love these 'True Story Of...' episodes. Thanks guys

[@MrBeardsley]

Not long after Jericho’s match with Perry Saturn at Uncensored ‘99 he stopped appearing on Nitro with any regularity, and once he made it clear to Bischoff he wouldn’t be re-signing even his Thunder and Saturday Night appearances became sporadic. Towards the end they had him doing live commentary for WCW’s radio broadcasts.

[@Jackso-n3b]

I SMOKED CRACK WITH PERRY SATURN JABRONY..

[@ryblack5032]

Greatest Debut in WWF History 25 years ago

[@johnfalcetta5431]

I was at the All-State arena the night he debuted. The pop was insane. TV doesn't do it justice

[@trippnorris2599]

I was at a house show in Montgomery, Alabama where Jericho said if he was pinned then he would quit WCW and he was pinned. I am thinking that was his last WCW match.

[@DeanMoxley87]

It clearly states in this video his last match was in Illnios

[@LordTeaboBaggins]

@@DeanMoxley87his last televised match. House shows aren’t televised Edit: Nevermind lol

[@DeanMoxley87]

@LordTeaboBaggins read the Original Post. It clearly says a house show

[@LordTeaboBaggins]

@@DeanMoxley87 yep. And I hadn’t gotten to the point in the video where they explain it. My bad dude :)

[@ryanwaslawski6088]

165k for one appearance a week ain’t bad.

[@Mac_Kymera]

Then when he felt screwed over, this time by Vince, when it came to the Kevin Owen’s storyline, he decided to call it quits then too! Overall, he was a tremendous and valuable asset to the WWE and his run there is one of the best.

[@franklingoodwin]

Except his version of events really doesn't make sense.

[@Jackso-n3b]

IM TIRED OF UR STORIES JABRONY

[@nixda9326]

im sure thats not true. im pretty sure he wanted to leave anyway.

[@ElWagonne]

I thought he felt more played by having to lose to Fandango

[@earlofdrumer1851]

I liked Jerichos WCW heel run more than anything he did afterwards. Shout out to Ralphus too!

[@daviddalrymple2284]

Yeah. For me, Jericho's 1998 WCW run was what cemented me as a wrestling fan for life. His promos and matches were so consistently entertaining, and I've been chasing that high ever since.

[@Joshisbrown]

Facts

[@onknight]

One of the most amazing people you'll ever meet is Chris Jericho. This is a man who quietly gives back to the business wrestlers medical bills he's donated to causes to get them well. He respects the business and those who came before him. And now he's giving back by bringing the future into the present a true GOAT

[@zzlai6235]

Bischoff, Hogan, and Goldberg, why am I not surprised?

[@Jukeboksi]

I love that all the amazing midcard talent in WCW stuck it to those three and left behind a dying company while rocking crowds over in the hot WWF

[@ChaseSchleich]

The reason the cruiserweights (including Jericho) got over in WCW wasn't just their wrestling ability and new style. It was the storylines WCW gave them. It's crazy to see how good the storylines were, even for the mid-carders in the late 90's and how much things changed by late 99'-2000. Chris's Goldberg "feud" was just the start of the downturn of the entire company.

[@wickideazy]

"Wasn't Y2J-compliant." Killer closing line, that.

[@Soon_Solstice]

As a kid, I was an instant Jericho fan. It didn't matter what he did, he was always entertaining to watch both as a character and in the ring.

[@brandonperkins176]

Now I know why he wasn't on WCW television and had a feeling he would go to WWE! Good run for him

[@AFMountaineer2000]

I was not a smart wrestling fan, i didnt read the dirt sheets or go on websites that talked about wrestling news. So when Jericho made his debut on Raw I was pumped

[@Jackso-n3b]

YOU NEVER BEEN SMART JABRONY

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

​@@Jackso-n3b🙄

[@Clenched.Cheeks]

What?

[@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269]

I remember when Y2J popped up in WWF, my friend and I didn't have a clue who he was. I told him I was pretty sure I seen him on ECW or WCW at one point but that was about it. 😅👍

[@VegasWorldINC3K]

I watched that WWE debut live and it was glorious.

[@nevaagen1133]

Happy to see true story of make a come back keep up the great work Jack and all the Cultaholic lads

[@theFRIS]

haven’t cared about jericho since 2001, but was in my top5 favorites back then

[@arkaea]

Jericho has grown to be one of my favorites.

[@trontheblackranger]

Greenberg was a noob, not only to wrestling, but to the actual business. Everything you do is to get people to pay to watch you wrestle. Bro bought into his own hype

[@ginofrancejr555]

Jericho jumping to wwe is still to this day one of the biggest moves in wrestling history

[@theskeeboo]

Nice True Story on Jericho. I do remember everything wasn't rosey for Jericho after he got to WWE, though. I remember reports at the time that people were rubbed the wrong way and Vince almost gave him his release at one point less than a year in. Seemed to stem from a lot of people that worked with him in WCW (XPAC was one name I remember) putting the badmouth on him to the higher ups, as well as some jealousy. Props to him for overcoming all that, though, and succeeding anyway.

[@richborn6700]

Apparently Vince and some wrestlers thought his stiffer offense he'd learned in Japan and Mexico didn't quite work for the WWE style. Once he "toned it down" he was good to go

[@jackrider798]

Cool video Jack, enjoyed that a lot

[@ironsave3201]

Always was one of my favorites.

[@venomousnate7263]

If you think about it, if Jericho never left WCW, he wouldn’t have made many iconic moments in WWE and beyond.

[@JohnnyGoodBehavior]

You don’t need to think that hard. It’s pretty obvious that.

[@Extinguisher10]

I love these history lessons with Jack!!

[@CARL_093]

jericho is the GOAT or 1 of the GOAT'S

[@drums4lyfe0987]

Jericho’s RAW entrance was easily top 5 wrestling debut’s of all time

[@SonnyK248]

It's funny watching old Thrillseeker photos with Jericho and Lance Storm given Jericho evolved so much and Lance basically looked like that in that attire until the day he retired 😂 Loved Lance in WCW though when he had three titles. Never forget the night he challenged Goldberg by saying "I've won every title in this company except 1! And I desperately wanted him to beat him as a kid. I also loved the TIJ episode where Lance said that they used to always talk about if the WWE champ faced the NWA champ, who would walk away with both belts? like it was some never going to happen fantasy. And how he couldn't believe Jericho would have been the guy to actually unify them 🤯 That's why Jericho has had the career he has. Because he's a die hard fan at heart unlike a lot of top guys from that era who mostly failed at other sports and gave it a try or were spotted at gyms by wrestlers and convinced to give it a shot.

[@DukeRoofies]

He literally is one of the greatest and doesn’t get enough credit for it. Always has me laughing.

[@Dr_1212]

WCW 👍 Gone but never forgotten

[@SheriffOutlaw]

STORYTIME!!!! ❤

[@Biggucci97]

I think wcw helped Jericho. Being under such “tyranny” he figured out he needed to be entertaining as a mid carder. He became so entertaining he propelled himself to the main event. No shade but Goldberg couldn’t ever. If he isn’t main event he is worthless to a company. Which we have really seen since wcw has folded.

[@donpauliewalnuts]

Thank you for telling me the TRUE story of Chris Jerichos WCW exit.

[@hhtptai]

Now do the story of Chris Jericho's WWE exit.

[@Yteranger]

Did he ever beat Rock and Stone Cold on the same night though? If so he's never mentioned it.

[@MariuszMroczek-dd7ku]

Turns out it wasn't meant as a joke when Vince said to the Undertaker: "Hey ‘Taker, how do you know the business is going down the toilet? Because we’re putting the belt on Jericho!"

[@viajaycay]

As a kid, it nvr made sense to me why d Jericho n Goldberg storyline nvr paid off esp as I was leaning more towards wcw then. But it made me more excited to watch the debut of Jericho in wwf n switched my allegiances

[@thepooz7205]

At that point during the Monday night wars, my friends and I would watch the amazing cruiserweight division matches on Nitro, then switch to Raw for their last hour or so.

[@doctord2791]

ARMBAR!!

[@akaufmanbmrly1]

One of the best pops in history...

[@DominicDeRubeis-jb4zp]

Jericho was great until these last few years in AEW. He essentially has creative control, and it’s arguably worse than when Hulk Hogan did. He just keeps leaching onto younger guys and ruining their chances for a legitimate push. It’s sad really. AEW fans love almost everything, and even they are fed up. I had never heard a “please retire” chant prior to recently.

[@B0NY_HAWK]

Jericho is the true 🐐 in professional wrestling.

[@ericperron1983]

Move 375: Armbar

[@everythingstrength1485]

My friends and I were estatic when we found out Jericho was going to be a playable character in WrestleMania 2000 ....we weren't sure if he was signed soon enough to make the roster

[@dmurphy1578]

Heel Jericho is the best Jericho. He’s just to funny.

[@tempestfennac9687]

Another thing which was laughable about Goldberg having World War 3 off is that he still made 2 appearances to get into brawls with Bam Bam Bigelow because the company had decided that feud needed tons of build before they finally had a match.

[@Fixxer315]

Although Bischoff & co made a number of mistakes in 1998 (misusing Bret Hart, bringining in the Warrior and suspending Ric Flair), perhaps none of them was as detrimental to the long-term viability of WCW as killing the Goldberg/Jericho feud without any match. Doing so sent a powerful signal, not only to the fans but the talent that the glass ceiling was all but impenetrable for the WCW midcarders. NO matter how much you got over with the fans, there was only so far you could go. While there were other factors involved (most notably the elevation of Kevin Sullivan as head booker in early 2000), I strongly suspect Jericho's exit and his strong WWF debut was a bit factor in helping Benoit, Guerrero and others make the decision to jump, even when Sullivan offered Benoit the WCW title as an incentive to stay.

[@jerranspearman3369]

good video

[@CulEdz]

Perfect video except Jack should have mentioned WAR in its full name glory. It’s the greatest wrestling promotion name ever. Wrestling And Romance 💯💯💯

[@125henni]

The Ocho

[@uncleshrek32]

Wrestling is Jericho!!

[@brandon_blaze]

JeriGOAT

[@timbarry2743]

Shout out to Ralphus

[@MariuszMroczek-dd7ku]

Jericho is now impersonating him in AEW.

[@roninmarketing4048]

That debut

[@raymondsegura4987]

G.O.A.T

[@IronFanJoe]

It was decisions like these that help explain why WCW sadly went out of business.

[@tristanirby6272]

I remember Jericho jumped to then WWF, he interrupted Rocks promo and tried to upstage him but it was Rock who ended up beating him. Like Jericho is one of a few men who can for go word-for-word with The Rock lol😂😂😂

[@kyokari4]

Kinda wild that the goldberg jericho feud started over gillybro

[@mringram]

Great content

[@KBell119]

Jericho fit in with wwf's style way better.

[@vincentcloud]

You kinda made the point that may be the GOAT. Putting him past Flair is too hard. He has held World titles in WWE. AEW, and ROH. Yea other people have been bigger draws but still drawing after almost 40 years...no one else can say that.

[@IXIKAYAKOxSAEKIIXI]

Welcome to Monday night Jericho

[@andrewvanalstine7499]

Love him as a preformer but I think it’s weird that all of the allegations against him were completely swept under a rug and forgotten about.

[@claytonclifford2323]

The current (and arguably best) Mount Rushmore of wrestling would have Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, AJ Styles and u could argue Okada, Omega, Brian Danielson, CM Punk, Edge or Rey Mysterio. But the first 3 r locks in my book

[@period8705]

Chris is actually a New York native.

[@juancl7658]

A true Jericho fan should know he moved to Winnipeg at a young age

[@period8705]

@@juancl7658 facts but I hear "native" I think birthplace.

[@lancethefilmguy9392]

​@@period8705You know what happens when you say he isn't from Canada? 📋🖊

[@claymathewselevator8121]

WCW Chris Jericho reminds me of Lexis King

[@joonermichael]

4:05 My Kneeeeeeeeee

[@CarbonRollerCaco]

Rather curious that WCW basically treated Bret Hart like they did Jericho sans the comedy. Almost like they were experimenting with which style of whiner would get a better reaction. And maybe Goldberg was afraid Jericho would lose that appeal or perhaps show too much weakness in Goldberg himself too soon if the match went through. Perhaps if Jericho was offered some assurance he'd get his match AFTER Goldberg had his streak broken when the latter's weaknesses would be more acknowledgeable, he'd've stayed on a bit longer. Funny how one of the big reasons WCW was able to be a nuturing ground for Jericho was also the main thing keeping him from growing further in it.

[@bandywallop]

Chris really should go back to Toronto though

[@angelochase3873]

Goldberg didn’t do comedy but ended up doing comedy with Goldust

[@ChaseSchleich]

You put together this whole video just for that "not Y2J compliant" line at the end, didn't you? Lol

[@adamzullo3624]

I can count on my one hand how many wrestlers stood the test of time and never went stale. Jericho is one of them. This shows how dumb WCW was and I’m speaking to you Eric Bischoff

[@Naruto0s44]

Jericho wanted more in life

[@TheIrishSicilian]

AEW is Jericho

[@gooberplex]

I want him to call me a stupid idiot ):

[@claymathewselevator8121]

The Thrillseekers

[@shaolinotter]

you know hogan was in goldbergs ear about jericho lmao

[@woopvonwoop1133]

I feel like someone came up with the joke at the end in a random conversation and had to make a video to justify putting it in lmao

[@jamesreece9502]

One of the best nights "EVER!" was when Jericho became undisputed champion. I hated Stone Cold and the Rock.

[@tedevelynmosby6944]

Eh , loved the narration tho Jack !

[@godlygoku4467]

Keep it up

[@joe9739]

WCW seemed super segregated. Vets in the Heavyweight division, smaller white guys and foreigners in the Cruiserweight division.

[@jeffro9252]

Oh this is the TRUE story. Thank god….

[@MrROTD]

From what Ive seen Goldberg doesnt understand the business.

[@killingragethrowback]

Jericho > Goldberg. WCW and WWE ruined how to use Goldberg too, but at least that late career comeback against Lesnar was good. Everything else about that late run was not.

[@cassman35]

🎉a true 🐐

[@Josh_JKL]

Another reason why Jericho is great and Goldberg is a piece of garbage

[@mrleo6004]

I love CHRIS JERICHO HE'S THE GOAT

[@mjdf122]

Chris Jericho was good in FMW CMLL AAA SMW WAR ECW WCW NJPW AJPW WWF/E

[@danielrierson6683]

6 months later Jeff Jarrett is world champion and Jericho’s jobbing to Chyna lol. Honestly I think if him and the radicals stayed wcw would have survived

[@toysandjunk]

I'm willing to bet there's not a single soul alive who's more happy about the recent Vince McMahon scandal and it's timing. Just sayin'.

[@joemendoza2292]

Why was Hogan even in that meeting? No wonder WCW died.