5 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (June 15)
1. Chris F*cking Jericho
...and, like the minds that remain in a state of astonishment at the brilliance that was Dominion, we circle back to New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Chris Jericho's new gimmick is just absolutely mint; its blunt brilliance requires a blunt take. It's both simple and clever, which makes it cleverer; Jericho's assault on New Japan Pro Wrestling is double-edged, without even approaching dreaded "edgy" territory. For the US fans he courts as part of New Japan's U.S. expansion, his brilliant use of the expletive - "f*ckface" is simply inspired - casts New Japan as the antithesis to the glossy, PG WWE. For the Japanese natives, his bloody brawls add an extra dimension to the product so rare to the environment that they resonate with the shocking heft of Steve Austin's visceral WWF work between 1997-98.
His actual assault, on Tetsuya Naito, was awesome. He smashed him through tables, bloodied his face, and with a genuine sense of realism just beat the p*ss out of him in the sort of heated, dramatic and understatedly athletic match a guy of Jericho's age and mileage has no right wrestling. Jericho debuted in the WWF following a month-long 'Countdown to the Millennium". Against all logic, the countdown to the final tick of his bump clock is still years away.
Some questioned Jericho's physique, but this added a further dimension to his act. The glorious gaijin b*stards of old all sported sprawling physiques to put themselves over as hulking bruisers. Jericho's old school act is already some way towards approaching their legend.
It's all smoke and mirrors, but guess what, f*ckface: that's all wrestling is.