WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has checked in with his latest blog update, which you can read in its entirety over at JRsBarBQ.com. JR spoke with Chris Jericho on Monday morning and got Jericho’s side of the story regarding his backstage altercation that took place over the weekend at a WWE live event in the United Kingdom.
“Chris said it was largely about nothing and that it resembled more of a scuffle than a full fledged fight. Sin Cara threw one punch and then the minor melee was broken up. Tensions often times rise on these extended, international tours which can bring out the worst in people. This scrap apparently occurred on the bus in route to Glasgow. At the end of the day, it was seemingly much to do about not that much on a slow news day online.”
JR also commented on the prospect of Hulk Hogan returning to WWE and appearing at WrestleMania 33 next April. He feels WWE (like any other entity) needs all the star power they can muster for their biggest show of the year.
“Seems like good marketing to me and something I that I’d concur with without any reservations. Hogan’s an icon, the Babe Ruth of his era, and would appeal to many fans who will engage the April 2, 2017 event. I think that it would be fun for many fans to see the red and yellow front and center at Wrestlemania because after all he did have a significant hand in helping build the brand that changed the business. ”
On late Monday morning some new light was shed on the real-life altercation between Chris Jericho and Sin Cara during WWE’s European tour. According to Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com, Sin Cara was to blame for starting the incident and was kicked off WWE’s tour bus for his actions.
Meltzer reports that the fight between Jericho and Cara occurred on the tour bus while the RAW crew was traveling from Leeds to Glasgow. Cara was allegedly being loud and annoying the other WWE workers on the bus, which prompted several people to tell him to stop. When he didn’t stop, Jericho apparently told Cara to stop in a more aggressive manner than before. In response, Cara told Jericho to “f*** off,” and more heated words were exchanged between the two. Cara reportedly threw a right hand at Jericho before others jumped up and pulled them apart. During the scuffle, Jericho reportedly grabbed Cara’s hand and began biting one of his fingers.
One witness says it appeared that Cara snapped without warning or good reason, and he was kicked off the WWE tour bus as a result. Before Cara was kicked off the bus, Jericho was apparently yelling at him that he won’t be working for WWE much longer because of his actions.
More details are coming out about Chris Jericho and Sin Cara’s backstage altercation this weekend during WWE’s European tour. While the cause of the friction between the two has yet to be revealed, PWInsider.com now reports that the backstage fight escalated quickly from a heated conversation to punching and biting.
According to PWInsider, Sin Cara (real name Jorge Arias, aka Hunico) threw the first blow when he struck Jericho in the head with a punch. The two were quickly pulled apart, but not before Jericho allegedly bit Sin Cara. The version of the story PWInsider heard also has Jericho yelling at Cara after the fight, telling Cara he’ll likely get fired for hitting him. As previously noted, Jericho stated that he wasn’t knocked out in the fight as one source claimed.
Neither men are strangers to backstage altercations. Sin Cara has reportedly gotten the better of Simon Gotch and Sheamus in real-life fights in the past, and Jericho famously stepped to the much physically-larger Brock Lesnar and Goldberg on separate occasions.
The story of Jericho and Cara’s altercation is already receiving media attention from outlets like The Sun and the International Business Times.
As previously noted, Chris Jericho and Sin Cara reportedly got into a fight backstage at WWE’s live event in England on Sunday. Jericho commented on the story on Monday morning, reports that he got knocked out in the fight. The @MLW Twitter account was one of the first sources to report on the incident between Jericho and Sin Cara, implying that Jericho got knocked out.
Jericho fired back, calling @MLW “stupid idiots” and accusing them of “shoddy, uninformed journalism.” Jericho claimed that he “hasn’t been knocked out since 1994.”
There’s no word on what caused the fight of if either performers will be disciplined by WWE management.
Hmmm haven’t been KOd since 1994 in Hakata Star Lanes. Another example of shoddy, uninformed “journalism” from the stupid idiots at @MLW.
Justin LeBar also reported on the fight, noting that one of the combatants might not have the leverage in the company to avoid punishment by management for fighting. There’s currently no word on what started the fight, of if either men will be disciplined.
Hearing backstage #WWE fight took place overseas involving repeat offender. Have doubts on if he has leverage to work in his favor.
It’s worth noting that both Jericho and Sin Cara were involved in separate backstage incidents earlier this year, with Sin Cara getting into a locker room fight with Simon Gotch of the Vaudevillains and Jericho scuffling with Brock Lesnar backstage at SummerSlam.
Jericho posted a video on Instagram shortly after when the incident was rumored to have taken place, and had no visible injuries or scrapes.
– As reported, it’s now confirmed that Team Smackdown’s Survivor Series team will consist of Dean Ambrose, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and World Champion AJ Styles. RAW will include Chris Jericho, Braun Strowman, United States Champion Roman Reigns, Universal Champion Kevin Owens, and one more name yet to be announced. Heated exchanges have already gone down in social media between the brands, as seen below:
– As seen on Tuesday, Curt Hawkins was defeated in just about five seconds by WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler on Smackdown. In addition to suffering a humiliating loss, WWE screwed up Hawkins’ name on the screen during his entrance, as seen below:
– As was reported yesterday, WWE announced a new cruiserweight series set to debut on November 29th following Smackdown. The new show titled “205 Live” will air weekly on the WWE Network, and will feature Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves on commentary. Mauro commented that both he and Graves will maintain their roles on their respective main roster brands, but this is why the duo were chosen to provide commentary on the six man match last Sunday at Hell in a Cell.
– Chris Jericho threw threw some shade at Bill Goldberg on Tuesday when asked by a fan how he and Goldberg are getting along backstage. Jericho replied:
The question was a reference to Jericho and Goldberg getting into a backstage fight during Goldberg’s initial WWE run. The current state of their relationship is unknown, but Jericho has been very outspoken about Goldberg over the years, stemming from Goldberg refusing to work with Jericho back in WCW. According to Jericho’s version of the story, he confronted Goldberg backstage when people told him Goldberg was bad mouthing him. They exchanged words and Jericho put him in a headlock, which Goldberg couldn’t get out of.
– AJ Styles had a rough night on Tuesday. Styles was defeated by Dean Ambrose on SmackDown, earning Ambrose a shot at the WWE Championship at December’s Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view. After the show, which took place from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Styles was locked out of his car. Fans looked on as the Phenomenal One attempted to break into his own car. He eventually received help from arena security. Styles is heading overseas for WWE’s latest tour and is scheduled to wrestle in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
Following Monday’s RAW, Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho were confirmed for Team RAW in the men’s traditional elimination match at Survivor Series. One other Superstar will be added to Team RAW, wtih Team SmackDown participants to be named tonight.
It was also announced on RAW that the women’s team for Survivor Series will feature Women’s Champion Charlotte, Bayley, Nia Jax and two others. RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day later confirmed that they will be the team captains for the RAW vs. SmackDown match with tag teams.
With those latest developments, here’s the updated card for WWE Survivor Series:
– Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg
– RAW vs. SmackDown Elimination Match: Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, TBA vs. 5 Superstars TBA
– RAW vs. SmackDown Women’s Elimination Match: Charlotte, Bayley, Nia Jax and two Superstars TBA vs. Nikki Bella, 4 Superstars TBA
– RAW vs. SmackDown Tag Team Elimination Match: The New Day and 4 other teams TBA vs. Rhyno & Heath Slater, The Hype Bros and 3 teams TBA
Da Capo Press, the publisher of Chris Jericho’s next book, “No Is a Four-Letter Word: How I Failed Spelling But Succeeded in Life,” has released this blurb about the title to various media outlets and via Google Books:
Six-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion and renaissance man Chris Jericho explains his secrets to success in his trademark writing styleridiculous stories, hilarious referencesshowing how a small-town Canadian kid made his seemingly impossible dreams come true, against all odds.
Organized around 22 principles, “No Is a Four-Letter Word” outlines Jericho’s guidelines to achieving your dreams and making it to the top, explaining how his encounters with legendary musicians, actors, and wrestlers influenced each principle. Whether it’s learning how to make any situation work to his benefit, spending money to make money, understanding to always sell himself, or letting go of losing the gig of a lifetime, Jericho takes you with him on his journey up success’s ladder and shows you how to apply these principles to your own life.”
As you can see, this is a self-help book and not the latest in his seriesofautobiographies. It’s listed as 224 pages with a release date of Feb 7, 2017, though it’s not available for pre-order as of this writing.
– The WWE Network will air a special edition of Talking Smack this Sunday night after No Mercy goes off the air. The company is hyping, “In the aftermath of No Mercy, Renee Young catches up with your favorite SmackDown LIVE Superstars to recap all of the evening’s action.”
– WWE looks at John Cena’s top world title triumphs in this new Top 10 video:
– As noted, actors Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson will be on tonight’s RAW from LA to confront Chris Jericho. Jericho sent this warning to the two via Instagram and Kutcher responded:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLFIj8TD5Pj/
don't make me introduce you to the farmhand! #dadstrength
It looks like next week’s RAW from Los Angeles will feature a celebrity angle with best friends Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens going up against best friends & actors Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson. Jericho responded to the video seen below on tonight’s RAW and it was announced that Kutcher and Masterson will be at the Staples Center next week.
Next week’s RAW will also see Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins put the title on the line against Brian Kendrick and Women’s Champion Charlotte defend against Sasha Banks.
One of the big stories coming out of WWE SummerSlam was the backstage incident involving Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar. While Lesnar was still in the ring and Randy Orton was laying in a pool of blood, Jericho asked Michael Hayes if Lesnar had gone into business for himself and gone farther than what was planned. Hayes reportedly indicated to Jericho that Lesnar may have broken from the script, which led to Jericho confronting Lesnar once he got backstage. Brock essentially told him to screw off and they got into a shoving match. Based on several reliable reports – Brock kissed Jericho on the forehead and said something along the lines of, “Either kiss me or hit me.” Triple H and Vince McMahon wound up getting involved and putting an end to the altercation.
Chris Jericho recently appeared on Chael Sonnen’s “Your’re Welcome” podcast and addressed the altercation for the first time publicly. “I just thought the finish of that match was very brutal and very violent, and I just didn’t know if Randy was ok”, he said. “I said something and he said something, next thing you know we’re nose-to-nose kinda yelling at each other and it diffused fairly quickly.” Jericho added, “Brock is a trained fighter and he’s a beast, but I’m not the type of person to back down from anybody.”
Jericho admits the finish of the match was really none of his business, but what he witnessed was unlike a typical WWE wrestling match. “When I see a friend of mine lying in a pool of his own blood, whether it’s a work or not, that’s real blood. That’s a real concussion that he suffered. So I wanna go check and see if he’s ok.”
WWE RAW is just hours away and we’ve got some potential spoilers headed into tonight’s show from Memphis, Tennessee.
– There are rumors of Chris Jericho doing an angle with the debuting Cruiserweights as a way to introduce the performers to the WWE Unvierse. In addition to WWE Cruiserweight champion TJ Perkins, Rich Swann, Brian Kendrick, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado and Noam Dar are all scheduled for the show. Fan favorite Jack Gallagher is also scheduled to be at RAW.
– Paige and Luke Harper are currently backstage at the arena, according to PWInsider. Paige’s 30-day wellness policy suspension ended over the weekend, however it remains to be seen if she’ll appear on the show. She’s been dealing with injuries and was not cleared to compete as of late last week. Harper has been out of action since last year after tearing his ACL. He’s been training at the WWE Performance Center over the past couple weeks and was not drafted during the Brand Extension.
– A steel cage is hanging above the ring, so we’ll be seeing a steel cage match tonight.
– ESPN personality Amin Elhassan made headlines last week for a series of tweets mocking Kevin Owens’ son for being proud of his father winning WWE’s Universal Championship. After a great deal of backlash from wrestling fans and several big names with ties to WWE, Elhassan eventually apologized to Owens and his family. On Monday, RAW General Manager Mick Foley wrote about the situation on Facebook, revealing Kevin Owens’ reaction to the situation:
“What might the future hold for new #WWE #Universal champion Kevin Owens? Man, I was upset about that ESPN guy making Kevin’s son part of an ill-conceived, poorly received joke last week. I was worried that the uproar might ruin that incredible moment for Kevin, but was told that seeing the support from his colleagues in the wake of the uproar only made the victory more meaningful for him.”
– Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura and WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens will be Chris Jericho’s guests this week on the Talk is Jericho podcast.
More information is coming out regarding Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar’s backstage altercation from SummerSlam. While Lesnar was still in the ring and Randy Orton was laying in a pool of blood, Jericho wanted to know if what transpired was exactly how it was supposed to go down. Jericho asked Michael Hayes if Lesnar ‘went into business for himself’ and Hayes gave him an answer that implied Lesnar might have gone farther than he was supposed to.
When Brock came through the curtain, Jericho got in his face and wanted to know what the hell happened out there. Brock essentially told him to screw off. They got in each others faces and started shoving each other. Brock allegedly kissed Jericho on the forehead and said something along the lines of, “Either kiss me or hit me.” Triple H first tried breaking things up and Vince McMahon wound up getting involved and putting an end to it.
The following night at RAW, people were talking about what a badass Jericho was for stepping up to Lesnar and there wasn’t any heat on him over the incident.
Finn Balor undergoing shoulder surgery didn’t just knock him out of action for the remainder of the year. It also derailed a Universal title feud that would have been the focal point of RAW over the next several months.
Prior to Finn Balor’s injury, the plan was for him to defend the Universal Championship at Clash of Champions on September 25th. That match would have ended in a DQ/no-contest and set up Balor vs. Owens vs. Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat at Hell in a Cell on 10/30.
There’s been no word yet on who WWE has penciled in to win the Fatal 4 Way for the Universal Championship next week but it’s worth noting that Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were originally scheduled to be away from the title picture for a few months. However, Finn Balor’s injury has forced WWE to change things up and they used this opportunity to elevate KevinOwens and Big Cass.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Discussion: Who do you think will leave Monday’s RAW as the new WWE Universal Champion?
Chris Jericho ended up in a backstage incident with Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam last night as Jericho was concerned about Randy Orton’s condition.
According to Dave Meltzer, multiple sources report that the incident began when Jericho came to the gorilla position as Lesnar vs. Orton ended, to find out what exactly happened and to see if Orton was alright. Jericho asked Michael Hayes if that was the planned finish and when Hayes wouldn’t respond, Jericho said, “That’s bullshit.”
Lesnar came through the curtain, heard the “that’s bullshit” comment and thought Jericho was talking about the match. One version has Lesnar calling Jericho a “pussy” and the other has him saying “shut up” to Jericho, then telling Jericho to mind his own business. The two came face to face and had words, leading to Lesnar reportedly pushing Jericho with his fingers. Jericho then did a forehead press while another version has him shoving Lesnar against the wall. While the two were up against the wall, Lesnar reportedly told Jericho to kiss him or punch him. Triple H then jumped in and broke things up but the two ended up going at it again until Vince McMahon finally broke it up. Vince told Jericho that everything was a work and to be professional after Jericho continued yelling about Brock.
Triple H reportedly told Vince that Lesnar was to blame, and that Jericho was just standing up for himself. That was the end of the incident between the two. Jericho then saw Orton’s condition and got mad but Orton assured him that he knew what was coming.
– Former WWE employee Joey Styles tweeted Tommy Dreamer on Saturday and indicated that he wants to work some with Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion. As noted, Styles appeared at EVOLVE 67 yesterday and did commentary for the main event.
– Some main roster stars attended NXT Takeover: Brooklyn last night but as seen below, Sheamus, Gallows, Anderson, AJ Styles and Chris Jericho went out with TNA star Drew Galloway instead:
– WWE IC Champion The Miz and wife Maryse filmed a prom date for Total Divas while in New York City this week, apparently Maryse’s first prom ever. Apparently the date will air on the next season of the show. Miz tweeted these photos on Saturday:
– Cody Rhodes noted on Twitter that the new theme song he uses on the indys will feature his own voice at the beginning.
– After being inspired by the KISS Cruise, Chris Jericho says he’s considering a cruise that will mix pro wrestling and rock & roll. He tweeted this survey to gauge fan interest:
What do u think of a Jericho Cruise combining rock music & wrestling? Would u go? Tell me ur thoughts w this survey:https://t.co/UGzXdkw23U
– The current Eva Marie storyline on SmackDown has received some negative remarks from fans on social media but Eva has at least one fan: Paige. The Anti-Diva praised Eva and the angle during last night’s SmackDown Live:
– American Alpha’s opponents on last night’s SmackDown were California indy wrestlers Mikey O’Shea and Mike Vega. Check out the post-match segment with American Alpha facing off with other SmackDown tag teams below:
– As seen on last night’s SmackDown, Heath Slater stormed off after his loss to Rhyno as Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan were about to offer him a deal despite the loss. In the backstage video below, Slater rants to Charly Caruso about getting nothing but disrespect in return:
– WWE Shop has released new commemorative plaques for Sasha Banks’ Women’s Title win, seen below:
Don’t expect WWE to release any merchandise featuring Chris Jericho’s oft-used phrase “stupid idiot.”
“I have a real rule that when I’m heel I don’t want the WWE selling my merchandise,” the WWE Superstar said during an interview with Fansided.com promoting The Jericho Network on PodcastOne.
“I don’t want someone in the crowd wearing a shirt with that phrase and thinking it’s funny when it’s supposed to be an insult. I still have enough old school in me that I don’t want people wearing my slogans or phrases that are supposed to be booing me. Does it really matter? Probably not. But it’s one of those things to me that it does matter. Maybe it will piss you off that there are no shirts out there so it will make you boo or hate me more.”
Jericho, who has had an online presence since his time in WCW in the late 1990s, was asked if social media has helped the progression of professional wrestling.
“To me it doesn’t really matter. It’s the way of the world now and you have to adapt. I don’t think the world is better. Growing up in my era things were magical as you didn’t know wrestling wasn’t fully legit. You were watching stories unfold as they were meant to do. Same thing going to a movie. I don’t want to read the plot line before I go because I want to see what the director’s way that he wanted. One of my favorites things to do but also least favorite things to do is look up a band’s set list while they are on tour. But it was sure a lot more fun when you didn’t know if your favorite song was going to play,” Jericho said.
“I don’t know if social media has hurt wrestling. But I think it has created a certain sense of entitlement to a certain part of the fan base. They think they should know everything and it eliminates that magical sense. Like when I return and nobody knows about it, I like that. I pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes and it’s getting harder and harder to do these days.”
Jericho also discussed the process of launching his podcast network, his current run in WWE, and Fozzy. Check out the interview here.
– WWE Hall of Famer Booker T will be returning to the ring on 8/6 for the upcoming House of Hardcore 16 show from Pasadena, TX. The event is being co-promoted with Booker’s Reality of Wrestling promotion. Booker will be teaming with Tommy Dreamer that night. Dreamer was originally scheduled to team with Mickie James to face Pepper Parks and Cherry Bomb, who are now in TNA.
Also confirmed for the 8/6 ROW – HOH show is Billy Gunn vs. Lance Hoyt and appearances by Vickie Guerrero, MVP, Carlito and more. Now can you dig that?!
– Chris Jericho missed last night’s RAW as he’s on vacation with his family in Hawaii. Jericho will likely be back on TV next week as he’s booked for this weekend’s house shows. As noted, Jericho will interview Randy Orton on The Highlight Reel at the 7/24 Battleground PPV.
– The full WWE Cruiserweight Classic Bracketology special with Daniel Bryan and Mauro Ranallo can be seen below. The episode begins at the 22 minute mark.
Jericho says his current heel role was always part of the plan for his current run in WWE. In an interview with IBTimes to promote the new Jericho Network on PodcastOne, Jericho says he knew he was getting stale as a babyface when he lead the crowd in a “rooty-tooty-booty” chant.
“It’s definitely my best year since 2008, 2009, no doubt about that,” Jericho said of his current heel run. “And you never know what’s gonna stick. If I was a band to have two late career top-10 hits, so to speak, with “stupid idiot” and “drink it in, man,” who would have ever expected that? Who would ever expect that I would make “stupid idiot” a catchphrase?”
Jericho said that even he didn’t expect to have such a good heel run, and he still has a desire to put on good matches. Jericho says he doesn’t really have any more goals in WWE except to compete at a high level with new talent.
“Winning and losing–that’s not putting somebody over. Having great matches and working together and exchanging ideas, and exchanging experiences, concepts and thoughts, that’s putting somebody over,” Jericho explained. “That’s what working together is all about, and for me right now still to be working at a high level, character-wise, in the ring, psychology-wise. Give me a chance to work with these guys who are like 10 years younger than me. From Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens to Rollins and Ambrose, Reigns and those type of guys. And a guy like AJ Styles, even though he’s almost my age, to help him learn what the WWE is all about, he picked it up very quickly. So that to me is the fun part, and that’s why I’m really enjoying this run.”
Jericho also revealed that his band Fozzy is working on a new record to be released in early 2017 and will go on tour with the band which will take him off WWE TV.
During a recent interview with The IB Times, Chris Jericho spoke about WWE’s decision to acknowledge Roman Reigns suspension on television. While some may be surprised that WWE acknowledged situation on television as part of the build for Battleground main event, Jericho thinks the company didn’t have much of a choice.
“I think they have to because he’s the top guy in the company and his push over the last few years has been astronomical, and he gets a huge reaction.” Jericho said. “Whether you like him or not, he’s definitely a polarizing figure, and people make noise for him. So I think by acknowledging it, you own it.”
While the exact nature of what led to Reigns’ suspension is still unclear, Jericho somewhat downplayed the wellness policy violation and thinks fans will get over it soon.
“It’s not like the guy shot somebody or robbed a bank or something like that. There was a suspension and in less than two weeks he’s gonna be back and they’ll be one night of people heckling him probably for a bit and then it’s gonna be gone, move onto the next thing. So I think it was a smart move for them to take ownership of it because if you don’t then you’re almost manifesting it to a bigger thing. It’s like you’re trying to hide it, and they’re not trying to hide it. It shows that the wellness policy is 1,000 percent legit. Because if there was anybody they’d try to protect it would be him.”
Roman Reigns returns to WWE at Battleground on July 24th when he’ll face his former Shield brothers Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the triple threat main event.
