Grilling JR - Chris Jericho 2001 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

This week we’re going to continue our look back at Chris Jericho’s career in the WWF and focus on what is the biggest year of his career at this point … 2001 - yes 20 years ago!

Jim the wrestling world is about to be turned upside down with the end of WCW & ECW but Chris Jericho starts 2001 working Perry Saturn at a house show in Anaheim, CA before flying to New York and Madison Square Garden to take part in a celebrity hockey game in tribute of his father Ted Irvine. You’ve known Chris for a lot of years. How close were Chris and his father and how big a deal do you think it was for him to be able to play hockey at MSG?

Benoit and Jericho are about to come together again to deliver one of the classic ladder matches at the time at the Royal Rumble in New Orleans. From the Observer: “Chris Jericho won the IC title from Chris Benoit in a ladder match in 18:44. Started with a lot of good mat wrestling before any ladder involvement. Benoit later put the crossface on Jericho, who tapped like crazy, which basically guaranteed he was going over at the end. Benoit missed a diving head-butt off the top of the ladder. Jericho was climbing. Benoit was lying nearly underneath the ladder, and from the ground, tipped it over and sent Jericho flying all the way over the top rope. Benoit was climbing and this time Jericho shoved the ladder and Benoit went over the top, and this time it gave Jericho the chance to climb the ladder and get the title belt. ****¾”

It really is a show stopping performance and perhaps one of the best one-on-one ladder matches of all-time that’s been wiped from everyone’s memory because of Benoit. What did you think at the time Jim and did you think this match would set the tone for the year of Jericho ahead?

Is it tough to think back to this time with chair shots and ladder shots and flying headbutts and the damage these two were doing to each other because of what ends up happening with Benoit?

Jericho goes from winning the IC title to putting over Big Show who returned at the Royal Rumble, Kurt Angle, and losing a #1 contenders match for the WWF Title in a 4-way with the Rock. Jericho and Benoit have a classic ladder match and in two weeks Jericho doesn’t win another match. I know Bruce has said over and over again that wins and losses don’t matter but that has to be frustrating for the talent doesn’t it?

Chris is moving slower and it’s reported in the Observer it’s from the ladder match and his back bothering him but he misses no dates. How important was it for Chris to keep going at this point in his career?

Eddie Guerrero returns to the WWF and hits Chris with a Frog Splash to what seems to begin a program and then at Smackdown Jericho loses to Triple H after Guerrero interferes again. Your IC champion isn’t exactly getting a lot of wins here Jim. Does that weaken him in your eyes?

Jericho beats Eddie the next week on Raw by DQ when a returning X-Pac interferes. Jericho seems to be involved in a lot of moving parts with good workers but not a real program. Is Jericho just kind of floating around the mid card at this point?

This is all to build to No Way Out which will be a 4-way for the IC title between Jericho, Benoit, X-Pac & Eddie. This is just putting 4 super workers in a match to make the best card possible is it not Jim?

“2. Chris Jericho retained the IC title over Eddy Guerrero, Chris Benoit and X-Pac in 12:18. They teased Benoit and Guerrero joining forces, so of course, they ended up turning on each other, presumably to start a program to turn Benoit face. Lots of near falls and saves. Justin Credible helped out X-Pac and took one great bump when Benoit knocked him off the apron. Jericho got the walls on everyone, and finally Credible came out with X-Pac in the walls. Benoit did a dragon suplex on Jericho for a near fall. Jericho did the lionsault on Guerrero for a near fall. X-Pac did an X-factor on Jericho but Benoit broke it up. Benoit had the crossface on X-Pac but Guerrero broke it up. Guerrero did a low neckbreaker on Benoit but it was broken up. It ended with Jericho doing a rolling reverse cradle on X-Pac for the pin. ***½”

Justin Credible a name we don’t bring up much on the podcast Jim. This is around his debut after ECW closes. What was it about Justin that just didn’t click with the WWF audience?

This really is a good match that’s short on time but heavy on talent. The WWF really had an abundance of riches with talent at this point wouldn’t you say?

Chris Benoit quits the Radicalz when he costs Eddie a IC title match against Jericho by hitting Benoit with the headbutt. In your mind was it time to separate Benoit?

Jericho and William Regal begin a program for WrestleMania over the IC title and it starts by Jericho taking a piss in Regal’s tea. This has Vince McMahon written all over it does it not Jim?

Regal’s reaction is absolutely classic and has to be seen to be believed. Also this includes Harvey Wippleman which is always fun!

Chris Jericho pisses in William Regals tea to get back at him - WWF RAW is WAR 3/19/2001

There’s an angle that Jericho is a part of that I bring up because Chris talked about it with Conrad when he hosted his “Talk is Jericho” podcast. It’s from Cleveland the night that the WWF bought WCW.

Here’s the angle: https://www.wwe.com/videos/chris-jericho-dresses-as-doink-the-clown-to-ambush-william-regal-raw-march-26-2001

And here’s what Chris had to say about it to Conrad from Talk is Jericho:

“This is Shawn Michaels before he went away for the last time and really got cleaned up. He was at the venue.

“He was just out of his mind, and he’s like, ‘hey, they got you playing Doink now? And I’m like, ‘no, it’s just for the night.’ He goes, ‘no, I don’t like it. It’s a terrible gimmick. Don’t play Doink.’ Yeah, it’s okay Shawn. It’s just for tonight. ‘Don’t do it, man. It’s gonna kill your career. Don’t let him make you into Doink,’ and then he walked away. He couldn’t grasp the fact that I was just dressing up as Doink for one night.”

Do you remember Shawn this night and how disappointing it had to be for a major moment in company history and Shawn passes out in Vince’s office later as Jericho writes in his book and has to be sent home?

So once again the WWF purchases WCW and one of the major moments in time that’s talked about for the demise of WCW was Chris Jericho leaving and signing with the WWF. Looking back there’s always a lot of things that people can pin point to for the ending of WCW but does the Jericho signing stand out in your mind?

At WrestleMania Jericho and Regal face off for the IC title in the opener. From the Observer: “Chris Jericho pinned William Regal in 7:08 to retain the IC title. Match was fine, in some ways well wrestled by Regal although Jericho had one of those matches where he was slightly off on things. Where it ended up disappointing is that it was just too short. Regal did a double-arm superplex off the top. Regal stretch but Jericho made the ropes, and came back with a lionsault for the pin. Crowd wasn't ready for the match to end. **”

Chris writes in his book, “The match wasn’t bad, but I think it could’ve been so much more. My biggest problem with it was the lack of time we were given. Mania took place in the Houston Astrodome, and the walkway to the ring was so long that by the time we got out there we had about seven minutes for the entire match. We did our best but it was rushed and we were off on certain spots. Even though I won, in my mind I was 0–2 in my Mania performances. Later on at the after-show party, Vince complimented me on the match and told me how much he liked it, but I wasn’t buying it. I was feeling pretty down on myself and knew I could do better.”

Was Chris dealing with a confidence issue? Lack of push issue? You always talk about how it’s cash or creative and opening a Mania of this size should lead to a decent amount of cash but the creative and time...did Jericho voice any frustration to you at this point?

It’s important to note that we’re about to get going on the whole WCW thing and the split brands, etc. Did Chris ever voice an opinion regarding not wanting to be presented as a WCW wrestler or his past history with the company to be brought up?

Coming off Mania you have Austin’s heel turn, Rock disappearing and a complete lack of top level babyfaces. When do you think Jericho is recognized to be put in that type of position?

It takes some time and before he can be elevated he has to be downgraded I guess by Triple H. Hunter pins Jericho for the IC title on SmackDown and later on that month at the Backlash pay-per-view which we recently covered in the archives at adfreeshows.com Hunter & Austin win the tag team titles as well.

Before we get there at Backlash Chris Jericho and William Regal compete in one of the silliest matches in WWF history. From the Observer:

“3. William Regal pinned Chris Jericho in 12:11 in what was billed as a Duchess of Queensbury match, complete with a matronly looking woman dressed as a Duchess at ringside playing a cross between Vince McMahon and Jacques Rougeau in doing a gimmick of changing the rules as they went along. Match was fine as far as work, but got silly in a hurry. Jericho had Regal pinned after the lionsault when the Duchess signalled for the bell claiming it was the end of the first round. Regal used the Regal stretch but Jericho made the ropes. Then when Jericho got on the walls, Regal tapped, but it was announced that submissions aren't allowed under the rules. Regal then hit Jericho over the head with the Duchess' scepter and was DQ'd. Of course it was then ruled that there is no DQ under the rule and the match continued. Regal finally ended up with his face in the Duchess' crotch and did his priceless facials. Jericho threw her into the ring and put her in the walls, and Regal nailed Jericho with three chair shots and got the pin. *”

This is one of the most unique matches in WWF history where the gimmick is never done again. Is this a failure creatively in your mind? Does it hurt Chris & Regal?

Now the plan as gone over in Jericho’s book is that himself & Benoit were to be built up as the #1 contenders for the tag team titles coming off a #1 contenders gauntlet at Judgment Day against Austin & HHH and then to split it into individual feuds with Benoit vs. HHH for the IC title and Jericho vs. Austin for the WWF title. Is this how you remember it?

How big a proponent of Jericho is Paul Heyman? Obviously Paul is fresh to the creative side after the closing of ECW. Is Jericho someone Paul gets behind immediately due to their past connection?

Coming off the tag team gauntlet win at Judgment Day one of the most historic matches in WWF’s history...probably the greatest 2 on 2 tag team match in Raw’s history… the two man power trip of HHH & Austin face off against Benoit & Jericho. From Jericho’s book:

“So in San Jose for Raw, the four of us spent a few hours with Pat Patterson putting together the match. We wanted it to be the ultimate roller-coaster ride, a match jam-packed with twists and turns that would play with the fans’ emotions and lead to the two Chrises standing victorious. First off, the crowd was amazing. They’d been waiting for someone to bring down the Two-Man Power Trip and sensed that Benoit and I were the guys to do it. As the twists and turns unfolded, the crowd got louder and more voracious. The two man power trip got the heat on Benoit until finally Hunter gave him a Pedigree behind the ref’s back. I evened the score by drop kicking Hunter from the top rope, which enabled Benoit to make the smoking hot tag. I came storming in and dismantled the two of them, until finally ending up with Austin in the Walls. Hunter ran in from behind to make the save, and that was when disaster struck. When he planted his foot to nail me, he tore his quad completely off the bone. People often ask me what happens when somebody gets hurt in the course of the match, and the answer for the most part is—nothing. The first thing any of us thinks about is simply finishing the match and dealing with the consequences later. Hunter followed me to the floor and tore the top off the announce table, where he was going to attempt to Pedigree me as planned. I noticed he was limping gingerly, and when he pulled me onto the table I asked him if he was okay. “No, my leg is fucked.” When one of the boys says he’s hurt, you know he must really be hurt, because most of the time he’ll just shrug it off. Not this time. I was supposed to block his Pedigree and turn it into the Walls, which would apply direct pressure onto his injured leg. “What do you want to do?” I asked, ready to improvise if necessary. “Put me in the Walls,” he said, forever earning my respect. He was in a lot of pain, and even though he knew the submission would hurt him even more, he still wanted to put the match first and go through with it. That, dear readers, is one tough mofo. As I slowly turned HHH over on the announce table trying to apply the loosest Walls of Jericho ever, inside the ring Austin hit Benoit with a Stunner. I let go of Hunter’s legs as gently as possible, ran to the ring, and pulled the referee out by his leg before he could count to three. Austin and I fought back and forth until I finally hit him with the Lionsault. As I had him covered, Hunter staggered back into the ring like Jason Voorhees (how he was able to do that I have no idea) and went to bash my brains in with his dreaded sledgehammer. I moved at the last second and he nailed Austin in the stomach. Benoit then tackled Hunter, forcing him to take yet another bump, and I pinned Austin for the dramatic 1-2-3. The Calgary Kids were the new WWE Tag Team Champions!!!”

You can feel the excitement of the match through Chris’ words until Hunter gets hurt. You can feel the excitement in your call until Hunter gets hurt. The reality of wrestling and the fiction of characters compared to the actual people don’t come together that often in a big way like it does here. What do you remember of this night and having a front row seat to it all?

Hunter’s out for a long, long time and the show must go on. So I have to put this into perspective Jim. Rock’s gone. Hunter’s gone. There’s a lack of top tier talent. The next night...the very next night...at a Smackdown taping...it’s decided to have a TLC match with very little hype for the Tag Team Titles between Benoit & Jericho, Dudleys, Edge & Christian and the Hardys. Is this just an amazingly lack of thought or done for a ratings pop?

It’s decided to shelve Austin and Jericho’s feud and to include Benoit in a 3-way type of feud. Was this the right move in your mind?

Jericho talked to me about it again on his podcast and had this to say: “I was disappointed in the whole scenario because if you look at this, me and Chris were babyfaces once again, and they needed babyfaces to work with Steve,” Jericho recalled. “And for whatever reason, Vince lost faith in me pretty much instantly. Then [they] brought in Benoit and lost faith in Benoit pretty much instantly because if you look through that time frame, Spike Dudley got involved, and Spike Dudley ended up in a little bit of a feud with Steve Austin.

“So even though Benoit and Jericho are challenging for the title, Spike’s got all the promo time. And Spike’s got all the steam. It was really really weird. I remember thinking like the second week after the match was announced, I said to Chris like, we’re done. Like he’s already given up on us. He’s got Spike in there doing all this stuff and not us, and I was really disappointed.”

What was it about Chris that made Vince constantly give up on him?

Do you think he’s fair in his assessment of inserting Benoit & Spike into this and how it hurt him and the program itself?

Finally at King of the Ring it’s Jericho vs. Benoit vs. Austin for the WWF Title. It is Jericho’s first shot at the WWF Title on pay-per-view and well...here’s Chris’ take on it: “I thought the match was the shits. The dynamic is terrible. Two babyfaces trying to fight a heel for the title and Vince didn’t want Chris and I have any disconnection or any issues between us. So basically Austin beat the two of us the so called top babyfaces clean. I thought it would have been much better off if they just sort of stuck with me and Steve.

“You could have had Steve beat me clean, whatever. Then he could have gone over to Chris, done whatever you’re gonna do with that, but at least we would have had a chance to go one-on-one with Austin as the champion, and even as the babyface, if you lose to the champion, it’s still a title match. It’s still a main event, but Vince didn’t see it that way and didn’t see Jericho and Benoit as being main event babyfaces apparently.”

This is Benoit’s last match for a long time as he has neck surgery and the Invasion really jumps off as Booker T interferes and puts Austin through a table creating a dynamic of the WWF Champion vs the WCW Champion but after all that Austin still wins and Jericho is in no better spot than before and probably worse off. It’s tricky to make everyone better from a creative spot but was creative doing anything for Chris at this juncture?

Do you think Chris needed a character reboot at this point?

Well the Invasion starts in full swing and surprisingly enough through it all Chris is treated as a top WWF guy which is odd considering the way he was portrayed most of the year. Is Jericho a default guy in this spot as you don’t have a lot of top guys at this point or was it really because he was just in a main event spot?

Not questioning his talent or ability to be in that spot but is it tough to see him falter at King of the Ring and then immediately be pushed into the Invasion storyline?

Jericho is part of one of the bigger moments in the Invasion. Him & Kane are teaming up against Mike Awesome & Lance Storm of WCW when from the crowd appear Rob Van Dam & Tommy Dreamer who attack them on Raw from Atlanta. Awesome & Storm join them when Rhyno, Tazz, Justin Credible, the Dudleys and Raven came out to make the save. And let’s go to Paul Heyman…

ECW Invades RAW on July 9 2001

It’s a gigantic moment that Jericho gets to be a part of but he ends up getting laid out. Of course by the end of the night the Alliance is formed when Stephanie announces she’s the owner of ECW and they merge with WCW and yeah...what a mess JR.

There’s a classic backstage promo in the run up to the Invasion pay-per-view with Team WWF of Kurt Angle, Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Kane & Jericho with Vince McMahon that I have to play for you Jim.

Vince McMahon adresses Team WWF | SmackDown! (2001)

Was there a little too much ha ha for this to be taken seriously?

At the Invasion pay-per-view Team WWF take on Booker T, Rhyno, Diamond Dallas Page & the Dudley Boyz in the main event of the highest grossing non-WrestleMania pay-per-view in WWE history. As much as this storyline is maligned and it should be...that in itself shows how much money there was if done correctly wouldn’t you say Jim?

Jericho told me he got more money for that show than any other non-WrestleMania show. Is that because of the pay-per-view revenue?

Going into SummerSlam Jericho is programmed with Rhyno which gives him a big win as he’s able to renew his rivalry and chemistry with Stephanie McMahon. In the run up to the SummerSlam Jericho and Rock cut promos on Rhyno & Stephanie and it leads to a couple of classic moments. Jericho showing off the difference in between Stephanie’s chest...mocking the SummerSlam theme song of “Let the Bodies hit the Floor” compared to Stephanie and saying “Let the Boobies hit the Floor” and then Rock drops a “mother fucker” live on TV. What do you remember of this and the reaction backstage to it?

When is it decided that Jericho would turn heel on Rock?

Jericho turns on Rock at the end of a tag match and Jericho documents this in his book: “A week into the program, agent Gerry Brisco (who had accompanied Jim Ross when he came to Tampa to recruit me years earlier) took me into a corner of the arena to have a private conversation. “You’ve got to really step it up, Chris, because there are people on the inside that want to see you fail. They don’t believe in you. They’re burying you behind your back and telling everyone that you’re the shits.” Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

How come Jericho is constantly dealing with this in your mind?

Jericho really ramps up as a heel with his promos and it culminates at No Mercy when he goes one-on-one with the Great One for the...WCW title. That’s right Rock is the WCW Champion and all those years removed from being told he’s not a top guy in WCW he defeats the biggest star in the industry to win the WCW Title. From the Observer: “7. Chris Jericho won the WCW title from Rock in 23:44. The crowd was electric before they even locked up, almost like Rock-Austin from Mania. They need to bottle this crowd and take them on tour. Jim Ross brought up some of the great title events in St. Louis history, and they were throwing out names like Kiniski and Brisco and Flair. For some reason Jim Ross brought up the Black Scorpion (Flair was Black Scorpion at the 1990 Starrcade in St. Louis), which somehow I didn't think quite fit into that category. Heyman said the WCW title dates back farther than any title in the sport. Rock used a rock bottom through the spanish announcers table. Jericho blocked a rock bottom in the ring but was hit with a spinebuster. Rock set up the people's elbow, but Jericho blocked it and put on the walls. Rock nearly got the ropes, but Jericho pulled him in. Crowd was ready to explode for a clean finish, but that wasn't the story for today. Stephanie showed up and threw a chair in the ring. Jericho knocked her off the apron. Rock hit a DDT and then threw Stephanie in the ring and gave her a rock bottom. Jericho gave Rock a reverse russian leg sweep face first on the chair for the pin. After the match, Rock grabbed the chair, but instead of hitting Jericho with it, handed it to him. ****½”

OK I gotta ask...why the Black Scorpion reference? A rib on WCW?

Was this the star making deal that Jericho needed at this point?

Was Rock good about putting Jericho over?

Jericho writes that in his book afterwards he does an interview for WWF.com and says this: “I’d like to tell Eric Bischoff to fuck off. And you can print that.” It wasn’t the classiest of statements, but I felt such vindication. And I was still angry at Bischoff, as I’d heard after I left WCW that he had told people that Vince wouldn’t know what to do with me and I would be a colossal failure in the WWE. Now that I was wearing Bischoff’s own title in Vince’s company, I wanted to shove it right down his throat. But instead of telling Eric to fuck off, I should’ve thanked him—after all, if he hadn’t let me leave WCW, I never would have ended up as WCW Champion.”

Is this where Jericho is still lacking in maturity to focus on something like that?

Rock and Jericho have a rematch a couple weeks later on Raw where Rock regains the WCW Title back from him but there’s an incident where they run out of time and Jericho rushes a chair shot on Rock that really hurt him. Vince is hot and gets into it with Chris in the back. Was Chris prone to shooting himself in the foot as evidenced by the Bischoff comment and then this?

At Survivor Series the Invasion is put out of its misery when Team WWF defeats the Alliance and kills off WCW/ECW. Jericho is part of the match teaming with Rock, Taker, Kane & Big Show to defeat Austin, Angle, Booker, RVD & Shane McMahon to vanquish them … well not really … from the company. Shows the faith Vince had in the Alliance when 60% of the roster is from the WWF doesn’t it?

So now you have two separate titles...the WCW Title and the WWF title and it’s decided to merge them and create an Undisputed title and it’s to be determined at Armageddon. In your mind was there any chance Jericho was a player for this title?

Now let’s paint the picture. Steve Austin - WWF Champion. The Rock - WCW Champion. It’s determined that a tournament will be held to crown the champion and Kurt Angle & Chris Jericho are the other two competitors decided for it. Let’s use a hypothetical here...if Triple H is healthy and not injured...is there any chance Chris Jericho has the year he has let alone to be in a position to be in this tournament?

Two weeks before Vengeance Jericho is scheduled to put over Austin clean in the middle of the ring on Raw and when Jericho brings this up to Heyman, Heyman tells him to just do it and put on the best match he possibly can. At this point...is it already decided Jericho is going over to your knowledge?

Jericho writes in his book that a week before Armageddon Austin tells him congratulations and that he’s going over for the title and that Jericho is beating Austin in the main event to win both titles and become the first Undisputed champion. Is it customary for a wrestler to tell another wrestler that?

Jericho tells the story that Vince confirms this the morning of the pay-per-view when Jericho walks up to Taker and Vince and Vince says, “You can tell that the business is going down the toilet when we’re going to make Jericho the champion.”

Why do you think Vince enjoyed playing cat and mouse with Chris compared to a lot of the other talents over the years?

From the Observer:

“Chris Jericho won what was once the WCW title pinning Rock in 19:05. Earlier in the show they had both Jericho and Angle confront Flair, noting that Flair had never been undisputed world champion. They pushed Flair as a 16-time champion and that's a very conservative estimate. Rock did a rock bottom but couldn't follow up. Vince came out and distracted the ref missing the pinfall. Rock punched Vince and hit a spinebuster on Jericho. He set up the people's elbow again, but before delivering it, threw Vince in the ring. He hit the elbow, but again no ref. In the confusion, Jericho hit a low blow and pinned Rock with his own rock bottom finisher. ****

9. Jericho won the WWF title from Austin to combine both belts in 12:33. Angle immediately hit Austin with a chair shot and Rock gave Jericho a rock bottom just before the bell rang to start the match. Ref bump by Hebner. Jericho did a low blow and a mistimed stunner as Austin went down late. Vince came out with Nick Patrick, but before he could make a count, Flair came out and decked Patrick. Vince punched Flair and posted him, taking him out. Austin used a low blow and a boston crab. Jericho was tapping like crazy, but no ref. Booker T ran out of the crowd and hit Austin with one of the belts while Vince threw Hebner in the ring to make the count. Finish live was flat. ***¼”

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWE Championship: Vengeance 2001 - Austin vs Jericho finish

The ultimate irony is that Vince kept shitting on Jericho...telling him he was the shits and here we are...the first time the WCW & WWF titles are unified...and it’s Vince McMahon holding the belt up with Jericho on the ramp.

Lot to unpack here Jim. What did you think of putting these two matches back to back up against each other? How did Chris look? What did you think of having Vince and Booker help Jericho go over Austin? Was it flat to have two heels decide the championship?

You said from day one that Jericho would some day be the man. Was this his crowning or was it just for the time and place his turn?

Was he the top guy in the company?

From Jericho’s book: “The body of the match was hard-hitting and solid, but the finish was a train wreck. It made about as much sense as an episode of Lost and boasted almost as large a cast. Ric Flair, Vince McMahon, and Booker T joined Rock and Angle in running in, each one making my win look more like a fluke, which was the last thing I needed. I needed all the booking help I could get to be a credible champion since my name value and status was far below the other three guys’. Instead I beat The Rock using his own finish after interference and then beat Austin by hitting him with the title after Jon and Kate Plus 8 ran in to assist me. But the fans were nonchalant and didn’t buy it even as Vince raised my hand and a blizzard of confetti and streamers drifted down around us. It was the biggest moment of my career and the San Diego crowd was as silent as a fart in church—or however that saying goes.”

Looking back it’s a monumental moment and he brings it up a lot even now in AEW. Was this the beginning of the legend of Jericho in your mind?

Jericho closes 2001 in the Rock’s home town of Miami by defending his title in a 3-way against The Rock & Kurt Angle and he gets the win… after Angle DDTed Rock on a chair. Was this the future of Jericho’s title run?