10 Things You Need To Know About Chris Jericho's New Book

1. He Became A Great Heel Because Of Fan Reactions

Jericho begins the book talking about his return to WWE in late 2007. That's where Undisputed left off. The WWE Champion Randy Orton was a cocky heel that was bragging about how great he was. After weeks of viral videos signifying a big return, Chris Jericho showed up on the November 19, 2007 edition of Raw. He had been gone from WWE for about two years. You would think that he would get a huge pop, but instead it was just okay. What's great about the book is Jericho admits that it wasn't that great. Sometimes you might read a guy talking about their career and lying about how awesome a certain moment was. Not Jericho. His reaction to the lukewarm pop was very honest. The brilliance of Jericho was proven here as he detailed all the reasons why he wasn't connecting with the crowd. He mentioned that he felt like the pop wasn't that great because people had forgotten about him, that the Attitude Era fan was replaced by kids that loved guys like John Cena and it was a different environment. He tried to do his catchphrases, but it just wasn't the same. Jericho was smart enough to know that the fans didn't want to cheer for the same old Y2J they were used to seeing. Because of that, after WrestleMania 24 in 2008 when he was a part of the Money in the Bank match, he made it a point to re-invent himself. He was inspired by the Anton Chigurh character in the awesome 2007 film No Country for Old Men and also former NWA World Champion Nick Bockwinkel. He turned into a suit wearing jerk that used big words to upset people. He didn't smile. He even wrote about how he was on an elevator with a kid and his dad. He didn't even acknowledge them while the dad swore at him for completely ignoring the kid. In Jericho's mind, he had to be the character and he was. It worked because he became the best wrestler in the world during that period from about 2008 to 2010. Jericho was a true heel. He didn't pander to the fans or sell merchandise. It worked perfectly. Those were just ten of the things we learned from "The Best In The World" by Chris Jericho. If you're a wrestling fan, it's a must own. You will absolutely love it, junior.