That Time When Vince McMahon Wanted Chris Jericho To Be Spider-Man
He's a real-life superhero!
Another day, another moment of Vince McMahon madness, this time from the bowels of Chris Jericho's celebrated second autobiography "Undisputed: How to Become World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps".
Like a lot of wrestler tomes, many of the minor notes buried within the chapters age like fine wines. In Jericho's case, this one popped like the cork from a little bit of the bubbly.
Speaking on the end of his laboured 2002 post-WrestleMania programme with Triple H, 'Y2J' noted how they'd looked to try and reframe the narrative of the Hell In A Cell gimmick having been given the stipulation as their feud-ender at May's Judgment Day. Having decided that neither of them should leap from the structure as had been the case in almost every iteration up to that point, the pair instead agreed to end it on top instead. The only problem was how to get there.
Eventually, the duo settled for an idea that saw referee Tim White require an exit path after suffering an injury - one that they would then take themselves en route to the roof. All very logical, so predictably it was yards apart from the idea given to them by their boss.
As Jericho put it, "We came up with a unique finish where we would fight our way to the top and Triple H would hit me with a pedigree on the roof. We both liked the idea but couldn't figure out a way to get up to the roof. Vince had just seen the Spider-Man movie and suggested we shoot webs out of our wrists and swing up there."
Picture the scene, if you even can. Jericho emerging with his arms-out entrance, spraying Spidey detritus all over the audience. Triple H not spewing water but webs as the superpower consumes him in order to justify this unexpected magic trick right at the end of a blood feud.
It was deliciously Vince. In keeping with his strange takes on pop culture, and even stranger ones on Sports Entertainment - the very thing he created.Jericho succinctly concluded the story with some inadvertent words of wisdom for all talent.
"We asked Vince not to contribute any more ideas" feels like a sentence Triple H can't wait to say.