A Lion's Tale_ Around the World in Spandex - Chris Jericho [120]
The irony of the situation made me realize that, after all these years, I was finally ready to become a WWF superstar.
I stole the Magsitral back to win the tournament for the newly created WAR tag team championships with my partner, Gedo. Our first title defense was against the New Japan team of Liger and a young boy named Takaiwa, who they had big plans for. I’d never heard of him and when reporters asked me to comment on our opponents, I told them so. “Liger is a legend and I’ve been looking forward to beating his ass for years,” I said in true heel fashion. “But I’ve never even heard of this Takaiwa. He’s too green to even be in the ring with me.” I was just amusing myself, never expecting the quote to see the light of day.
But the reporters took my quote seriously and inadvertently created my first wrestling angle from it. My words were printed in all the magazines and started a minor controversy. Takaiwa got right to the point with his rebuttal. “I’m going to show him who I am.”
Liger had worked in the States many times and I’m sure he knew I was just talking shit to create more interest in the match. But I don’t think Takaiwa realized it.
By the time the match took place, I’d created my own angle by accident. The fans in Korakuen Hall had brought signs and anti–Lion Heart banners hung from the balcony. One of them featured a perfect drawing of me, colored green. Another said “Team No Respect, Know Takaiwa.” Clever.
I met Takaiwa for the first time in the dressing room before the match and while he was cordial, I could tell that he wasn’t my biggest fan. But he was a pro and when we got into the ring, the crowd was electric. We were in the main event in Korakuen in an interpromotional match for the titles and it was a big deal. Gedo and I played our heel characters to the max, much to the displeasure of the fans. We gave our opponents the finger, farted in their general direction, and played our title belts like guitars years before Hulk Hogan ever did. This over-the-top heel was the precursor to the Y2J character that I created years later.
When Takaiwa and I finally faced off, it was time for him to show me who he was. We locked up and when I told him to give me a big tackle, I sold it by bumping through the ropes onto the floor.
OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Gedo joined me outside the ring and we gave each other a big hug to a chorus of boos. Smoky Mountain Wrestling had arrived in Japan and business was good. The basic principles of wrestling remain the same no matter where in the world you are. People like to see good guys facing bad guys with something at stake. In this case it wasn’t just the titles at stake, but Takaiwa’s personal pride as well.
He got a measure of revenge when he hit me with his Death Valley Driver before he was finally pinned by Gedo. It was a great finish, because even though he lost the match, he showed me who he was and was raised to another level in the fans’ eyes in the process.
Mission accomplished.
A few months later I had what was at that point the defining match of my career, when I defended the WAR International Junior Heavyweight title against Dragón at the WAR 3rd Anniversary show in Ryogoku.
Dragón and I had worked together so many times that the fans were totally familiar with both of our repertoires. That meant we could play with their emotions by switching things up. This surprised the people and gave them something different from what they were used to seeing.
They would think, “Jericho’s going to do the Lionsault now,” and when I jumped over Dragón to do it, he tripped me and went for a Magistral. Then I countered that with another reversal of my own.
Earlier in the day I’d gone to a Denny’s (yes, they have Denny’s in Japan) and came up with a number of ideas and concepts that I thought would work for the match. Unbeknownst to me Dragón had done the same thing and when we got together to discuss the match we were loaded with ideas.
The match was a culmination