On the most recent episode of Grillin’ JR, WWE Hall of Famer and AEW commentator Jim Ross and Conrad Thompson discussed Chris Jericho’s WWE debut from August 1999 and how Vince McMahon’s opinion of Jericho at the time had changed, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
Jim Ross on Chris Jericho’s WWE debut on Raw in a segment with The Rock: “I thought that was a nice surprise, and with Rock in the ring cutting one his promos – they’re always great and entertaining. I think the countdown clock was a brilliant idea. He interrupted The Rock. If that don’t put you on the radar and front of mind awareness of the fans, nothing is going to. So, I thought that was a great kickoff for him, and it was his idea. So, all of a sudden, he sees that [his] creative ideas are significant, and they’re being respected. Somebody is listening. That’s really what all the talent want. They want to have the input on their own creative, and why would you blame them? It was a great night there in Chicago. We weren’t sure how the crowd was gonna react, but buddy, they reacted big time. They were ready for Chris Jericho.”
On Vince McMahon eventually changing his mind on Jericho’s potential as a top star: “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.”
(H/T: 411 Wrestling)