Earlier this evening I finished reading A Lion's Tale: Around The World In Spandex by Chris Jericho. The book was all I expected it to be and more. In it Y2J himself, relates his life and career from the fan, Chris Irvine, watching matches on TV in the basement with his grandmother to the moment the "Millenium Counter" hit zero and he walked out to engage in his first verbal confrintation with The Rock as he stepped onto WWF Monday Night Raw for the first time.
Jericho gives a revealing, funny and sometimes sad and tear jerking look into his career. He seems to hold nothing back, and unlike many books I can clearly hear Jericho's voice in My head as he tells his tale, as well as the voices of several members of the pro wrestling scene I remember from through the years. I think I was actually surprised, truly realizing that there are only a few years which seperate us in age, and like him I remember the glory days of the independents and territories. I also watched several shows from various promotions over the weekend (oh, the glory days).
It was great to have an inside look at many of his memorable moments. I vividly remember him building his feud with Dean Malenko. Loved his crazy security guy, Ralphus, and could not wait for him to cut promos. I will never forget that first night he came to Raw, which blew me away since I did not know he had left WCW. My ex-wife was pissed, and told her friends that only watched WWF wrestling that they would hate him because all he did what whine and cry whenever he lost a belt.
Jericho is the man, and he is special, as I do not think any other wrestler could spin this tale. No matter where he is now you have to admit he was special, not only booked to win the first undisputed WWF-WCW Championship, but to do it by beating The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night. Many forget that the man at the very bottom of the pile in that four man tournament was Kurt Angle, who did not advance to the finals but is somehow considered the greatest wrestler alive.
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