"King of Pain"
by Mike Fazioli
WWE Magazine - April 2003
How Chris Jericho's Envy Turned To Blind Rage and Hatred for Shawn Michaels,and why this match may turn out to be the bloodiest encounter in WrestleMania history.
To many fans and Superstars alike, Shawn Michaels is one of the greatest--if not the greatest--WWE Superstar of all time. To Chris Jericho, Michaels is an ass clown, perhaps the biggest one alive.
When Jericho was first considering a career in the ring, most promoters and agents took one look at him and, despite the fact that he's 6 feet tall and over 200 pounds, told him he was too small toever get anywhere in the business. These were the days when the ring was ruled by behemoths like Hulk Hogan, Earthquake, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. All the promoters were fixated on discovering the next giant. None were searching for a man Chris Jericho's size.
Then along came Shawn Michaels--the man who changed all the rules and who made Chris Jericho's career possible. Michaels could do things in the ring that no one had done before. Sure, he could match speed with smaller wrestlers, but what made him special was his ability to go toe to toe with the sport's mastodons. Michaels paved the way for many of today's Supersars, and nobody knows that better than Jericho. When Jericho was growing up, spending hours glued to WWE shows and matches, he watched Michaels rise from tag-team specialist to Intercontinental Champion to WWE Champion, and he knew he'd never again be told he wasn't big enough.
Shawn Michaels opened the door for Chris Jericho and both have had extremely successful careers. The similarities between the men are glaring: they are roughly the same size, and both are incredibly fast and agile athletes. They are equally comfortable locking it up on the mat and taking it to the air, and both possess tremendous charisma. Just as Jericho now loudly attests to his own greatness whenever possible, there was a time when the biggest mouth in the locker room belonged to Michaels.
There's no question that Jericho has done an amazing job following in the footsteps of his one-time hero. Just as Michaels once enjoyed reigns as Intercontinental Champion and Tag Team Champion, so did Jericho. In fact, Jericho has even one-upped HBK by becoming the first-ever Undisputed Champion, beating Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock on the same night in the process.
It is said that if you stand still long enough in the Raw locker room, Chris Jericho will find you and remind you that he is the only man in history to beat Austin and The Rock in one night. Certainly those are facts, and Jericho has every right to be proud. But he says it not out of pride as much as bitterness. To Jericho's thinking, that mere feat should be enough to cement his legacy in WWE history, putting him on par with, or above, the legacy of Shawn Michaels.
Yet Michaels' comeback in 2002--capped by his incredible World Championship victory at Survivor Series in the Elimination Chamber match against five other Superstars, Chris Jericho among them--has reinforced HBK's place as a WWE immortal. And while Jericho has enjoyed continued success, winning the World Tag Team Championship with Christian, in his mind he has been relegated to the sidelines by the resurgent HBK. The fact that the Showstopper is receiving so much attention is driving him to the brink of insanity.
Jericho's case of HBK-envy became so great that when the Royal Rumble rolled around, Jericho saw it as an opportunity to one-up Michaels by topping one of his most legendary feats. Michaels is the only many ever to win the Rumble starting out of the No. 1 position--outlasting the other 29 men in the match in 1995.
Jericho began to lobby hard and loud for the No. 1 slot in the 2003 Rumble, confident that once he duplicated Michael's feat--and, of course, then parlayed the victor's WrestleMania title shot into another reign as World Heavyweight Champion--he would eclipse HBK once and for all in the eyes of the fans and historians alike.
A brutal four-way match was set up between Jericho, Kane, Batista and Rob Van Dam on Raw; with the winner getting to choose their entry number for the RUmble. While the other three men were undoubtedly fighting over the much-coveted No. 30, Jericho was fighting for No. 1, and he won the grueling match. But, as if to throw kerosene on the fire of Jericho's hatred, Michaels emerged and revealed that he had already taken the No. 1 slot, and Jericho would have to settle for No. 2.
This indignity was more than Jericho could bear, and at the Rumble he had his revenge. With Michaels already in the ring, Christian acted as a decoy at the top of the ramp while Jericho sneaked in from behind and launched an incredibly violent and bloody attack on HBK. The crowd at Boston's FleetCenter stood in shock as Jericho savagely and cruelly dismantled Michaels with a steel chair, busting HBK wide open, and then throwing him over the top rope.
Jericho, fighting like a man possessed, went on to have one of the most impressive outings of any of the 30 Superstars in the Rumble. It began to look as if Jericho was going to win the match when Michaels, bloody and bandaged, stormed back into the ring and assaulted his rival, leaving him easy prey for Test to eliminate. Michaels continued his assualt on the outside, and the bitter rivalry, which will be settled at WrestleMania XIX, was fully engaged.
In the weeks leading up to WrestleMania XIX, there have been plenty of mind games played on both sides. It's more than safe to say that both men genuinely dislike each other and that when they finally meet at WrestleMania a bloodbath could ensue.
The two big questions going into the match are: who is likely to win, and what will the post-Mania world be like for both the winner and loser of the match.
As far as the match is concerned, most experts feel that Jericho has a slight advantage going in. WWE Magazine polled 65 sports-entertainment journalists from around the world, and 65 percent thought that Jericho would win. Most of these experts, including WWE's own Brian Solomon and Aaron Williams, felt that age would be the deciding factor and that Jericho would eventually wear down the Showstopper. A few believed that Jericho's hatred for Michaels would be so intense that he would willingly sacrifice everything--his well being, his future in the business, even his friends and family--if it meant winning this match. Thus, they concluded that Jericho needed the victory more and would, like a caged animal facing death, go beyond the norm to win the match.
For 35 percent of the experts, including WWE's Senior Copy Editor and sports-entertainment historian Mike Chiapetta, who picked Michaels, the top two reasons given were experience and the proven history of shining at sports-entertainment's premier event. Unlike those who saw Michaels' age as disadvantage, these grappling afficionados reasoned that Michaels would be unfazed by Jericho's rage and would in fact be able to turn this anger against his opponent. The other reason was simply that Michaels is still one of the best competitive grapplers around.
Both sides have compelling arguments, and if they were to fight 10 times, each could conceivably win five. Many times in matches of this magnitude, the deciding factor is something that nobody thinks of beforehand. Is there something in either man's past that the other could take advantage of? Does one of these competitors simply match-up better against the other? Are there any injuries we remain unaware of? And, might somebody unexpected show up and shift the balance of power from one competitor to the other?
As for what the post-WrestleMania future holds for these two, time will tell. Given the respective stages of their careers, it would appear as if Jericho has the most to lose. A win would propel him to even greater heights (Is there anything bigger than King of the World?), and add yet another magnificent feat to his already impressive resume. A loss, however, would surely give the Jericho-haters some serious ammunition. Imagine what they would say when his name is brought up in the discussion of all-time grats. "But he couldn't beat Shawn Michaels when he was in his prime." Certainly doubts about Jericho's legacy would abound.
Michaels, on the contrary, appears to have everything to gain and nothing to lose. If he wins, he cements his place in the upper echelon of sports-entertainment champions. Even if he loses, as long as he puts up a great battle, people will be impressed given that he is no longer in his athletic prime.
So what will happen? Will the young lion take yet another step towards immortality, or will HBK prove once and for all that pound for pound he is the greatest grappler ever to lace up a pair of boots?
Two angry men. Two great athletes. It could only happen at WrestleMania.