10 INSANE WWE International Incidents

6. Chris Jericho Loves The Heat

Can I Borrow A Feeling
NJPW1972.com

Chris Jericho is a natural heel.

He’ll play babyface when instructed to do so, and with his natural comedic mind, he’ll perform the role with aplomb—but he’s a natural heel. He once told Power Slam magazine of his ideal retirement scenario. Jericho wants to leave wrestling with little fanfare, as a bad guy, with fans just happy to see the back of him. “Man, he was a jerk,” is the quoted legacy Jericho wishes to leave behind.

He accomplished this, while active, to the Brazilian quarter of the WWE Universe.

At a 2012 house show, Jericho raised the national flag, crumpled it, and kicked it away, drawing deafening jeers from the honourable sporting nation that gifted us Neymar’s Jim Cornette-level weasel work at the 2018 World Cup. Unaware that denigrating the flag is an illegal offence, Jericho was provided a police escort out of the arena and was—though this reeks of the “work”—spared further punishment after Vince “made some calls”. Then again, Vince’s expertise has saved other snookered superstars from far more drastic scenarios.

Under orders, Jericho apologised for the incident—but stuck to his badass heel guns in the aftermath by no-selling the fine Vince levied him with.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!