In this follow up set to the well received 'Breaking the Code' DVD, we
ride along with Y2J in a limo as he travels from New York City to
Pennsylvania for a Fozzy concert. Chris talks a little about his life,
how he sees his career at this stage and responds to criticisms about
him splitting his professional life between wrestling and music. Then,
with little pre-amble, it's on to the matches, Jericho noting that he
hasn't gone back to watch any of the matches and that his recollections
are from memory alone.
Pitbull #2 (c) vs Chris Jericho - ECW World TV Title - ECW, Hardcore Heaven, Piladelphia, PA, 1996/06/22
The first match on the set sees a 26 year old Chris Jericho in the
biggest match of his career to date, competing for the ECW World TV
Title against the late Pitbull #2. Chris states that he doesn't really
consider himself an ECW original, as he was there for just a little over
six months, but Paul Heyman saw great potential in young Y2J and gave
him a real opportunity that, for Jericho, definitely paid off. Pitbull's
strength advantage comes into play early on, Chris trying to use his
speed to combat the bigger man, only to get slammed hard to the mat as
Pitbull catches him out of mid-air. The trend continues, with Jericho
being forced decidedly into the underdog role. The crowd rally behind
him and he eventually turns the tide with a near-fall from a victory
roll, before unleashing some of his high-flying offence, including a
spectacular inside-out Asai moonsault. Pitbull's in his element on the
floor, however, and clatters Jericho about the head with a chair shot.
Pitbull's in complete control and looks to have the match won, but Shane
Douglas interferes and he and Pitbull brawl on the floor. He deals with
Douglas and returns to the ring, setting Jericho up top. The Champion
goes for a super powerbomb, but Jericho reverses it into a hurricanrana
and pins Pitbull #2 to become the ECW World TV Champion! This was a fun
match, some sloppiness, a few near-falls too many and Shane Douglas
interference aside. Pitbull #2 and Jericho worked well together,
covering nicely when things didn't go quite as planned.
Chris Jericho (c) vs Ultimo Dragon - WCW Cruiserweight Title - WCW, Bash at the Beach, Daytona Beach, FL, 1997/07/13
Ultimo Dragon and Chris Jericho first met in Mexico in the early 90's,
teaming together in CMLL before starting their rivalry in Japan for
Genichiro Tenryu's WAR promotion. Chris notes that WAR were influential
for putting Jr. Heavyweight matches in the main event, which few of the
Japanese promotions did at the time. In total Jericho & Dragon had
16 singles matches from Mexico, to Japan, to the USA and he says it was a
match against Ultimo Dragon that got him signed to WCW. This is their
second encounter in WCW, Ultimo having pinned Jericho on an episode of
Nitro the previous month, but now they face off fo the WCW Cruiserweight
Title on PPV. As with all of their matches, this is a very smooth,
fast-paced and polished affair, neither man missing a beat as they try
and one-up each other in athleticism and skill. Jericho noted on the
pre-match interview that the crowds in the US weren't entirely
accustomed to the Jr. Heavyweight style and it shows as they don't quite
know how to react to moves and sequences that were staples of lucha
libre and the Japanese Super Jr. style in the mid-90's. The crowd are
drawn more into it as the pace picks up in the final, Dragon hitting his
trademark Asai Moonsault to a big pop. The finish comes as Ultimo
counters a powerbomb into a hurricanrana, but Jericho rolls through and
pins Dragon to retain the title.
Chris Jericho (c) vs Dean Malenko - WCW Crusierweight Title - WCW, Uncensored, Mobile, AL, 1998/03/15
Jericho sings Malenko's praises as not only one of his best opponents,
but as one of the best wrestlers of all-time, before going on to talk
about how important this feud was for his career. Until he turned heel
he'd been largely faceless in WCW, an undercard guy who didn't get to
cut promos, but when Malenko had to take time off Jericho had to carry
the feud on his own which allowed him to show his charisma on the mic
and began a new chapter of his career. The match begins at a fairly slow
pace, Jericho trying to go toe-to-toe with Malenko only to be outwitted
by the technical wizardry of Dean Malenko. Jericho eventually manages
to turn things in his favour when he hits a Lou Thesz press, following
up with a brainbuster for a near-fall. Jericho hits the Lionsault, but
Dean manages to get his foot up on the ropes, enraging the champion.
Jericho keeps good control of his opponent, continuing to use his pace
and agility to keep Malenko off balance. He can't quite put him away,
however, and as Jericho goes for a top-rope hurricanrana, Dean reverses
it and hits a huge gutbuster off the top! He takes too long to follow up
and Jericho kicks out at two. Dean hits the ropes and tries for a leg
lariat, but Jericho grabs a hold of his ankle and sits smartly down into
the Liontamer, forcing Malenko to tap! This was a pretty good match
that told an effective story, as the brash Jericho surprised a much more
seasoned opponent who, perhaps, took him a little too lightly.
Chris Jericho vs X-Pac - Steel Cage Match - WWF, No Mercy, Albany, NY, 2000/10/22
Jericho talks about how difficult he found the transition from working
in WCW to the WWF and having to learn the 'WWE style'. He recalls how
Vince personally assigned X-Pac to look after him, so Chris would have
to run all his matches through X-Pac, which he struggled with at first
but says it ultimately helped him a great deal. The match begins with
Jericho running down X-Pac on the mic, calling him out to come face him
in the Y2Jail and end their feud once and for all. Jericho attacks X-Pac
as he gets into the cage, but X-Pac slams the steel door into his head
and takes control. X-Pac wears Jericho down before attempting to climb
the cage, but Chris springboards off the middle-rope and kicks out
X-Pac's legs. He hits a nice northern lights suplex and slams Pac
face-first into the cage. The odds swing back and forth in both men's
favour, as they repeatedly try and escape, only to be cut off again and
again. The big turning point comes as X-Pac hits the Bronco Buster. He
climbs up the turnbuckles, but Y2J rises to his feet and powerbombs him
off the top-rope! Jericho climbs up the cage and X-Pac follows, only to
get caught in the Walls of Jericho on-top of the cage. X-Pac manages to
squirm his way free and Jerico crashes hard to the mat. All X-Pac has to
do is climb down and, as he uses the cage door for a foothold, Jericho
dropkicks the cage wall and X-Pac is crotched on the door! Jericho
rushes to the open door and escapes to win the match. This was a fun
cage match and felt like a solid end to a feud. Both men took a ton of
punishment, especially Jericho who was the recipient of a nasty chair
shot and took the big fall of the cage. The finish was pretty clever,
certainly memorable.
Chris Jericho vs Kane - Last Man Standing - WWF, Armageddon, 2000/12/10
Chris intros the match by saying how underrated a wrestler he thinks
Kane is and that, for most of his career, he'd worked with opponents
more in-line with his own size, so wrestling a monster like Kane was a
challenge for him. He also talks about how the typically Attitude Era
finish stands out in his mind as something that had never been done and
likely won't be done ever again. The match starts on the entranceway and
they immediately brawl backstage, going through the motions as they
slam each other into boxes and walls, etc. After a minute or so they
return through the curtain and brawl their way around ringside. Jericho
leaps off the ring apron, but Kane catches him and rams him back-first
into the ring post, before hitting a huge powerslam on the floor. Kane
takes complete control of the match, trying to wear Jericho down for the
ten count, but Y2J refuses to stay down even after a huge chokeslam,
which only further enrages the Big Red Machine. Kane grabs a chair and
tries to Tombstone Jericho onto it, but Chris escapes and uses the chair
to tee off on Kane's head. As the referee nears the ten count, Kane
predictably sits bolt upright. They brawl back up the entranceway, Kane
then attempting to chokeslam Jericho through a table. Y2J reverses it
and hits a bulldog, but the table fails to break. They try for it a
second time and this time the table sort-of breaks, but Kane's still
getting up. Jericho heads to the stacked barrels that are part of the
set and pushes them over, trapping Kane beneath for the win. This was
pretty fun, but the finish was as ridiculous as the opening backstage
brawl was unnecessary. I'm not a huge fan of the stipulation, although
this was probably one the better Last Man Standing matches I've seen.
Steve Austin (c) vs Chris Jericho - WWF World Heavyweight Title - WWF, RAW, Minneapolis, MN, 2001/06/04
Out of everyone he's wrestled in his career, Y2J says that Steve Austin
is the most unique. He likens wrestling Austin to grabbing a dragon's
tail, you don't know in which direction it's going to take you, so you
just hold on for dear life. Jericho also says he remembers nothing about
this bout, but included it for the quality of his opponent and the fact
that Mick Foley was the special guest ring enforcer. The match begins
quickly, with Austin forcing Jericho into the corner and stomping a
mudhole in his chest. Austin dominates the early going, but after a big
dropkick Jericho explodes and fully takes the fight to Stone Cold.
Austin goes for the Lou Thesz press, but Chris counters it into the
Walls of Jericho! Austin struggles to the ropes and the match spills to
the floor, where Stone Cold is more in his element. Austin tries to
throw Jericho into the ring post, but he scrambles free and sends Austin
crashing knee-first into the ring steps. Jericho gets the match back in
the ring and goes for the Lionsault, but Austin gets his knees up at
the last second. He low blows Chris when the referee isn't looking, but
as Foley distracts Austin, Jericho returns the favour and rolls him up
for a two count. Jericho hits some of his big offence, a springboard
missile dropkick, followed by a top-rope hurricanrana. Referee Earl
Hebner gets taken out, so Foley has to take over as Y2J locks in the
Walls of Jericho. However, commissioner William Regal runs down to
ringside and assaults Foley. Jericho makes the save, but as Foley swings
a chair in Regal's direction, the commissioner ducks and Foley hits
Jericho! Austin gets him back in the ring, hits the Stunner and wins the
match. This was a fun TV match, Austin gave Jericho a lot of offence
during his comeback and Jericho kicked out of some big moves. The
interference wasn't entirely welcome and Foley's presence didn't seem to
serve much purpose, but this was an enjoyable match nonetheless.
Chris Jericho (c) vs Kurt Angle - WCW Championship - WWF, Rebellion, Manchester Arena, UK, 2001/11/03
Jericho talks about the insane travel schedules WWE superstars have to
face when travelling overseas, which were compounded in the era of
European-only PPVs like Rebellion which took place in the UK. Jericho
doesn't recall much about the match with Angle, other than the two were
exhausted and jet lagged, but it doesn't show as they start the match at
a fast pace. Jericho has the experience advantage over Kurt Angle but,
as Chris said in his intro, Kurt was such a talented amateur wrestler
and picked up professional wrestling very quickly. Y2J takes control of
the match and tries to show Kurt his technical ability with a series of
suplexes, only for the Olympic gold medallist to explode with a
beautiful high-angle German suplex. The match sprawls out to the floor,
both men trading chops and forearms until Jericho throws Angle
shoulder-first into the steps. Back in the ring Jericho punishes Angle's
injured shoulder. Kurt hooks in the ankle lock out of nowhere, but
Jericho's quick to roll over and kick his way free. They're putting in
some great work here and the crowd go nuts as Angle attempts a Walls of
Jericho, unsurprisingly Chris is having none of that and smartly
counters out, but the tide turns in Angle's favour when Jericho comes
off the top and gets caught in a belly-to-belly. Angle goes to work,
methodically picking Jericho apart with suplexes and holds, leading to
the inevitable comeback as Y2J manages to apply to Ankle Lock on Angle!
Kurt struggles to the ropes and really puts over the effect of his own
hold for the rest of the match, looking set to win with the Angle Slam,
only for Jericho to float out of it and roll-up Kurt for the three count
out of nowhere. This was a great match, solid work from both guys, but
especially Kurt who was just fantastic all around. Post-match, an
enraged Angle hits the Angle Slam twice and leaves to a chorus of boos.
Chris Jericho (c) vs The Rock - WWF Undisputed Championship - WWF, Royal Rumble, Atlanta, GA, 2002/01/20
Chris talks about the great chemistry he had with The Rock and
attributes it to how well they clicked in the ring and on the mic,
believing himself to be Rocky's perfect opponent. As such, he says he
easily recalls all his matches with The Rock and this one was especially
memorable for him because it cemented his status as the Undisputed WWF
Champion. The Champ arrogantly squares up to Rock to start things off,
but Rocky explodes with a huge flurry of offence. Rock won't let up and,
although he tries multiple comebacks, nothing works until he manages to
hot shot Rock on the ropes. Y2J gets down to business, punishing Rock
with chops and scoring a near-fall with a spinning heel kick. Chris
floors Rock with a missile dropkick and then slows the pace down, trying
to choke his opponent out. Jericho heads up top, but Rocky cuts him off
and hits a huge superplex. A big overhead belly-to-belly gets a
near-fall, but Jericho's not out of it yet and the match goes back and
forth. When it looks like The Rock has the upper-hand, Christian &
Storm briefly interfere on Jericho's behalf, but Rock fends them off and
brawls with Y2J on the floor. They climb up on an announce table and
Jericho gets hit with a Rock Bottom through the table! Rocky rolls
Jericho back in the ring, but gets caught by surprise as Chris trips him
up and applies the Walls of Jericho. Rock refuses to tap and Chris has
to use every trick in the book to finally get the victory after a ref
bump, title shot to the head, exposed turnbuckle and roll-up pin with
Jericho's feet on the ropes. The finish was pure Attitude Era-style and
felt a bit over the top, but the match overall was really enjoyable. The
crowd were well into the action from start to finish and this was a
great win in Jericho's career.
Chris Jericho vs Triple H - WWF Undisputed Championship #1 Contender's Match - WWF Smackdown, Peoria, IL, 2002/04/25
This match was for the chance to face Hulk Hogan for the WWF Undisputed
Championship and Jericho says it's especially memorable for him, because
it was the only match where he defeated Triple H cleanly on television.
He talks about the animosity between himself and Hunter early in his
WWE career and says that definitely added some intensity to their
matches, as each man had something to prove to the other. Jericho starts
with some mind games, bailing out of the ring as the bell sounds. He
eventually gets back in and tries to go toe to toe with Triple H, but
finds The Game too much to handle as he takes full control of the match.
Triple H sends Jericho shoulder-first into the ringpost and continues
to work over the arm, but Y2J's agility comes into play as he ducks a
clothesline and floors Triple H with a flying forearm. Jericho takes
full advantage and busts Hunter open with punches, before hitting a
facebuster for a near-fall. The Game catches him with a spinebuster and
the momentum shifts back and forth. Hunter goes for the Pedigree, but
Jericho backslides out of it for a two-count. He tries to quickly follow
up with a Lionsault, but Triple H rolls out of the way and tries to
hook in the Pedigree again, only this time Jericho trips him out of it
and locks in the Walls. Triple H struggles to get to the ropes and a
frustrated Jericho heads out of the ring to get some chairs, but he
swings and misses and Triple H grabs the Pedigree for a third time,
however Undertaker comes down to ringside. Taking advantage of the
distraction, Jericho rolls up Triple H for the three count. This match
was pretty good, Triple H looked really solid on offence, but this isn't
their best encounter.
Chris Jericho vs Jeff Hardy - WWE RAW, Los Angeles, CA, 2003/02/10
Jericho talks about how much he enjoyed working with Jeff because he had
so much charisma that the crowd would react for everything. He puts
over Jeff as an underrated performer and says he worked so well with him
because, with his own high-flying experience, he could provide a great
base for Jeff's own high-flying. The match starts off with a nice
wristlock exchange on the mat, before Jericho tries to liven things up
with a slap to the face. Hardy responds with his quickness and agility,
flooring Jericho with a headscissors for an early one count. Y2J plays
the role of the crafty veteran as he surprises Jeff by throwing him over
the ropes and to the floor, but takes far too long taunting the crowd
and, as he goes for the springboard inside-out dropkick, Hardy ducks and
Jericho goes crashing to the outside. A picture perfect Asai moonsault
from Hardy brings the crowd to their feet. Jeff follows up by throwing
Chris into the ring steps, before rolling him back inside. It's all
Hardy here, as he heads up top for the swanton, but Jericho grabs the
ref and sends him into the ropes, unbalancing Hardy. Jericho climbs up
top with him and hits a huge double-arm suplex off the top! Somehow
Hardy kicks out at two and Jericho goes to work on his back, softening
him up for the Walls. However, when he does go for the submission Hardy
reaches up and pulls him into a small package for a near-fall. Jericho
eventually locks it in and Hardy struggles to the ropes. Chris goes up
top to follow up, but Jeff cuts him off and throws him to the mat,
before hitting the swanton bomb. At the last second, Jericho gets his
foot on the ropes to break the count. Hardy tries for a hurricanana, but
Jericho blocks it, locks in the Walls and Jeff's forced to tap.
Enjoyable TV match, Hardy's always fun to watch and had a good opponent
in Jericho.
Chris Jericho vs Edge - WWE RAW, Raleigh, NC, 2005/03/07
Injuries beset much of Edge's career and Jericho says it stopped them
from working together on a number of occasions, but in their few matches
he always enjoyed working with Edge and, if they'd worked together
more, would possibly have considered him amongst his best opponents. The
match gets off to a tentative start, Jericho taking control of Edge's
left arm and doing some solid work as he tries to damage the limb early
on. After a while Edge has enough and frees himself with a rake to the
eyes, but get caught by the inside-out springboard dropkick and a big
crossbody. Jericho continues to punish the arm and Edge looks to be in a
ton of pain, but he picks his moment well and catches Jericho on the
top-rope, hitting a big superplex. Edge takes control and manages to
weather Y2J's inevitable comeback, avoiding the Lionsault and flooring
Jericho with a big boot. Jericho trips him up and tries to lock in the
Walls, but Edge kicks him into the corner, also taking out the referee.
Edge goes for the spear, but Jericho avoids it and Edge goes crashing to
the floor. He returns to the ring with a ladder, but Jericho
drop-toeholds him and hits a Lionsault. The ref's still down, however,
and Edge low-blows Jericho with the ladder before hitting an implant DDT
just as the ref revives to earn the three-count. This wasn't bad, but
it wasn't exactly thrilling either. An acceptable TV match, with some
nice work by Jericho on Edge's injured arm.
Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels - Last Man Standing - WWE RAW, Manchester, UK, 2008/11/10
What Chris remembers most about this match is the usage of the
British-themed props, specifically the London black cab that he and HBK
fight on top of. He also says that Shawn is one of his go-to opponents
when asked about his favourites from his career. Shawn teases the Sweet
Chin Music early on, but instead just pounds on Jerico with closed
fists. Jericho reverses a whip into the ropes, but Shawn rolls off the
turnbuckles and floors him with a clothesline. Michaels goes up top for
the elbow, but Jericho gets his knees up to turn things in his favour.
Chris goes for the inside-out springboard dropkick, but HBK has him
scouted and ducks out of the way. Big reverse springboard plancha from
Shawn and both men are down. Jericho ducks another Sweet Chin Music
attempt and floors Michaels with a bulldog on the entranceway. They
brawl up onto the stage and Michaels reverses a Walls of Jericho attempt
by slingshotting Y2J into a postbox. Shawn gets Jericho up on the roof
of the black cab and goes for a powerbomb, but Jericho counters and
locks in the Walls before throwing HBK to the floor, but HBK makes it to
his feet at the very last moment of the 10 count. Jericho charges, but
gets sent flying off the stage and then HBK uses a one of the camera
cranes and clatters Chris about the head with it. Jericho's back up at
the count of eight, so HBK takes the match back to ringside and grabs a
ladder, but Jericho dropkicks it into him. Both men continue to use the
ladder as a weapon, before ending up on the commentary table. HBK sets
up the ladder and elbow drops Jericho through the table! Chris barely
makes it up and then HBK finally hits the Sweet Chin Music, but JBL
appears from the crowd and smashes Michaels over the head with it.
Jericho gets to his feet at the count of eight, but HBK can't reach the
ten count and loses the match. I'm not a huge fan of Last Man Standing
matches, this one went all around the arena and felt a bit spotty
because of it, while the finish was a bit flat but helped continue
Michaels' feud with Bradshaw.
John Cena (c) vs Chris Jericho - WWE World Heavyweight
Championship Street Fight (Dark Match) - WWE RAW, Manchester, NH,
2008/12/29
Jericho explains what dark matches are and why he thinks it's important
to give the fans their money's worth, to that end he says he always
enjoyed working with John Cena, because he believes they have a similar
ethos and that John's one of the hardest working guys he knows. Jericho
starts the match by running down Cena on the mic and says he's going to
end 2008 as the WWE Champion. Cena tries to hit Jericho with the belt,
but the ref takes it off him and as he's arguing with the ref, Jericho
clocks him with the microphone. Jericho immediately takes the fight to
the floor, slamming Cena into the ringsteps and the announce table,
before heading over to the crowd and slapping Cena's father in the face!
Cena fights back and rams Jericho into the side of the ring, before
rolling him inside and going for the AA, only for Jericho to counter it
into a DDT. Jericho goes for the Walls, but he can't turn Cena over, so
instead he slingshots him into the turnbuckles and gets a two-count.
With a little difficulty Jericho gets the ring steps over the ropes and
bulldogs Cena face-first for another near-fall. Y2J grabs a chair and
swings for Cena, but John ducks and hoists Jericho up onto his shoulders
before hitting the AA for the three count. This was a compact match,
but it was pretty enjoyable nonetheless and the stuff with Cena's dad
was fun.
Chris Jericho (c) vs Rey Mysterio - WWE Intercontinental Title vs Mask Match - WWE, The Bash, Sacramento, CA, 2009/06/28
Jericho sings Mysterio's praises, calling him the best high-flyer
there's ever been and says he was thrilled to get an oppertunity to feud
with him, as while their paths had crossed previously they never had
the chance to work an extended program together. Mysterio uses his
quickness to keep Jericho off balance in the early going, but after
sending Jericho to the floor with a headscissors takedown he goes for a
baseball slide, only for Jericho to grab him by the legs and swing him
head-first into the barricade! Jericho takes it back into the ring and
controls Mysterio well, cutting him off before he can make a high-flying
comeback. A big tilt-a-whirl backbreaker earns Jericho a two-count.
Mysterio gets his chance at last as Jericho charges and goes flying
through the ropes. Mysterio heads up top and hits a seated senton on
Jericho, following up with a springboard crossbody for a two-count of
his own. Another headscissors from Mysterio sends Jericho head-first
into the turnbuckle and Mysterio follows up with a beautiful springboard
Arabian press moonsault. He can't put Jericho away, however, and when
letting fly with an Asai moonsault press, Jericho catches him and hits a
running powerslam. Y2J grabs Mysterio's legs and turns him over into
the Walls of Jericho, but Rey struggles valiantly to the ropes. Chris
goes up top but takes too much time and Mysterio cuts him off, only to
get powerbombed back to the mat. Jericho shoots Rey into the ropes and
goes for the Atlantida, only for Mysterio to counter into a DDT! Rey
tries for a reverse springboard crossbody, but gets caught out of
mid-air into a Codebreaker! Chris makes the cover and Rey somehow kicks
out at two. Jericho rips the mask off, but Mysterio had another
underneath. He trips Jericho onto the middle-rope and hits the 619 to
become new Intercontinental Champion. This was a lot of fun, maybe went a
few minutes too long, but I'm nitpicking a really enjoyable match.
Chris Jericho & Big Show vs HBK & Triple H vs John Cena
& The Undertaker - WWE RAW, Madison Square Garden, NYC, 2009/11/16
Jericho talks briefly about the legacy of Madison Square Garden and how
it's always exciting to perform there, before going on to say that Big
Show's his favourite tag team partner of all time and that he thought
the combination worked really well. Triple threat rules in this one, so
Cena starts in the ring with Jericho & HBK, but Jericho tags out to
the Big Show, HBK tags in Triple H and Cena tags in The Undertaker.
Triple H & Taker briefly ally to take out Big Show, but they're soon
at each oter's throats, The Game hitting a big spinebuster before
tagging in Michaels. Big Show interrupts and spears Taker, before
flooring HBK with a right hand and tagging in Jericho. Lionsault from
Jericho, but HBK gets the knees up only for Jericho to grab his legs and
turn him over into the Walls of Jericho! Taker breaks up the hold and
the match breaks down until Cena & Triple H are left face-to-face in
the middle of the ring. Big Show again interjects and hits a
double-chokeslam, then turns his sights on Undertaker. The two big men
brawl around ringside, Show throwing Taker hard into the barricade. HBK
superkicks Big Show, Jericho hits the Codebreaker on HBK, Undertaker
chokeslams Jericho, Triple H clotheslines Taker over the top-rope but
gets caught by Cena in an AA to win the match! Undertaker stops the
celebration, however, with a tombstone piledriver on Cena. Enjoyable
match that worked because of the names involved and the storyline
threads heading into the next PPV involving all six men. Good stuff.
CM Punk (c) vs Chris Jericho - WWE World Heavyweight Championship Street Fight - WWE, Extreme Rules, Chicago, IL, 2012/04/29
This was shortly after Jericho had debuted the second version of his
lite-brite jacket and he talks about how difficult it was to deal with
because of the LED's not working, which caused half of the jacket to be
unlit for this match. He mentions that because it was a street fight,
both guys were wearing street clothes and Jericho taped up his fists for
the match, as they wanted to convey that it was going to be a tough,
physical fight and the resulting match was indeed a hard-hitting affair.
The Chicago crowd are, unsurprisingly, very vocal in their support of
Punk as the match gets under way and Punk takes his frustrations out on
Jericho. Punk beats him from pillar to post, throwing some chairs into
the ring before unloading on Jericho's back with a kendo stick. Jericho
catches Punk with a dropkick and the momentum shifts in his favour. An
inside-out springboard dropkick sends Punk crashing to the floor.
Jericho slams his head onto the ring apron and throws him over the
barricade. Jericho claws at Punk's face while taunting his sister, only
to receive a slap about the face that gives Punk the opportunity he
needed. An enraged Punk slams Jericho through the top of the announce
table and goes for a piledriver, but Y2J reverses it into a back
bodydrop before smashing a monitor over Punk's back. Jericho gets the
match back in the ring and goes to work with a kendo stick. He continues
to punish Punk and then gets a can of beer, pouring it over Punk's
face. He takes too long to gloat, however, and Punk catches him with a
kendo stick to the gut. Punk goes up top, but Jericho cuts him off and
tries for a superplex. Punk knocks him back down to the mat and hits an
elbow drop for a near-fall. The match goes back-and-forth until Jericho
manages to lock in the Walls, but Punk refuses to tap. He grabs a fire
extinguisher from outside of the ring and fires it in Jericho's face to
free himself! He sets up Jericho on the announce table and elbow drops
him through it. Back in the ring he locks in the Anaconda Vice, but
Jericho gets hold of a kendo stick and beats Punk about the head with
it. He hoists Punk up for the GTS but takes too long. Punk slingshots
Jericho into the turnbuckle and hits the GTS for the win. This was
great, the crowd were insanely hot for everything both guys did. A real
enjoyable modern era street fight.
Chris Jericho vs Rob Van Dam - WWE RAW, Brooklyn, NY, 2013/07/15
It had been six years since Rob Van Dam had been on Monday Night RAW,
while Jericho was right at the end of his 2013 run for the WWE, so he
thought it was fitting they faced here and was excited to be in the ring
again with a guy he'd worked with so much in the past. The match was
originally slated to have two segments of the live show that night, but
plans changed and a minute before they went out they were told they had
to add on eight extra minutes! The match gets off to a fairly slow
start, both men unwilling to give up the advantage early on. Things
shift in Rob's favour after he catches Jericho with a roundhouse to the
face, following up with a monkey flip and a standing moonsault for a
two-count. It isn't long before Jericho's on top, however, as he floors
Rob coming off the ropes with a big clothesline and takes control.
Jericho slows the pace down as he methodically tries to wear RVD out,
but an errant boot from Van Dam catches Jericho and the momentum shifts
again. A beautiful heel kick almost wins things for Mr. Monday Night,
but Jericho kicks out at two and a half. Rob locks in a triangle choke,
but Jericho shows his strength as he powers out of it and powerbombs RVD
to the mat. Jericho goes to work and sets about picking apart Van Dam,
only to get caught with a moonsault off the ring apron that took him
entirely by surprise. A leaping kick off the top gets Rob a two-count
and he follows up nicely with Rolling Thunder, but it's still not enough
to put away Y2J. Jericho saves himself with a DDT out of nowhere and
stalks his prey as RVD struggles to his feet, but Rob rolls out of the
Walls attempt and hits another superkick. He tries for the split-legged
moonsault but Jericho rolls out of the way and hits a Lionsault for a
two-count of his own. Jericho puts RVD in the Walls, but Rob struggles
to the ropes, surprises Jericho with a heel kick and hits the Five Star
Frogsplash for the win! Exciting TV match, Rob's awesome to watch when
he's motivated and Jericho is the perfect foil for him.
Chris Jericho vs Bray Wyatt - Steel Cage Match - WWE RAW, Baltimore, MD, 2014/09/08
Now that he's in the latter stages of his career, Jericho doesn't feel
the need to come back to WWE unless they have something he can really
sink his teeth into and he thought he could do great work with a
character like Bray Wyatt. He talks about the planning behind their cage
match and how proud he is with how it turned out, citing it as one of
his favourite matches from his career. Bray's strength comes into play
early on as he floors Jericho with shoulder-tackles, but Jericho
unleashes a huge dropkick and takes over. Bray tries to escape through
the door, but Jericho cuts him off only for Bray to stall him with a
chop to the throat. Wyatt punishes Jericho, but is caught off guard when
he whips Chris into the corner and Y2J leaps up onto the turnbuckles
and begins to climb. Wyatt cuts him off, so Chris leaps off and hits a
double-axehandle. Wyatt reverses a whip and squashes Jericho into the
cage wall before destroying him with a clothesline, but the crafty
veteran Jericho trips him up and locks in the Walls. Jericho abandons
the hold and climbs the corner, but Wyatt follows him and they fight on
the top-rope. Wyatt hooks Jericho and hits a huge superplex, but can't
follow up with the pin. Bray goes up top and this time Jericho follows,
almost getting powerbombed for his trouble, only to reverse it into a
hurricanrana! Jericho climbs the cage but the Wyatt Family prevents his
escape, so with a shrug he leaps back inside, taking out Bray with a
crossbody! Although having tweaked his knee, Jericho struggles to the
cage door. Wyatt catches him and they brawl, before Wyatt falls out of
the cage door to win the match. This was a well worked cage match, they
went through the usual spots but everything in between was good enough
so it didn't feel like they were just doing a cage match by the numbers.
Chris Jericho vs Randy Orton - WWE, Night of Champions, Nashville, TN, 2014/09/21
For the last match on the DVD set, Jericho takes on Randy Orton. Jericho
says that when you've got two guys who the crowd are so familiar with,
that's when you can really have fun with a match, take your time and
work towards and against the fan's expectations. He also says that if
this turned out to be his last match ever, he'd be entirely satisfied
with that as he thought he and Randy had the best match that night and
the fans agreed, voting it their favourite on a WWE.com poll. Jericho,
having been injured by Orton two weeks earlier, tries to take the fight
to Orton early on, but the ever-physical Viper imposes his strength on
Jericho. He doesn't expect the dropkick that catches him flush in the
face, however, Jericho following up with a baseball slide before
brawling around ringside. He takes things back into the ring, but Randy
kicks the ropes as Chris climbs between them and hits a big clothesline.
He places Jericho up top and hits a superplex, but can only get a
two-count. Randy takes the battle to the floor and smashes Jericho into
the announce table, making sure JBL's cowboy hat was safe before doing
so. Big back suplex on the announce table from Randy. He rolls Jericho
back in and puts him in a chinlock, but Y2J works his way to his feet,
shoots Randy into the ropes and catches him with a leaping neckbreaker.
Jericho hits the ropes but gets caught with Randy's always-beautiful
powerslam. Randy takes too long posing for the crowd and Jericho
rallies, but Orton keeps cutting off his momentum. He goes for the RKO,
but Jericho slips out of it and hits a Lionsault for two. He locks in
the Walls and Randy struggles to make it to the ropes, so he instead
flips himself over and kicks his way free. Randy catches Jericho with a
kick to the gut and hits an elevated DDT, but can't follow up. Orton
tries for the RKO again, but Jericho catches him in the Codebreaker out
of nowhere! It only gets a two, however, Randy kicking out at the last
second. Jericho heads up top and waits for Orton to get to his feet, but
as Jericho leaps Orton catches him in the RKO for the win. This was a
really solid bout, probably the best encounter between the two.
Overall this set was something of a mixed bag. While none of the matches
were what I'd call bad, a good few felt a bit throwaway, but there's
enough quality here to make this a worthy purchase for Jerichoholics. I
would have liked to see a few more matches from the earlier stages of
Y2J's career, but overall this was a good selection. The format of the
DVD was pretty cool and makes a change from the usual sit-down
interview, but I would have liked to see them take the concept of
watching the matches with Jericho a bit further. Chris states himself
that, in many instances, he hasn't seen these matches in years and it
would have been nice to see not only his memories before the match, but
his thoughts after revisiting the matches included on the set.
The Road is Jericho: Epic Stories & Rare Matches from Y2J is available now on BluRay and DVD from WWE DVD UK;
http://www.wwedvd.co.uk/
Presented over three DVDs, Wrestlemania 31 includes the event
itself, split across two discs, along with the Wrestlemania KickOff Show,
featuring the Fatal 4-Way Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship and the Andre
the Giant Battle Royale, the Hall of Fame and interviews with John Cena and
Seth Rollins.
