Chris Jericho: 1004 Holds Help Define Legacy
Chris Jericho holds his list of 1004 Wrestling Holds that he is known for as the Man of 1004 Holds. Courtesy of WWE.
Chris Jericho: 1004 Holds Defines Legacy
Everyone is ready to discuss their favorite matches, feuds, or between the bell's moment for Chris Jericho. I wanted to focus on everything that happens before and after the bells.
Chris Jericho is a superb pro wrestler. But there are a lot of great "pro wrestlers." To stand out in pro wrestling, you can't rely on a Tope Suicida. You can't only count on an impressive finisher. And you certainly can't hope that your management will trust potential.
To get those opportunities, you must stand out in a multitude of ways, but you can't get to the status of 'Legend' unless you can talk on the mic. Some of my personal favorites will never be considered legendary: Finn Balor, Dolph Ziggler, Kyle O' Rielly (don't be too hurt by this statement. It's okay to be excellent at your job but not reach legendary status).
Chris Jericho is a legend because of 'the List,' upstaging the Rock, crashing NJPW, and challenging Kenny Omega, delivering borderline disturbing/inappropriate promos on the Heartbreak Kid and CM Punk, and (more recently) getting covered in Mimosa's and orange juice.
I don't know if folks will disagree, but I'd love to hear from anyone who thinks there is a legend that exists in pro wrestling who strictly gets over on their in-ring skill. Great wrestler status is attainable, but only legends breakthrough on storytelling.
Man of 1004 Holds
Chris Jericho has decades of pro wrestling moments. Decades of promos. Decades of gimmicks. But one gimmick/promo will stand the test of time for me.
It was a moment that followed Monday Night Jericho and Jericho's Private security (excellent moments/gimmicks), and preceded Raw is Jericho and becoming the Undisputed Champ. Stuck in the middle of those significant career-defining moments is something unique.
On March 30th, 1998, Chris Jericho defended his WCW Cruiserweight Championship against Marty Jannetty. What comes up after the match is where we're going. But don't skip on the hilarity that is the fact that Marty Jannetty never considered an update to his look (despite it being 1998). And of course, the high-pitched scream Jericho lets out as he locks in the Lion Tamer on Jannetty.
Jericho and WCW followed up that (pretty fun squash) match a career-defining moment for the Lionheart. A moment that has been parodied, redone, dissected, and heralded. And now: I'm crowning as a tremendous risk that helped define Chris Jericho.
The moment is known as 1004 Holds promo, where Chris Jericho called out Dean Malenko for being the Man of a 1000 holds. The problem with using that moniker. Well, to Jericho's tabulation, the count is only at 60.
Jericho then crowned himself as the "Man of 1004 Holds" and began rattling off every hold he knows.
If you watch the episode of Nitro, WCW invested arguably four straight segments with Jericho. And all of this to let Jericho read off of a piece of paper. Something that could undoubtedly cause folks to flip the channel over to Monday Night RAW. Also, something Nitro shouldn't want to test, but they did.
Jericho Establishes a Precedent
The existence of this promo points to more than Jericho's ability to sell an absurd premise to viewers. It also asserts Jericho's ability to get a piece like this past Gorilla.
A chance to prove himself to WCW management doesn’t happen if he wasn't able to get to the ring with his massive stack of papers. Some of that goes back to a more lenient style of management back in the '90s but give credit where it's due: Chris Jericho sold the idea of reading 1004 wrestling holds off a sheet of paper, on live TV. DURING THE MONDAY NIGHT WARS!
Did it turn the tide for the Monday Night Wars? No. But then again, when has Jericho planted his flag at a wrestling promotion and done things to ensure that promotion lives on forever? Go back a couple of years, and the answer is "never." But I guess he waited until a wrestling promotion did that for him (AEW) before he started to do his part for the white-collar types. Please don't blame him there, cause I sure don’t.
The success of this segment was absorbed only by Jericho. And that's the way it should be. The Man went out there with a long sheet of copy paper and read random holds off of it. Even though I just gave him credit for being able to get that segment on TV. Think about Jericho's lack of resources to get the WCW Cruiserweight title reign off the ground: Rufus the Security Guard and a long sheet of paper. AND IT WORKED!
Precedents set with this segment: Jericho can get anything over. You could trust Jericho to run with absurd ideas. And Jericho could speak to the wrestling fans. He knew their language and when to strike the iron.
His success here helped him pitch ‘THe List’, do the feuds with HBK and CM Punk, leave and come back to wrestling on his terms, and build a brand that is purely the man’s charisma and genius.
Despite the lack of resources, Chris Jericho made himself into such a wanted commodity that WWE decided to throw a bag of cash at him. And then he went on to become one of the biggest names in pro wrestling…ever.
The Jericho Legacy Continues
It's hard to figure out where the Jericho Legacy goes from here. He has said and done it all at this point. He's found success in almost all of his business ventures because Jericho is Jericho. Nothing more, nothing less.
I hope his wrestling career is far from over. Even though I've gone public for how much I don't respect his political takes or disrespect of COVID-19, I think there is still a space to disagree with the Man on one thing and cherish the living legend he has become.
Before he wraps everything up, Jericho will do one more run as a face. Even though Chris is technically a heel who receives fan support, I think his final ride into the sunset should be a warm embrace of the pedestal AEW fans have put him on (deservedly so). I think we've all heard Jericho mention that he'd like to go out (literally) kicking and screaming. But we all know we want to see the right moment he deserves: On top with thunderous applause.
Now stop joking about wearing masks! Turd!
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