Undisputed_ How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps - Chris Jericho [121]
With all of the possibilities of who I might be wrestling, I went to Kevin Dunn and asked if he could at least tip me off to who the top three finalists were, but he refused.
“Can you at least give me a clue?”
“Sorry, Chris. I can’t do that, it’s a secret.”
I understood that they wanted to surprise the fans, but did they need to surprise me too? It was my match, dammit!
Not knowing what else to do, I gathered all of the potential contenders in a room and asked each one of them what their finish was and what other moves they liked to do. It was impossible to try to put together a match with each of them, and I knew I’d have to call it all completely in the ring with whoever was the lucky winner. I was actually looking forward to it, as usually most of the matches were put together beforehand with the producers and directors knowing all of the big spots in order to catch them on camera. Common sense said that the guy with the most votes would be either Christian, Benjamin, or Batista. I also thought there was an outside chance that Coach might get voted in as a joke, and if he was, I told Vince that I would have to beat him in ten seconds.
I went to the ring with absolutely no idea who I’d be facing for the title. Then a drumroll played and the results of the vote were put up on the Tron. Shelton’s music played and the crowd got to their feet, excited that he had won the election. Shelton was really getting over at the time and his offense and leaping ability were among the best I’d ever seen.
Incidentally, I hadn’t been told the finish beforehand either, and after a few seconds referee Mike Chioda told me that Vince wanted Shelton to go over with his finish. That was fine with me, but I’d never worked with Shelton before and had no idea what his finish even was. I whispered, “Okay, but what’s his finish?”
Mike looked at me funny and I could tell he was getting more instructions over the IFB that was jammed in his ear. He finally looked up, his instructions complete, and mumbled, “Tawboww munchex.”
I couldn’t understand what the hell he said, and I asked him again. “Huh? What’s his finish?”
“Beeboo Crawtaints.”
“What is it?”
“Steve-O Rufinks.”
Chioda had a habit of mumbling instructions while in the ring so fans wouldn’t understand what he was saying, but now I couldn’t understand him either. At that point I had the most confused scowl on my face, and when I saw myself on the Tron, I wondered if Vince thought I had that look because I was pissed that I had to drop the title. In reality I was just trying to decipher Chioda’s mumbo-jumbo. When Shelton climbed into the ring, I told him he was winning the match with his finish. He had to suppress a smile as he heard what Vince wanted, and I hissed at him to stop grinning and tell me his finish already.
“T-bone suplex,” he whispered with an exultant look on his face.
The match began and I called the whole thing in the ring, which was a challenge, but it turned out to be one of my favorite performances ever. It was such a rush to be flying by the seat of my spandex live without a net, and I got into a zone. Finally I shot Shelton into the corner, and when he reversed me I jumped straight to the second turnbuckle and leaped back toward him.
I wasn’t sure what a T-Bone Suplex was, so I came off with my arms and legs extended like Patrick the starfish. I figured