Ranking Every Major Monday Night Wars Jump From WORST To BEST
3. Chris Jericho
A sensational moment, a monster pop, and an ultimate success, Chris Jericho’s debut WWF promo—whisper it, or you’ll get called a “c*nt”—was far from his best.
Jericho played it with too much emphasis on comedy and attempted to get one or five too many catchphrases over, all at once—but he held his own against the most over verbal genius in the company, with such confidence and personality, that many bemoaned the lack of a pay-per-view follow-up.
A genius collaboration of promotion, production, and performance, nonetheless, this promo displeased the wrong people. The Undertaker was deeply pissed off at being labelled boring, but then, he shouldn’t have cut one of the most aimless promos of all time the next week. Still, Jericho captured the imagination of his new people, which was precisely the point.
The jump itself brought into focus the disparity between the two companies. The WWF was unassailable, WCW unrecoverable.
Jericho represented the ideal intersection of workrate and showmanship; in 1999, he was the next big thing, and there was only one place for him.