In his books, Chris Jericho has noted that he never really felt company officials had full confidence in him during his title run in 2001. At Vengeance in December that year, Y2J defeated both The Rock and Steve Austin in the same night to capture both the WWF Heavyweight and World Heavyweight Championships. This should have been a huge moment for the man, leading to better things. Instead, his subsequent title reign was badly botched. The question must be asked, what was the point in making Jericho the first ever 'Undisputed' Champion, only to book him so badly? There was a clear lack of foresight from the then-WWF, who clearly viewed Jericho as little more than a transitional champ. On the surface, there was nothing wrong with booking him to drop the titles to Triple H at WrestleMania X-8, but the way it was handled was terrible. During his 98 days as champion, Chris Jericho was rarely allowed to look strong. Worse yet, the man scantly headlined shows, not even episodes of Raw or Smackdown. This weakened him as titleholder, and the ongoing angle during which he came across as Stephanie McMahon's lackey didn't help. This all built to a lackluster main event of 'Mania, during which Triple H easily dispatched Jericho.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
