Chris Jericho - Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps

An Orion ebook

First published in Great Britain in 2011 by Orion Books

This ebook first published in 2011 by Orion Books

Chris Jericho 2011

The right of Chris Jericho to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent publisher.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 9781409111504

Typeset by Input Data Services Ltd, Bridgwater, Somerset

Orion Books

An imprint of the Orion Publishing Group Ltd

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www.orionbooks.co.uk

A Lions Tale: Around the World in Spandex

This book is dedicated to Sweet Loretta Modern.

Its also dedicated to all of the Jerichoholics who have stood
behind me through all of the trials

and tribulations over the last twenty years.

If I were wearing a hat, I would tip it to all of you.

CJ

Wow, what an honor to write the foreword to Chris Jerichos new book! To be asked by Chris himself, no less. Yes, its an honorthe same way its an honor for an old, broken-down ballplayer to attend the game where his long-standing record is shattered. Yes, thats me, the old ballplayer, hobbling out onto the field, waving to the fans, doing my best to look happy when the thing that was most important to me, the thing that kept me going when the going got rough, the very thing that defined who I was and how I felt about myself has been stripped away from me.

You see, back some time ago, in another decade, in fact (I believe the year was 1999), I wrote a little something called Have a Nice Day, which shocked the world by being not only commercially successful but surprisingly readable as well. Possessing an underlying warmth to complement the sophomoric humor and wince-inducing stories, my book was like the literary equivalent to the early-90s Lex Luger; it was indeed the Total Package. It was also responsible for letting loose a flood of other wrestling books some good, some bad, others downright ugly. But I was always confident that when that flood eventually subsided, there would be one book standing tall, refusing to be swept away with the rest of the wrestling refuse. Then Jericho had to send me his first book.

I must say, I really enjoyed an early, incomplete manuscript of ALions Tale: Around the World in Spandex at first. I found myself rooting for Chris as he forged his way through the rough-and-tumble Canadian independent wrestling scene and feeling his pain as he attempted to clear hurdles both physical and psychological in wrestling meccas around the worldMexico; Germany; Japan; Pikeville, Kentucky. But somewhere around Kentucky and Tennessee, in the middle of Bruiser Bedlam, Corny, Ricky, and Robert, I sat bolt upright in bed, my genuine enjoyment and hearty out-loud laughter turned to sheer terror in a heartbeat. Oh no, I vividly remember thinking. What if this book is better than mine?

The wrestling world is full of unique characters, all of them with unique tales worth telling. Anyone who has spent any time on the road is sure to have a number of stories likely to fall under the truth is stranger than fiction category, and given the proper time and dedication to the craft of writing, many wrestlers might be capable of turning their true-life tales into first-rate tomes. Which meant my book would be safely ensconced at that number one spot in readers hearts and minds pretty much forever. Quite simply, no pro wrestler was going to dedicate enough time and energy to producing a book that could ever do the subject true justice. Most wrestlers were going to tell their story to a hired hand for a given period of time and hope for the best. Sometimes the results were very goodand sometimes they werent. Most of them just lacked that certain something, that authenticity that rings true only when a wrestler has spent hundreds of hours in solitudethinking, being, and willing the words onto the written page. Yes, my spot was indeed safeuntil Jericho came around.

All right, all right, Bret Harts book is another notable exception, and is a tremendous read. But I think I identified with Chriss book more, with his ability to take both himself and his subject seriously while simultaneously giving a nod and a wink to the utter absurdity of so much that was going on around him. I identified so much that I spent many hours on the phone with Chris, giving him tips, offering advicean adjective here, a little more emphasis there. Kind of like an all-star pitcher teaching a formidable opponent how to identify the spin on his curveballso he can more easily crush it when next they meet.

And now Chris Jericho has written another book. Not only has he learned all the tricks of the trade, but hell be directing his powerful prose and award-winning wit at subjects that A Lions Tale left untouched: his incredible run in the WWE, his band Fozzy, the joys of fatherhood, and his memorable tenure on that Duets reality show. Along the way, hell shed light and share perspectives on top WWE stars, and, best of all, will chart a memorable course into the mind of Vince McMahon.

Chris will remind readers on more than one occasion that a certain best-selling author/hardcore legend never defeated him in the ring. For that reason alone, I will never admit defeat on the literary battlefield, will never wave the white flag of surrender in the Foley-Jericho war of words. But if a reader happens to laugh a little louder at his words than mine, or finds that his pages turn a little faster and keep them awake a little longer, Ill try not to protest too much. Because I know Chris Jericho is going to crush this thing. Have fun, enjoy the book, feel free to laugh out loud. Ill be over here, waving, pretending to be happy, as I think back to the good old days of 1999.

Mick Foley

I was talking about the new book while on a WWE tour of Puerto Rico in September of 2010, when Zack Ryder inquired why I hadnt asked him to write the foreword. When I replied that (a) I had already received a great one from Mick Foley and (b) Zack hadnt offered, he vowed that he would write one anyway and post it on Twitter for all the world to see.

Funny thing is, when he did, I really liked it, so I decided to include it in this book, unbeknownst to him.

WWWYKI.

CJ

When Chris asked that I write the foreword for his new book, I was thrilled. I could write about all the classic matches Chris has had or about all of the championships that he has won, but youre going to read about that in this book. Im going to make this foreword a little more personal.

Like yours truly, Chris is a bro from Long Island. Maybe thats why I instantly became a Jerichoholic in the mid-1990s when he entered my living room via a television screen. Ill never forget searching for weeks for his WCW action figure; he was the hardest one to find in the set. When I was in ninth grade, I celebrated my birthday at the WWEs New York restaurant. Who did I pick to be on my cake? You guessed it: Y2J!