10 Things We Learned From Chris Jericho's Podcast On Chris Benoit's Death
8. Meltzer Indirectly Got Jericho Into WCW
It's well known that Chris Jericho got into ECW through recommendations from Benoit, Meltzer, and Perry Saturn, it but turns out that the Wrestling Observer's head honcho also played a role in Y2J signing with WCW in 1996, which even Jericho himself didn't know.
Working as 'Lionheart,' Jericho wrestled the second Super J-Cup while training at Genichiro Tenryu's dojo in Japan in 1995. Meltzer sent the tapes to Eric Bischoff via a third party, as WCW apparently wanted to run a similar tournament at the time. They wound up uninterested in replicating the format, but were extremely impressed by Jericho's second round match with Benoit, who, when asked, gave Lionheart a glowing personal recommendation to Bischoff.
WCW eventually signed Jericho away from ECW in summer 1996, and he made his debut against Alex Wright that August. The deal also allowed him to work for NJPW, where he spent a six-month excursion, before returning to America and becoming WCW Cruiserweight Champion.
Joining WCW eventually allowed Jericho to springboard into the WWF in 1999, and become the world renowned megastar he is today. Would this have eventually happened without Meltzer's influence? Almost certainly, but it's an interesting story regardless.