20 WCW Easter Eggs, References And In-Jokes You Never Noticed
17. A Jabroni Named Juventud
Everyone remembers Chris Jericho's 1999 WWF debut. It was loud, bombastic and one of those defining moments that says everything about how the WWE handles wrestlers with superstar potential. Maybe the most entertaining part of Chris Jericho's promo though, is The Rock's retort, which for some inexplicable reason, involved luchador Juventud Guerrera. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRY4daAr7B0#t=408 Attempting to wrap his brain around why he should be concerned with the brash newcomer, The Rock takes the time to mention that he's not worried about Jericho because six months prior to Jericho's WWF debut, " down South beating some jabroni named Juventud?!" While likely not intentional, Rock bringing up lucha libre and cruiserweight wrestling as the two reasons why he wasn't worried about Jericho says a lot about the WWF's beliefs at that time about the value of light heavyweight and non-classic North American pro wrestling. Of course, 15 years later, Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio have been the WWE and World Heavyweight Champions, and when Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd are headlining a major NXT event, it says a lot, too.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
