HI, I'M CHRIS JERICHO

And other assorted encounters with pro wrestlers in the '90s

Chris Jericho figure depicting him in the early ‘90s.

HI, I’M CHRIS JERICHO

In the mid-1980s, you could go into a newsstand magazine store and at any given time find dozens of pro wrestling magazines that came out on a monthly basis with new issues. In this pre-internet and pre-streaming era, the way to learn more about the top promotions of the time like WWF, NWA and AWA, and the top wrestlers in each, was by reading the magazines.

Wrestling magazines also showcased many regional promotions and its stars that fans might not have access to on television based on where they lived.

There was the CWA (Continental Wrestling Association), based out of Tennessee, and often referred to just as Memphis wrestling. Jerry “The King” Lawler was heavily featured in magazines and the promotion’s top star.

Mid-South Wrestling, run by Bill Watts, was also featured heavily in magazines with stars like Ted DiBiase and Jim Duggan, both of whom would end up in WWF soon. In 1986, Mid-South Wrestling would re-brand to the UWF and attempt to become a national promotion in rival to the WWF, NWA, and AWA. That only lasted a year before they were bought by the NWA and absorbed into promotion. The UWF name and its title were quickly phased out.

By the early 1990s, the overall popularity of a few years earlier of pro wrestling seemed to be waning steadily in the U.S. Within a few years, the wrestling landscape in would be largely dominated by the WWF with WCW seen as its only, and somewhat distant, rival.  (NWA was rebranded to WCW when Jim Crockett sold the promotion to Ted Turner in 1988.)

I started writing for wrestling magazines in the late ‘80s while they were still thriving, and it gave me the opportunity to interview  a lot of wrestlers about their careers. However, in a period of about 18 months in the early ‘90s, close to a dozen newsstand wrestling magazines ceased operations in rapid succession.

The state of pro wrestling magazines would never recover, as the amount of magazines in general would be reduced, regardless of the genre, substantially in the decades to follow as print media was largely replaced by digital products.

As of 2024, Pro Wrestling Illustrated is the sole Unites States based print pro wrestling magazine, with 10 issues a year. Even WWE ceased production of its print magazine in 2014.

There were many wrestling magazine articles I wrote in the early ‘90s that never got published. I had several interview-based stories prepared to be published in a magazine for which I wrote most of the content for when the publishing company abruptly went out of business just weeks before an issue containing them all was supposed to be printed and released.

One of articles for that never-released issue featured a wrestler from Canada who was just starting out and had little exposure in the U.S. This was going to be the first article on him in a U.S. pro wrestling magazine. The wrestler’s name was “Lionheart” Chris Jericho.

I searched in vain recently for the original tape recording from the interview I did with Chris Jericho, and found almost every recorded interview I ever did, except that one. I had wanted to include the transcript of the interview here.

I was introduced to Chris by an independent wrestler, and occasional WWE ring announcer at live events, named Bill Anderson with whom I corresponded with mostly by letter. Bill would send me memorabilia from whenever he toured Japan for the FMW promotion, where he wrestled under a mask as part of tag team called The Mercenaries. In wrestling, Bill is perhaps best known by fans who possess an encyclopedic knowledge of wrestling history as having been the in-ring trainer at Red Bastein’s wrestling school for a class that included Sting and The Ultimate Warrior.

Bill sent me the group photo once for a story about the wrestling class with Sting and The Ultimate Warrior, and it also featured The Angel of Death, who had a good run in World Class Championship Wrestling and the UWF, and Steve DiSalvo, a wrestler with a great look who had some success in Canada but never hit his stride on the national circuit in the U.S.

After one of his tours in Japan, Bill called me and told me that he had met a young wrestler from Canada who was talented and a really nice, respectful guy who was eager to advance in the business. Bill said he had trained at Stu Hart’s wrestling school in Calgary (I believe one of the Hart brothers was training the students by this time). He thought the young wrestler, “Lionheart” Chris Jericho was his name, was somebody I should consider writing a story about. I told Bill to pass along my phone number.

A few days a later I got a phone call.

“Hi, I’m Chris Jericho,” said the person on the other line.

We chatted briefly and, since I had never seen him wrestle, I asked if he had any footage that he could send me showing him wrestle to help me write a better story. I agreed to do a telephone interview with him after I had received and viewed his tape.

Shortly thereafter, I received a videotape that contained a professionally edited highlight reel set to a Metallica song and also contained two full-length matches.  One of those matches took place in Mexico with future WCW talent Norman Smiley.

Needless to say, I was very impressed. Chris had a good look, long blonde hair and a muscular physique, along with some impressive high-flying moves, and, most importantly, he could wrestle. The tape showcased his diverse style and was the most professional put together promo tape that I ever had received.

I don’t remember much about the interview, but a few months after the article would have appeared on newsstands, Chris debuted in WCW and his career skyrocketed from there. He went on to become one of the most successful and popular professional wrestlers of all time.

One more twist about the lost VHS promo tape, on which Chris wrote “Lionheart” on the label. At the time I was living in a college dorm. One day someone on the same floor walked into my room, tossed me the VHS promo tape, and wanted to know “what this garbage was.” He was annoyed because he “borrowed” the tape, thinking it was the Jean Claude Van Damme movie Lionheart, only to find out it was “just some pro wrestling video.”

“THE PROMOTER IS SOME GUY NAMED BOBBY FULTON”  (1993)

I was traveling and passed through a small town where I saw a flier advertising a wrestling show at the local high school in town. I was surprised to see some big names on the flier. It advertised matches with Buddy Landel, Junkyard Dog, and Tommy Rich, and I wasn’t used to independent shows featuring any name talent at that time.

I called the number on the poster to get in touch with the promoter about taking photos ringside and doing some interviews for magazine articles. The number I called was the office of the athletic director of the high school. He couldn’t help me with my request, but he’d give me the phone number of the promoter.

“The promotor is some guy named Bobby Fulton,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Bobby Fulton?” I blurted out. “Bobby Fulton’s a huge name in wrestling. He was part of the Fantastics tag team, one of the top tag teams in wrestling throughout the mid to late 80s,” I lectured in my excitement. I mean, it was just a few years earlier as a fan I was watching Bobby wrestle at my local arena for some big NWA shows and on cable television every week. The Fantastics had successful runs everywhere they went, including a high-profile feud with The Midnight Express in the NWA.

It turned out that Bobby grew up in the area and had recently moved back to his hometown, which was the next small town over from where I was.

We did a long interview the night of the show, and he went into great detail about his career. The story was set to be published in a magazine that went under (same one that would have had the Chris Jericho story mentioned earlier).

I talked to Bobby on the phone periodically several times after about wrestling in general. I enjoyed talking to him so much, and liked how genuinely friendly he was, that I made him a VHS tape full of a bunch of his matches from various NWA and UWF wrestling shows I had recorded off TV in the years prior.

He was very appreciative.

WAITING FOR TOMMY RICH (1993)

Tommy Rich had been a major star in Georgia Championship Wrestling, a prominent territorial promotion of the NWA, in the late ‘70s and into the early ‘80s. At the time he was wrestling on the show promoted by Bobby Fulton, he had only very recently stopped wrestling for WCW after several years with the promotion and lots of airtime on national television. I was interested in interviewing him and writing a profile article about him.

I was ringside most of the show taking photos, but periodically went back to the locker room to try to connect with Tommy Rich (and Junkyard Dog) to do brief interviews. I had mentioned to Bobby Fulton I was interested in interviewing both and he said he’d let them know. Tommy Rich was nowhere to be found until right after the show when he was standing alone outside the locker room watching the fans leave the building.

I approached him and explained that I wanted to interview him briefly and write an article on him. He was very receptive and enthusiastically told me how much he’d like to “update his fans on his travels” and to wait there for a few minutes and he’d be right back. He told me he needed to change shirts. Sure, no problem. So I waited…and waited. What happened to Tommy? The place was clearing out. I found Bobby Fulton and explained Tommy Rich was supposed to come back out to meet me and sit down for an interview. Bobby just gave me a knowing nod and said, “Tommy? He left a while ago.”

WAITING FOR THE JUNKYARD DOG (before waiting for Tommy Rich) (1993)

At intermission of the previously mentioned show in the Tommy Rich story, I found the Junkyard Dog standing outside the locker room in a hallway, in the same area where I would later stumble upon Tommy Rich. The Junkyard Dog was eating a hot dog. Yes, he would do an interview too, he said between bites. Meet him in the locker room area in 10 minutes. So ten minutes passed, and I went looking for The Junkyard  Dog. No Junkyard Dog. Not in the locker room. Not anywhere. He pulled a Tommy Rich (or did Tommy Rich pull a Junkyard Dog?). The Junkyard Dog had some interesting experiences, being a part of the WWF during the initial boom and national expansion of the mid-80s, and before that he headlined huge crowds for promoter Bill Watts in New Orleans for Mid-South Wrestling. A candid interview about his experiences would have been interesting.

“WHEN I HIT YOU, GO DOWN, AND STAY DOWN.” – New Jack (1997)

New Jack was one of the stars of ECW, and wrestled for the promotion from 1995-2001, and was known for working a stiff style and laying in hard on moves. Many independent wrestlers were legitimately intimidated by him because of his in-ring reputation. In 1997, I was regularly refereeing for an independent promotion that frequently had ECW wrestlers on the card. Backstage, all of them were very pleasant to everyone no matter how new you were, or your role at the show, and just an all-around cordial and easy-going group of wrestlers to be around, if you were respectful yourself.  Some of the ECW names who frequently worked on these shows were Raven, Stevie Richards, Blue Meanie, Balls Mahoney, and Axl Rotten, among others.

One show I was assigned to referee the opening match with two wrestlers that had been in the business for only a few months. We were waiting for the ring announcer to start the show, and it was only a few minutes away from happening, but the promoter had still not told us the finish for the match. New Jack walked into the locker room. Nobody knew he was supposed to be there. There was a sudden silence among the newer, local wrestlers. His reputation clearly was making us nervous about his presence. Who would he be wrestling?

The ring announcer started the show, and the promoter proceeded to give us the finish for the opening match. He told the two newer wrestlers, and me, that one minute into the match New Jack’s music would play and he’d come out and beat all three of us up, one-by-one. Then he turned around and walked away. The three of us looked at each other but said nothing. I suspect they were thinking, like myself, we were about to be hit by very hard by a wrestler with a reputation for doing just that.

New Jack walked up to us. He looked at me first right in the eyes.” When I hit you,” he said, “go down, and stay down.” I nodded my head respectfully and said, “Yes, sir.” He gave the same instructions to the two other wrestlers.

When his music played to interrupt the match, the crowd wildly cheered. The three of us froze in the ring, clearly nervous. It was an easy emotion to convey convincingly for the crowd. They knew what was coming, and they were excited about it. They were downright giddy at the thought of the three of us being maimed by New Jack. I braced for the worst, fully expecting to be punched for real, and very hard, right in the face by one of wrestling most legitimately intimidating names.

New Jack did punch me right in the face, but it was an ultra-professional punch, and looked good when I watched the video later, but only made grazing actual contact. I dropped as instructed onto the mat as if I had been knocked unconscious. I landed on my stomach and rolled towards the nearest edge of the ring, strategically covering my face so I could still get a glimpse of what was about to unfold. New Jack stomped several times on my “unconscious” body. Once again, they were professional, light hits. He could have hurt me if he wanted to, but he was completely professional with me.

The same sequence unfolded with the first wrestler, with him going down like I had, and staying down. However, with the second wrestler, for some reason he didn’t sell the punch at all or react as if he had been the slightest bit hurt by it. His non-reaction looked bad to the crowd in the context of the situation. New Jack’s eyes got a little wilder. He punched him again, and the same thing happened with the wrestler no-selling the punch. Now New Jack was clearly mad. This newcomer wasn’t following the match instructions, and in process making the name wrestler, whose whole character was built around being tough and intimidating, look bad to the crowd.

New Jack punched the wrestler again, this time in what looked like a completely legitimate punch that made me wince. It staggered the wrestler, and New Jack hit him again. Then New Jack rolled out of the ring and grabbed a chair. He came back into the ring and hit the wrestler so hard in the back with the chair, the wrestler, who was wearing white trunks, clearly lost control of one of his bodily functions. That was the last time I ever saw that wrestler at a show. I assume he quit the business.

A SURPRISE PHONE CALL FROM TEDDY LONG (1990)

I knew a friendly guy named Brad who wrote a wrestling newsletter that he sold mail-order. Brad and I used to chat on the phone periodically about our opinions on wrestling. During one conversation Brad mentioned he knew Teddy Long. At that time, Teddy was the manager of The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious and Danny Spivey) and making a huge impact as a manager in the NWA after having spent years as a referee. Teddy would later make his way to the WWE, where he spent an extended period of time as the on-screen manager of Smackdown.

I asked Brad if he thought Teddy Long would let me interview him, thinking the chances were slim since active TV wrestling personalities rarely did magazine interviews at the time. Brad said he’d see what he could do. I forgot all about the conversation when my phone rang a few weeks later and a voice I didn’t recognize asked to speak to me. At the time, I had been getting a lot of crank calls (these were the days before Caller ID).

“Who’s calling?” I asked.

“Teddy Long.”

“Very funny. Who is this?” I said.

“This is Teddy Long.”

“Yeah, right, who is this?”

 “This is Teddy Long, how many times do I have to say it?! I thought Russell wanted to interview me,” said Teddy.

I mumbled some kind of explanation to Teddy, he graciously accepted, and, although unprepared, I did an interview with him off the top of my head that I later turned into a magazine article.

Teddy was a good sport and, fortunately for me, very patient.

BREAKFAST WITH STING AND THE STEINER BROTHERS…SORT OF (1990)

In the late ‘80s and ‘90s a “fan club” existed that brought NWA stars for personal appearances to various hotels and bars in my local area. By paying membership to the fan club, you were then able to pay additional money to see the wrestlers in these intimate settings for question and answer sessions, get their autograph and take pictures of them. I remember seeing NWA star Nikita Koloff at one of these these events, held at a bar, and asked him enough questions to constitute an interview. One of the pictures I took of him giving the thumbs up ended up as a full-color, full-page pin-up in a wrestling magazine. Since it was the early ‘90s Nikita kept in character the entire time, fake Russian accent and all.

Magnum T.A., Baby Doll, and Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express also made appearances for the fan club. The last of these fan club gatherings, before the guy who ran the fan club vanished from wrestling, featured Sting and The Steiner Brothers for a buffet breakfast and a group Q and A. Sting and Rick Steiner were emerging as top stars, but Sting hadn’t won his first world title yet. Scott Steiner had only been wrestling for a very short time, with just a few NWA TV matches to his credit. The cost was $50 to get in. One of the wrestling magazine editors I worked for graciously offered to pay for the $50 ticket, when I told him about the event, so that I could take candid pictures for his magazine. Several of the photos I took that day ended up being featured prominently in the magazine.

All three wrestlers answered plenty of questions and seemed to enjoy the fan interaction. Fun facts of note: Sting said he had been a star basketball player in high school and didn’t start lifting weights until he was 19; Rick and Scott Steiner both said if they hadn’t become professional wrestlers, they would have become high school teachers based on their college degrees.

When the photos were published, I noticed my paycheck for that issue only included the articles that I wrote. I asked about the payment for the photos.

“Payment?” exclaimed my old-school wrestling editor, who said he used to coordinate what stories to publish in his magazines with Vince McMahon, Sr. to “build the relationship.” There was long pause of silence.

“What do you mean by payment? I paid $50 to get you in. That’s your payment, pal.”

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