Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions: Chris Jericho FULL RECAP
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin welcomes All Elite Wrestling's Chris Jericho to The Broken Skull Sessions. Unforgettable stories are told, and no topic is off-limits in this unprecedented super-sized interview breaking down Jericho’s career. Read the detailed recap below.
Steve introduces Chris Jericho as one of the most charismatic and influential wrestlers in the history of the business.
Jericho jokes that he can’t believe he’s allowed on set.
Steve recaps how this episode came together. Jericho notes that Austin isn’t much of a texter, so they often chat on the phone instead, but always at least a 30-minute conversation. Jericho noted that it was 1 or 2 in the morning and he had a few cocktails (Austin: “I was too”) and the two shared an hour-long conversation where the idea came from. Originally, Chris reached out to Austin to congratulate him on the Undertaker episode.
Austin brought up thinking, “I know you’re in AEW now, but it would be great if you came on the show.” Jericho loved the idea but wanted to know if he was allowed to, which Vince provided clearance on in multiple text messages to Steve.
Austin mentioned that he, Jericho, and Bully Ray would often sit around and talk about bands while on the road. The two have always shared a good friend with Steve really appreciating Jericho’s body of work.
Jericho admitted that it was Austin that got him into podcasting and they are closer now than ever before.
Austin believes that after 30 years, Jericho is in the conversation as having one of the greatest careers of all time. Chris mentioned the 30-Year Anniversary show in AEW that Tony Khan came up with. Without sounding egotistical, he feels that no one will be able to replicate his career just based on having one foot in the old school and the new school while working everywhere.
Steve asked him about how he landed in All Elite Wrestling. Jericho didn’t ever expect to work anywhere in the United States outside of WWE. When AEW was about to start and Tony Khan had the initial concept, Chris passed it off until he actually got to know Tony. Jericho saw the potential for this to become a legitimately global company, but it required three things. Finances, a television contract, and talent with about 4-6 stars you can build the company around. Jericho mentioned how Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, Hangman Page, and himself all had contracts coming up at the same time. There were those six guys who you could build the company around and Chris had the notoriety that helped. HBO and Showtime were initially discussed, but once they landed on TNT, it was what they needed right out of the gate.
After Vince purchased WCW, Jericho never believed there would be another national company, Chris noted that while AEW has been thrown into the competition mix, he doesn’t consider them that as they focus on their own stuff and present it differently to draw a new fan base.
Austin asked about the pressure with Jericho admitting there was a lot of it upon joining AEW. His success with Omega in New Japan was a major catalyst for Tony starting the company. You had a worldwide name in Jericho along with Omega. Jericho believed this was an incredible risk, but he knew what would happen if he returned to WWE. The List is now dated and he’s sure that’s what they would have wanted him to do.
Chris has brought this up on multiple occasions, but he believed his feud with Kevin Owens was the best story heading into WrestleMania 33. They were intended to be in the main event but were bumped by Goldberg and Lesnar. When he was moved to the second match, he didn’t want to be that guy. With New Japan and especially in AEW, he feels a responsibility to help carry the company on his back and be the face of the company as it was really his first time in that position.
Turning to Double or Nothing in 2019, Jericho advised the roster not to take the moment for granted since it was a sell-out show in Las Vegas with a television deal on the doorstep. His responsibility is to constantly give back and while he will never call himself the lockerroom leader, it’s the position he has fallen into.
In terms of his origins related to wrestling, Jericho’s grandmother hated Jesse Ventura while he loved him, Wrestlers had larger-than-life personalities and were individuals as opposed to team sports. He mentions Jessie Ventura, Nick Bockwinkel, and Hulk Hogan from AWA, which he watched in Winnipeg.
Chris was really into Stampede Wrestling and Calgary had Pillman, Owen, and others. It was a whole different level of athleticism. Jericho saw an ad for the Hart Brothers wrestling camp and that’s how he got started. In less than two years, Chris was already wrestling prominent matches in Mexico.
Jericho brought up the cultural shift wrestling in Japan and Mexico. After some time in Mexico, it was Ultimo Dragon who brought Jericho over to Japan with the two frequently working together.
Steve was shocked that Chris was a subpar student in high school, but he just wanted to be in a band or wrestling. Austin would put over Jericho as ahead of his time in referencing his latest book, “The Complete List of Jericho” where he documented 300 pages of his matches.
In Mexico, it was Jericho’s first taste of fame and had the mentality of being the ultimate rock n’ roll frontman. He only left due to the Mexican peso crashing, which dropped his pay by 60%.
Steve Austin brings up ECW and asks how Jericho arrived there. Chris went to Japan and worked a match against Ultimo Dragon. Mick Foley was at the show and informed Heyman about Jericho. It took Chris Jericho one year to finally break into ECW after not being able to make a quick turnaround date. While Chris is considered an ECW guy, he only worked 22 matches in the promotion.
In 1996, Antonio Inoki’s World Peace Festival took place in Los Angeles. It featured Inoki's home promotion NJPW, as well as smaller independent groups while WCW and the NWA took part on behalf of the United States. Jericho desired to get booked on the show since WCW and New Japan would be there. Chris flew himself out there and figured it would be a throwaway match, but he was booked in a three-way against Konnan and Bam Bam Bigelow. Eric Bischoff had seen Jericho there and invited him to Atlanta for a meeting. Oddly enough, Eric didn’t even stick around for the match.
Steve throws to a clip of Jericho’s List of 1004 holds.
Jericho: "Thank you. Thank you very much. You know, since I took care of Mr. Jannetty so quickly, I came prepared. Malenko, you claim to be the man of a thousand holds. But I counted and you know about sixty. But I know 1004 and I wrote them all down, here we go:
Hold 1: Armdrag
Hold 2: Armbar
Hold 3: The Moss Covered Three Handled Family Gredunza
Number 4: Armbar
Number 5: The Saskatchewan Spinning Nerve Hold
Number 8: Armbar
Number 9: The Shooting Star Staple Superpress
Number 10: Right Handed Punch
**Commercial Break**
Hold Number 712: Armbar
Hold Number 713: The Hisridhdsih
Hold Number 714: The Canadian...
Steve was greatly amused by the promo and asked about the origins of it. The two pause to take a shot together.
There wasn’t much of an emphasis on Jericho and others and despite the popularity of the nWo, Chris maintains that one of the reasons they were defeating WWF in the ratings was due to the work of the Cruiserweights.
Jericho requested some mic time before his matches and Eric Bischoff allowed it, but it had to be quick. Pointing back to the promo, it was Disco Inferno who got it through to Terry Taylor. Raven also contributed a move, which was his. Since the promo transpired in Chicago, Chris tore down the Chicago sports teams during the commercial break to gain heat so when they returned from the commercial, it helped make it more impactful on television.
Chris wouldn’t change anything about his 3 years in WCW. Unfortunately, being labelled for a Cruiserweight was to his detriment.
Eric Bischoff claimed to have big plans for Jericho and even promised to make him WCW’s version of Shawn Michaels. Upon joining, Jericho was paired with Brad Armstrong, who the two put over as a great technician, but he was an opening match wrestler.
Jericho felt it should have been individuals such as him and Eddie working with the veterans while everyone gets elevated.
Steve joked, “You’re the only son of a bitch you can pull off that hair” with Jericho noting that Gene Simmons could too since that’s where he got it from.
The Spinal Tap bit where Jericho couldn’t find his way to the ring was shown. Chris pitched the idea to Bischoff, which was approved. Eric always appeared open to Jericho’s ideas.
Originally, Chris thought that some PowerPlant wrestlers would make sense as his personal security, but settled on Ralphus since he was an odd truck driver.
Jericho’s run in WCW ended because he wanted to work for Vince, which was the Holy Grail. Steve brought up the Goldberg situation, which annoyed Chris since he wanted the greatest squash match of all time. Politics, opinions, and attitudes really made it apparent that there was nowhere else to go.
Jericho brought up how for the first 17 months, he never worked under a contract with WCW, so he wanted to see how long he could go without again. He had a verbal agreement with Bischoff, but after 6 months of not receiving it on paper, Chris just avoided Eric. The last two months that Chris was with the company, he worked house shows. For self-survival, Jericho joked that if he was put on a losing streak, he was going to wear a shirt indicating that or bring out a boombox if his ring music was pulled.
Steve asks about Jericho’s recruitment trip, which Chris notes, “It’s a great story.” Jericho is very close with Don Callis, who was working for WWE at the time in the writer’s room. Vince Russo contacted Chris, but since he was locked into a 3-year contract, they just kept in touch. Fast forward to 1999, he’s under contract with WCW and driven to Vince’s house. Chris wore construction boots to appear taller, wore a tight shirt to look bigger, and was working out in the back of the limo. When he knocked on the door, Shane answered. Jericho was brought into the house during a booking meeting and was seated right next to Vince. While discussing a finish to D Lo Brow vs Gangrel, Vince turned to Chris and asked, “Chris, what do you think the finish should be?”
Chris then shares how Vince’s housekeeper brought them brownies and the two shared them together. Jericho then brought up seeing the infamous Vince McMahon portrait in the sunken living room.
Vince eventually told Chris, “When your contract is done, let us know.” Years later, Jericho asked why Vince brought him there. Vince shared that he wanted to see if he could trust Chris and since word didn’t get around, he could.
Austin asked if Jericho felt he could be a top guy. Chris felt WWE were the big leagues and saw that everyone on the card was over, so he was confident that he could make it there.
The Countdown to the Millennium debut is brought up, which Jericho notes was written by Jericho and McMahon. Chris was standing in line at the post office and there was a clock that said, the countdown to the millennium. That’s where Chris felt he could be the Millennium Man. Jericho contacted Vince Russo, who liked it and then contacted Vince McMahon. It was McMahon who came up with the idea of Jericho interrupting The Rock.
Chris puts over Vince’s uncanny ability to take an idea and elevate it to new heights.
Steve felt that upon debuting Chris Jericho looked like a true main event talent.
Jericho’s debut promo was written on the floor of his apartment and only The Rock and Vince Russo knew about it. Chris felt it worked because it wasn’t oversaturated since it only went through The Rock, who added a few lines.
The debut on August 9, 1999, is shown with Steve and Chris putting over The Rock as a worker.
Austin puts over the massive pop Jericho received, with Chris pointing out the fans with the signs asking, “How did they know?”
When reflecting on the moment, Jericho believes it’s one of the greatest debuts ever. Austin notes that it was the greatest.
Jericho also brings up the amount of heat he received for running down the locker room since the Monday Night Wars were real. He compares this to how the rivalry between AEW and WWE is also real.
Chris put over The Rock as very giving.
Chris Jericho got his famous stance with the arms out from Michael Jackson, who did so at a concert.
In retrospect, Jericho rated the promo an 8/10 and felt he was still transitioning out of WCW.
Touching on the locker room, about 2 or 3 months in, Chris realized that many felt he was gunning for their spot. For example, he and Triple H never liked each other but never understood why.
A clip from the episode from Raw on April 17, 2000, is brought up with Jericho getting the surprise victory over Triple H after Earl Hebner made the fast pin. One week prior, Jericho lost to Viscera and debated quitting after such a poor run, but was informed he would be winning the championship. Chris believed this was all a test which he passed. He asked Vince if it feels weird about giving the title back later on the evening, but McMahon promised his time would come again. The reaction from the live crowd to the title change was a turning point in Jericho’s career.
An off-air clip from SmackDown is shown with Jericho dropping the F-bomb. When he got back to Gorilla, Vince didn’t hear the F-bomb and was about to give him a big handshake and hug until Jericho asked what if he heard what he said, which he had to admit. A very humorous moment with Chris not receiving the validation.
The biggest night of Jericho’s career is shown with him defeating both The Rock and Steve Austin at Vengence to become the Undisputed Champion.
The reason why Jericho didn’t have any family members at ringside to celebrate was due to the fact he just found out about the major news that day. He was eating in catering and Vince was within earshot talking to Taker. Vince would say to Taker, “You know how you know the business is going down the toilet? We’re putting the title on Jericho.”
The finish to the Austin/Jericho match was so convoluted that Steve said, “just call the finish” to Chris.
Jericho gets back to the locker room following the big Undisputed Championship victory, but no one was around. Roddy Piper once told Chris that being in the main event is the loneliest position of all since they use your match to beat the traffic. Chris would drive down the road from San Diego to Anaheim and checked into a hotel. Jericho would joke about the employee’s nametag and that no food was available other than pizza. 20-30 minutes later, he would receive a call to come down and pick it up. By the time Chris returned to his room, he had forgotten his key and was locked out. He walked back down and the employee noted that an ID would have to be shown, but Chris locked it in a room. Plus, he was just checked in 20 minutes ago, so the employee should have remembered him. This employee noted he would escort Chris to the room but would need to enter first. Before entered, the employee requested to know what was in there. Jericho would reply with, “You’re going to go inside that room. You’re going to see two championship belts.”
Chris would accidentally also knock over his pizza topping side down and celebrate his victory by consuming a dusty, dirty pizza with an employee named Regis J O’Rourke downstairs.
Clips from the match between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 19 are shown. Jericho puts over just how great Shawn is along with his convincing punches. The pin that Shawn executed for the victory was borrowed from Owen Hart. Steve loves the heat Chris generated after low-blowing Shawn Michaels and doesn’t consider it a loss. This was also the first time these two were ever in the ring together.
Pat Patterson, who Chris puts over as the Yoda of professional wrestling, was the one who came up with a spot where Jericho kicks Shawn in the groin. While Chris lost, this allowed him to exit the building with even more heat.
Chris shares with Austin that the WrestleMania 19 finish of the match came to him at Dick’s Sporting Goods. He asked the cashier to provide him with some receipt paper and wrote it out within 5 minutes. As fate would have it when Chris presented this to Shawn on the day of WrestleMania, Shawn noted that he only came up with the beginning of the match, so they literally put their match together in 10 minutes. Amazing!
Steve fast forwards to 2005 where Jericho’s contract expired. At the time, he didn’t feel as though he was contributing much and “just here.” Chris was rapidly losing that fire and after 15 years in the business, it was a necessary time for a break.
When Chris used the word, burnout, Austin brings up how he has been there too, but Vince hates to hear that word.
Originally, Chris was supposed to lose to John Cena and that was it, but Vince wanted him to stick around. Chris Jericho wanted to be carried out as a crying coward and begging for his job.
Steve asks about Jericho’s time with Groundlings, which is improvisational, and a sketch comedy troupe and school. This taught him how to commit to a character.
When Chris transitioned into the famous suit and tie version of himself in 2008, it was his strongest work to date thanks in part to committing to the character.
Prior to the No Mercy 2008 ladder match is shown, Jericho requests to take it back a bit. Chris watched Shawn Michaels vs John Cena at WrestleMania and it prompted him to return. Upon returning in 2007 he was a watered-down version of Y2J. This felt like a nostalgia act and needed to change.
Steve puts over how unique this ladder match was with Chris once again putting over Shawn as a worker. The spot is shown where Jericho was shoved off the ladder to the outside of the ring with Chris joking that a table should have been placed there. With both men grabbing the championship in a glorified tug of war match, Jericho landed a headbutt that forced Michaels off the ladder thus landing on the floor.
When Chris is asked about his favourite match ever, he points to this ladder match due to the quality, inventive spots along with a compelling story built around it.
Chris Jericho pulled much of his inspiration for this new character from AWA’s Nick Bockwinkel, who wore a suit and used big words while speaking down to the audience along with Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men. That character spoke very softly in such a menacing way.
The List of Jericho is shown in September of 2016 with Chris airing his grievances about Mick Foley. The two then laugh about a silly promo in April of 2017.
The psychology of the promos is brought up. Chris doesn’t play well with writers but collaborated with Jimmy Jacobs, who came up with the List of Jericho. At this point, Chris was confident that he could get a click of a pen or even the word IT over. He never pandered for the pop but walked the line.
The Festival of Friendship is featured with the two being legitimate friends. Chris wanted the segment to be David Lee Roth meets The Red Wedding in Game of Thrones. The reveal of The List of KO is shown along with the flawless delivery by Chris and Kevin. Jericho wanted the moment of reveal to the point where the audience would be thinking, “please don’t do it!” Originally, Vince was fully on board, but since he wasn’t around that day, the powers that be (he doesn’t say Triple H here, but he has in the past) felt it was too hokey and they shouldn’t go through with it. When Chris called Vince to see if it was still on, McMahon confirmed it was a go. This turned into one of the best segments in modern-day Raw history.
The original plan was for Jericho vs Owens at WrestleMania in one of the headlining spots with Jericho winning the Universal Championship at a babyface for the first time and then losing to Brock in less than a month since he was off for a Fozzy tour. When his match was moved to the second match on the card, it bothered Chris because he and Kevin had the best story on the card.
Chris officially left in April of 2017 as he was on to another challenge.
Despite leaving, Chris loves WWE and had a fantastic relationship with Vince. Yes, they challenged each other, but always got along and even drank together.
Don Callis was commentating in New Japan and told Jericho that Omega was the biggest star in the promotion and gauged interest in a match. At the time, Chris only wanted to ever work for Vince and no one else. After cutting a really great deal, Chris was very nervous to call Vince to tell him he would be competing for New Japan. Jericho noted the match did big business.
An image of The Painmaker was brought up with Steve noting because Chris lived it, the look got over. This led Chris to headline three Tokyo Dome shows. This world became much more fun to him.
The Saudi Arabia show is brought up with Jericho vs Undertaker advertised in a Casket Match, but it was changed to Undertaker vs Rusev after Chris shared with Vince he was going back to New Japan to wrestle Naito. It wasn’t long after this that Chris started chatting with Tony Khan.
Steve brought up the Pandemic and if AEW will go back to live crowd. Of course, said Jericho. Chris also noted how he’s glad Steve doesn’t have to compete in this pandemic since it’s very challenging when you’re used to being in front of thousands. Chris notes how WWE, AEW, New Japan, Ring of Honor continue to put on a show for the fans. He always receives many thank yous from fans for having AEW air on Wednesdays to forget about the pandemic.
Jericho brought up the logistics of the Khan family owning Daily’s Place and some semblance of the fans.
Chris Jericho name-dropped Orange Cassidy and put him over as a great guy. In a conversation between the two, Orange asked Chris, “Did I sell that spot too long?” Chris would respond with, “I don’t know, because nobody’s here!” The fan response really judges the answer. When there is no reaction, it’s impossible to answer it.
Chris believes it’s a testament to both companies (WWE and AEW) that they are putting smiles on faces.
Jericho noted he’s grateful for the opportunity to be on the show and it’s not about the historical aspect between AEW and WWE, it’s about the business of wrestling. They respect it and they love it. Chris wants it to continue forever, regardless of the brand. Chris also thanked WWE and Vince for allowing him to be here along with Tony Khan.
Steve asked, “How much longer will you continue to do this?” The two took a shot before his answer. Chris still feels good and referenced a match between The Young Bucks against himself and MJF. “Maybe a year, maybe two years?”
In terms of what’s next, Jericho notes that thanks to Austin, Talk Is Jericho is one of the top podcasts and Fozzy has 5 Top 30 hits. He hopes to go back on the road. Between the cruise, writing, acting, it’s really whatever comes down the pike.
This was a highly engaging conversation between two very established veterans who genuinely like and respect each other. There were plenty of AEW references that should also satisfy the curiosity of fans.