Chris Jericho: The organization was much different. WCW, in retrospect, was almost a flash in the pan as far as their success, whereas the WWE has been nationally successful for the better part of 20-years now. You could just see a difference in the professionalism. Everybody had a storyline on the show which WCW did not have. It was just a more exciting place for a young guy to be whereas WCW was a great place to be if you were an older guy and just wanted to make some easy money. But for me, I had bigger and better goals and loftier aspirations so the WWE was where I wanted to be at.
Eric: Do you think the WWE winning the Monday Night War had more to do with the WWE doing the right things or WCW doing the wrong things?
Chris Jericho: Probably a combination of both. I think there was a lot of emphasis put on the war and who was beating who and I think both companies sort of lost sight of their own product. I think Vince was the first one to realize let’s not worry about what the other guy is doing let’s just make sure our product is the best. I think Eric Bischoff was very arrogant at the time and I think that cost him.
WCW was very focused on the now and didn’t really have too much focus on the future so-to-speak. You can see that from the list of guys they got rid of, from Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, Perry Saturn, Big Show, and myself, they were just letting guys go left and right. And all of those guys kind of became cornerstones for the WWE resurgence in a lot of ways.
Eric: You stated in the most recent edition of WWE Magazine that you have never faced the Undertaker and the only reason he is undefeated at WrestleMania is because he hasn’t fought you. If you become the man to end the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania how would that rank compared to beating Austin and the Rock to become the first undisputed champion?
Chris Jericho: It would be a huge deal. Obviously it would be at the same level. But Undertaker is still on crutches as we speak so if he was smart he would stay on crutches and stay away from me. Now that I’m on his show, it is inevitable that our paths cross. I think he has been coasting for the past few years and has been taking it easy and living on his reputation. I’m not intimidated by him and we’ll see what happens once he gets back.
Eric: I am always asked by my readers about becoming a wrestler. What advice do you have for the kids out there that want to become a wrestler?
Chris Jericho: It’s the same thing for any dream whether you want to become an actor, musician, wrestler, or botanist. If it’s what you want to do just keep your blinders on, believe in yourself, and realize that nothing worth having is easy. If you really want to make it and you really think you have it in your heart than just go for it. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it.
Eric: Is there anything else you’d like my readers to know?
Chris Jericho: Just to check out Aaron Stone. It is a great show. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see what I do with the character Billy Cobb. Like I said, he is a master martial artist and there is some great action as far as that goes. He is also a smart guy and has a real sensitive heart. There some funny moments in there that you wouldn’t normally see from Chris Jericho promo in the WWE. It’s going to be a lot of fun so check it out.
