Professional wrestling Legend Jim Ross who is currently working as an announcer in the All Elite Wrestling promotion recently talked about Vince McMahon changing his mind about former WWE star Chris Jericho during his previous days in WWE.
Chris Jericho came to WWE in 1999. Before that he worked in the WCW and he was one of the biggest attractions of the famous cruiserweight division of WCW. He won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship for a total number of four times. He also won the WCW World Television Championship one time. But he was never been treated as anything bigger than a cruiserweight in WCW.
Jim Ross On How Vince McMahon Changed His Mind About Chris Jericho
As mentioned above, he came to WWE in 1999 and his debut is considered as one of the best debuts in the history of the WWE. His debut along with the debut of Kane is considered as the best debut in the world of professional wrestling by many fans. He directly made his debut against The Rock but with time passing by it did not look like the WWE had big plans for him.
But with time was passing by, WWE started to push Chris Jericho as a main event star. In only three years time, he main evented Wrestlemania. He faced Triple H where he defended the WWE Undisputed Championship against the Game. That was his only WrestleMania main event but he was constantly been treated as a management star as long as he stayed in WWE. He won a total of six World championships throughout his WWE career.
Jim Ross who is currently working as an announcer in the All Elite Wrestling promotion recently during a recent episode of Grilling JR talked about Vince McMahon changing his mind about former WWE star Chris Jericho during his previous days in WWE. He said;
“It took Vince a significant amount of time to develop trust in Jericho. As soon as Jericho started getting over and he proved time and time again he was a great worker, he had guys like Triple H and others who loosened their belt on that thing and unscrewed it a little bit because they knew this sumbitch is getting over whether I like it or not, and I need opponents to work with and think I can have some great matches with this guy.
“I think smarter heads prevailed in time…..again, it was hard to sell Vince on Chris. I think as much as anything, and I’ve had this conversation with Vince on more than one occasion – I really appreciate the opportunity to be in charge of talent relations and the opportunity to revamp our roster and to address issues in our locker room, but you’ve gotta let me do my job. If I fail, and I fail frequently enough, you’re gonna replace me. I get that and got no problem with that. But it was tough for both of us.”
Credit: Grilling JR. H/T 411Mania