5 reasons why Chris Jericho is the real G.O.A.T. in pro wrestling
By Kyle Brown
4. The Man of 10004 Holds
When people are asked about the best talkers in wrestling, you will always hear names like The Rock, Ric Flair, and Dusty Rhodes.
Jericho tops them all.
You want proof? Look no further than the promo that set Jericho apart from the WCW pack in 1998.
Jericho was involved in a feud with “The Man of 1000 Holds” Dean Malenko over the Cruiserweight Championship, which Jericho had just won.
On the March 30 episode of Monday Nitro, Jericho began a promo prior to his match with Marty Jannetty. After briefly stopping to squash Jannetty, Jericho resumed his promo touting that he knew more wrestling holds than Malenko.
"“Since I took care of Mr. Jannetty so quickly, I came prepared. Malenko, you claim to be the ‘Man of 1000 Holds’ but I counted, and you know about 60. But I know 1004 and I wrote them all down.” -Chris Jericho"
Jericho would then unfurl a stack of dot-matrix printed paper all over the ring with the list of holds that he knew. The promo was interrupted by a commercial break, and when Nitro returned, Jericho was still in the ring reading the moves.
"“Hold one: armdrag. Hold two: armbar. Hold three: the Moss Covered Three Handled Family Gradunza.” -Chris Jericho"
He was finally interrupted by Prince Iukea, who ended the promo by running Jericho out of the ring.
This night gave us a glimpse at what he could do when given the microphone.
There would be no promo with The Rock to take down Stephanie McMahon without this beauty on WCW Monday Nitro.
3. Fozzy
Many wrestlers have dreams of being a cross-over star to other entertainment avenues like television or movies.
The Rock has been the standard-bearer for this jump, as he is currently one of the most famous men on the planet.
John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Kane have found varying degrees of success in their jump from the ring to the screen.
Some wrestlers try to break into the music industry, such as Randy Savage and Jeff Hardy, but very few have found success.
Chris Jericho has broken the mold.
Jericho’s band, Fozzy, began in 2000. When I first heard their single “Don’t You Wish You Were Me” I thought it was some angle or joke for WWE programming.
As the years have passed, Fozzy has become a force in the rock music world, and their following continues to grow. Jericho has been able to take his popularity inside the ring, and translate it to the stage.
I purchased tickets to a Fozzy show in the fall of 2018, but was a little skeptical about what I was going to get once I was there.
Jericho and his bandmates did not disappoint.
The same passion and energy Y2J displays in the ring was on display on the stage that night.
The thing that stuck out to me was that he never made mention of being “CHRIS JERICHO: Wrestling Star” during the show. Only at the end of their encore did he decide to drop a couple of one liners, including ‘You just made The List.’ It seemed like he was careful to keep his worlds separate, but recognizes that they blend somewhere in the crowd.
Fozzy’s latest album, ‘Judas’, was a hit with fans. The title track made it to #1 on the SIRIUS/XM Octane countdown, while Jericho has used the song as his entrance theme in New Japan and All Elite Wrestling.
Jericho could just look at the band as a nice side-project diversion, but he pours his heart and soul into the music, the same as he does in the ring. The end product reflects the dedication.