Undisputed_ How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps - Chris Jericho [22]
As I was leaving the arena I ran into Vince. Surprisingly, he gave me a big hug and didn’t mention a word of what had happened earlier. “Give me a call tomorrow, kid, and we’ll talk,” he said before breaking out in his patented belly laugh.
I smiled back quizzically, even though I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly it was that he found so damn funny.
The next day, Jessica was able to move, but her back was still screwed up and she couldn’t get out of bed. I had to leave her to fend for herself, so I could drive to Tallahassee for Smackdown! I tried calling Vince a few times during the drive but he never answered. I was still bothered by what had happened and needed to vent, so I called Chris Benoit, who was still with WCW.
He listened to my story and I could tell by his voice that he was really angry. He felt somebody was out to get me for sure and called back a few hours later after asking Bret Hart for some advice on my behalf. Bret told him that I shouldn’t be too worried because a similar thing had happened to him when he first started. He explained that Vince was like a drill sergeant who liked to tear people down and build them back up in his own image. Well, he had done half of that so far. I just hoped he wouldn’t rebuild me with a bad pompadour and a loud suit.
That night I had a match on Smackdown! against The Big Bossman. As per my orders from the actual big bossman, I found X-Pac before the match and ran all of my ideas past him. He added a few ideas of his own and the match went well, enough so that Vince greeted me with a Laurel and Hardy handshake afterwards.
Thinking about it now, Vince had definitely taken a few Jericho molehills and blown them up into mountains in order to test me, to see how I’d react to his harsh words. But I survived his trial by fire by not flipping out, taking my verbal beatings like a man, and doing what he asked.
I was surfing the Web a few days later and was mortified (killer word) to see a post heralding how Vince McMahon had scolded Chris Jericho and said he wasn’t worth the paper his contract was printed on, was green as grass, the drizzling shits, et cetera. It basically gave a word-for-word description of my crucifixion. It was bad enough having to deal with Vince’s abuse without having to read about it online as well.
A few hours after the story went up online, I got a call from Russo.
“If the rumors I’m hearing are true, I want you to come back to WCW. You have an open door to work here whenever you want.”
It was nice to hear but not an option for me. I’d been running down a dream for nine years to work for the WWE, and even though it had been a rocky start, I was still the Intercontinental Champion. Plus I was under contract and couldn’t leave if I wanted to.
But even if I wasn’t legally obligated to stay, I still wouldn’t have left. As The Rock said, the cream always rises to the top, and I felt like I was Clapton, Baker, and Bruce rolled up into one. I knew I could make it in the WWE and do it in a way that Vince McMahon would appreciate.
Al Snow once told me that while we entertained millions of people weekly, there was only one person we had to impress and that was Vince himself. Even if the whole world loves you, if Vince doesn’t you’ll never truly make it in his company.
I had to change who I was as a performer, and I was ready for the challenge. After all, it wasn’t the first time I had to reinvent myself. I’d had my confidence shattered many times before in Japan, ECW, and WCW and gotten back up and succeeded every time. I was too driven and had come too far to give up now.
You can’t kill rock and roll and you can’t kill Chris Jericho either.
CHAPTER 6
Looking California and Feeling Minnesota
As bad as things were going, I was soon given a shocking reminder that the WWE was only a job and things could be a whole lot worse.
We were doing a TV taping