Undisputed_ How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps - Chris Jericho [75]
I stood over my fallen victim and then milked the boos from the fans as I marched up the ramp. When I walked through the curtain I heard Vince barking, “What’s wrong with him, how could he be so careless?” so I made a beeline toward him. The combination of the embarrassment I felt for what I’d done to The Rock and the anger from hearing Vince talking about me behind my back made me blow my stack.
“Come on, Vince! We were running out of time, what the fuck was I supposed to do?”
Everybody in Gorilla fell silent and I realized I’d just sworn at the boss in front of his employees.
Heavens to Murgatroyd! Time to exit stage left …
I hurried out of Gorilla and waited for Rock to come back from the ring. I apologized profusely when he came down the steps, and he was cordial, but I could tell he was pissed, and rightfully so. His arm ended up being okay, but I couldn’t sleep that night thinking about what Vince was going to do when I showed up at work the next day.
When I arrived at the arena, I went straight to his office.
“I apologize for lashing out at you, Vince. I’m really mad and embarrassed at myself for what I did. I shouldn’t have rushed and hurt Rock and I shouldn’t have yelled at you either. It was unprofessional and uncalled for.” I could feel that he wasn’t really buying my apology, and I was certain I would become the newest member of the Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass club, but luckily I escaped that fate.
Vince, if you’re reading this, don’t even think about it …
The main event of Survivor Series 2001 was the climax of the Invasion angle. Team Alliance, a combination of ECW and WCW consisting of Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, and Shane McMahon, faced Team WWE consisting of The Rock, Undertaker, Kane, Big Show, and Chris Jericho, with the winning team gaining control of the company. You could see how much Vince and the rest of the front office felt about the WCW/ECW roster, with 60 percent of the Alliance being made up of WWE Superstars.
In the end, Angle turned on Austin to help Rock and Team WWE win the match, and after thirteen years as a company WCW was finally vanquished forever.
With the Alliance dissolved, something had to be done about the two separate world titles, and Vince made the decision to combine them and crown the first ever Undisputed Champion in the history of the wrestling business.
A tournament was announced for the next PPV, entitled Armageddon, and the participants in the round-robin format were Austin, Rocky, Angle, and me. While I had no clue who the winner was going to be, I was just honored that Vince considered me elite enough to be in contention for the big prize.
Two weeks before the PPV, I had a match with Austin on a Raw from Milwaukee, with the finish being him pinning me clean with a Stunner. Before the match I asked Paul Heyman if it was a smart idea to have Austin beat me on national television with the tournament only a few weeks away.
He responded, “Trust me when I tell you this—just do it. Go out and have the best possible match you can.” Paul always gave me the straight scoop and I trusted his judgment, so I agreed and thought nothing more about it.
But I’d been in the business for over a decade and I could feel something was up. There was no reason to have Austin go over on me right before the PPV … unless … maybe … somehow … I was going to be wrestling him again in the tournament?
The way the brackets were set up, it was Rock and me in the first round, with the winner facing Austin or Kurt in the finals. If Austin and I were going to have a rematch, it would be in the finals for the Undisputed Championship.
But if that was the case, surely somebody would’ve clued me in by now, right? Wouldn’t they?
One week before the PPV, Austin came to me and said, “Congratulations, kid.”
“For what?” I responded quizzically.
“You and I are working in the finals of the tournament and you’re going over. Vince is going with