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

6. Mickey Rourke Legitimately Didn't Like Him Until Jericho Explained Things

Jericho was scheduled to face actor Mickey Rourke at WrestleMania 25 in 2009. At the time, Rourke was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for his excellent portrayal of Randy "The Ram" in the film The Wrestler. However, Rourke let it slip that he was going to wrestle and then his management told him he couldn't do it. They wanted to disassociate from WWE because they felt it would hurt his Oscar chances. After he didn't win the Oscar (Jericho felt he deserved it, as did I), Rourke still agreed to be a part of WrestleMania. In the build up to Rourke's appearance, Jericho did an interview with him on the Larry King Live show on CNN. What was interesting about the appearance is that Jericho was completely in character for the whole thing. Apparently Rourke thought that's how Jericho really was and when he showed up to WrestleMania 25 to go over things with Jericho, he legitimately didn't like him. Jericho told the story that Rourke was waiting for him in the ring on the Saturday night before WrestleMania with three bodyguards with him. Jericho had to explain that he was just acting on the Larry King show. He just did it to sell the storyline. Rourke wasn't in on the plan, so he was apprehensive about trusting Jericho. After it was explained, Rourke was cool and offered to help Jericho in Hollywood although Jericho notes they didn't have much contact after that. http://youtu.be/xsjXxpNxG3A After they sorted things out, Jericho informed Vince McMahon what happened. Vince laughed it off saying those three bodyguards weren't tough at all and he referred to one of them as a "midget" too. That guy was legendary MMA fighter Frank Shamrock. Vince had no idea. At WrestleMania 25, Jericho beat Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper and Ricky Steamboat to humiliate the legends. When it was over, Rourke went into the ring to knock out Jericho with a punch. Jericho noted that Rourke only grazed the back of his head with the punch. The video proves that is true.