A Lion's Tale_ Around the World in Spandex - Chris Jericho [119]
It had the flavor of salty paint thinner and was pretty much the worst thing I’d ever tasted in my life. But it did its job quickly and I was buzzed by the time I walked through the curtain of the sold-out Sumo Hall toward the ring. I anchored myself to the turnbuckle post across from Benoit and the arena started to spin. Chris was laughing his ass off across from me.
After Liger won, we got into the ring for the final ceremony. I had a befuddled grin on my face; half from appreciating the experience, half from appreciating the GHB. The next week I finally made the cover of Gong Magazine with my hair askew and sporting a drug-induced Cheshire Cat grin. Another goal accomplished!
The celebration continued in the dressing room. It was a Japanese tradition for all the members to hold a beer into the air and yell “Kanpai!” After repeating the gesture a dozen times for all the photographers, I was starting to feel sick so I sat in the corner. I bent over to put my head between my legs and watched as the sweat dripped off my head onto the floor.
Drip, drip, drip.
A pool of sweat gathered and I opened my mouth to puke all over the floor of the sacred arena. With my stomach settling, I took a lurching breath and threw up a second time. I felt a little better, so I lifted my head and stared right into the face of Benoit. He was laughing uncontrollably (come to think of it, Chris always seemed to find it hilarious to watch me throw up) while standing next to a New Japan official he’d brought over to show off my vomiting skills.
“Look at this, Kawana,” Benoit said, pointing at me with tears streaming down his face. “This guy’s got no class.”
I was sure that any chance I had of ever working for New Japan had just been barfed out the window.
CHAPTER 39
KENNY AND DOLLY
I flew back to Calgary the next day with the four-foot-tall Gong trophy stuffed into the overhead bin. A few days later, Chris called to tell me he was coming to Calgary to wrestle a show in honor of Stu Hart’s eightieth birthday. I hadn’t been invited to work the show, as I was strangely never booked on any of the Hart Brothers’ sporadic local events.
I picked Chris up in a car that had no heater in the minus-thirty-degree weather and offered him lodging on the floor of my apartment. I was a hell of a host. So the mighty Chris Benoit spent the night shivering on my carpet, covered by an afghan that my grandma had knit for me.
We went to the show and I met Bret Hart for the first time. He was as friendly to me as his brother Owen was on the plane to LAX and it was nice to know that at least two of the Hart brothers knew who I was. Bret asked me where I had worked and when I mentioned Mexico, a light flashed in his eye.
“I’m looking for a fancy pin to use as a finish on a PPV in a few days and I can’t think of anything original. I know in Mexico they do a lot of interesting roll-ups. You have any ideas?”
Bret was facing Davey Boy Smith at the In Your House PPV a few days later. He didn’t want to beat Davey with his finish, as that was too decisive an ending and they were in the middle of their angle. The WWF world champion was looking for a cool pinning move and he’d asked lil old Lion Heart for ideas!
Immediately I thought of Negro Casas’s finishing move, the Magistral. Negro would hook his opponent’s arm, roll over his back, and trap him in a pin. I told Bret I might have one for him and asked the 1-2-3 Kid if he would play guinea pig. Bret watched in silence as I did it a few times on the dressing room floor and finally nodded in agreement.
I gave a little cheer a few days later when I watched the PPV and saw Bret actually use my (Negro’s) move. I’d still never been contacted by anyone to