Book summary “The best in the world”: summary

Introduction

You want to understand how a performer maintains a dominant career across two brutal industries without losing momentum. The entertainment world punishes stagnation, and professional wrestling alongside heavy metal touring offers zero room for error. You face constant pressure to reinvent your persona, manage volatile backstage politics, and sustain your physical health through grueling schedules.

Professional wrestling icon Chris Jericho reveals the inside mechanics of reinventing a persona, surviving grueling international tours, and balancing world-class entertainment with a heavy metal career.

The book takes you behind the curtain to examine the strategic choices behind major career moves, high-stakes feuds, and crossover success. You will explore how to manage public perception, handle intense physical risks, and build a lasting brand under extreme pressure.

• How do you engineer a memorable return after years away from the ring?
• What separates a forgettable storyline from a legendary feud?
• How do you balance the demands of headlining wrestling events with fronting a touring rock band?

1. Character Evolution and Returns

Returning to a wrestling promotion with an unchanged and outdated persona guarantees a lukewarm reaction from the audience.

Returning to a wrestling promotion with an outdated persona guarantees a lukewarm reaction, requiring a complete character overhaul and a shift to an uncompromised heel stance.

Chris Jericho explains that when he returned to the WWE in 2007 after a 27-month absence, his act fell flat. His Attitude Era insults, gimmick sight gags, and promo style had become dated. Instead of cutting-edge, his routine felt behind the times. The span between his 1999 debut and his 2007 return left his old material stranded in the past.

During his 2007 return on Raw in Fort Lauderdale facing Randy Orton, Jericho utilized frat-boy insults about Orton's hips and nose. This approach failed to generate the massive explosion he expected.

The George Harrison Strategy

When returning as a veteran who cannot outshine top babyfaces, a complete character overhaul and a shift to a heel persona are necessary to find a fresh niche.

Jericho recognized he was trapped as the third most popular babyface behind The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. He felt similar to George Harrison in The Beatles. To reinvent himself, he discarded his old catchphrases, countdown clock, and long tights. He switched to short trunks, a new haircut, quiet speech patterns, and formal suits.

Jericho stopped using his Y2J persona. He adopted short trunks after getting inspiration from seeing enhancement worker Rapid Delivery Rory Fox lose his tights mid-match. He modeled his quiet, matter-of-fact menace after Javier Bardem's character Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. This marked a major change after 17 years of wearing long tights, dating back to 1992 when he previously wore short trunks while working for Carlos Elizondo in Monterrey.

An effective villain must commit completely to the character without breaking kayfabe, refusing to sign autographs or sell merchandise so the audience develops genuine animosity.

Jericho refused to let the WWE make merchandise for his new character. He stopped acknowledging fans or signing autographs near arenas to ensure he would never become a cool, cheered heel like the nWo in WCW. He wanted no redeeming qualities so fans would genuinely despise him.

Jericho stared straight ahead and ignored a father and crying young son begging for an autograph in an elevator at Madison Square Garden.

2. Feuds and Angle Realism

Organic storylines built on psychological grievances and high-impact physical risks create memorable angles that sometimes cross the line into real-world controversy.

The historic feud between Jericho and Shawn Michaels began as a simple one-off guest referee appearance at Backlash that evolved over seven months. By playing on ambiguity over whether Michaels faked a knee injury, the storyline tapped into genuine audience hypocrisy and real emotions.

Jericho hosted a mock Academy Awards ceremony on Raw to accuse Michaels of faking an injury, leading to Michaels admitting he lied, superkicking Jericho in the face, and dancing away while the crowd cheered.

The Shawn Michaels Rivalry

High-impact memorable moments require calculated physical risks using specialized props like sugar glass to heighten the reality of a feud. To cement his heel turn, Jericho smashed Shawn Michaels' head through the JeriTron 5000 on Raw.

Jericho threw Shawn Michaels head-first into the prop TV screen on June 9, 2008, in Oakland, causing sugar glass to shatter and creating one of the most famous moments in Raw history. This followed a similar spot in 2002 when Kane threw Jericho through a sugar-glass picture window.

A deeply built wrestling feud can culminate organically over many months into career-defining matches when both performers commit entirely to character consistency and emotional psychology. Jericho and HBK built a seven-month program where Jericho played an unapologetic, slimy heel while Michaels sought vengeance, leading through an unsanctioned brutal match and a ladder match at No Mercy.

At Unforgiven, Shawn Michaels wept in the ring while beating Jericho, capturing the real emotional weight of someone whose family had been wronged, mimicking the ending of Gladiator. This victory ended a gap of six years and five months between Jericho's previous world title run and winning the Championship Scramble at Unforgiven.

Public Enemy Number One

When a scripted storyline crosses into an accidental physical mishap involving non-performers, the angle transcends fiction and generates intense public outrage. During an angle at SummerSlam where Jericho intended to narrowly miss punching Shawn Michaels' wife Rebecca, a simultaneous slight movement by both individuals resulted in a direct, accidental punch to her mouth, causing a real fat lip and immediate genuine shock backstage.

Jericho accidentally punched Rebecca, Shawn Michaels' wife, right in the mouth at SummerSlam when she shifted during the duck, turning the feud into an instant real-world controversy and making Jericho Public Enemy Number One.

Intense heel heat naturally provokes physical retaliation from fans, requiring performers to defend themselves while maintaining character boundaries and relying on management backing. As a result of his extreme heel heat, Jericho was pelted with various objects including a Duracell D battery at the Cow Palace and neon-green glow sticks at the O2 Arena in London, resulting in a 10000 dollar fine Stephanie McMahon attempted to levy.

In Victoria, British Columbia, after a match against CM Punk, Jericho was attacked by a fan who kicked his rental car door and the fan's girlfriend, leading Jericho to push her away and face false assault accusations amplified by Nancy Grace. Despite facing mainstream media backlash and police involvement, Vince McMahon backed Jericho for defending himself.

3. Show Business Politics and Legends

Working with mainstream celebrities and veteran legends requires navigating strict corporate mandates, ego clashes, and self-imposed booking criteria.

Celebrity involvement in sports entertainment can fall apart when mainstream management and agents worry about damaging an actor's prestige or awards season prospects. Mickey Rourke challenged Chris Jericho to a match at WrestleMania after earning an Academy Award nomination for The Wrestler. However, Rourke's managers and agents panicked over his premature announceulation and potential association with WWE, fearing it would cost him an Oscar the way Norbit reportedly cost Eddie Murphy years prior, leading Rourke to pull out of the match.

Mickey Rourke announced on the red carpet at the Screen Actors Guild Awards that he was going to kick Chris Jericho's ass at WrestleMania, forcing WWE to scramble with damage control promos featuring Ric Flair.

When a planned celebrity match falls through, public media appearances can still be leveraged to provoke a physical confrontation and rescue the storyline. Even though Rourke had officially canceled the match, Jericho appeared on Larry King Live via satellite from Chicago to aggressively bait Rourke using heel tactics. By relentlessly attacking Rourke's ego and dismissing his apologies, Jericho successfully goaded him into offering a bare-knuckle boxing match alternative on live national television.

During a joint appearance on Larry King Live, Jericho refused to accept Rourke's polite disclaimers, provoking Rourke into calling him son and offering to box him instead.

At the midnight rehearsal before WrestleMania 25 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Mickey Rourke was genuinely angry at Jericho over his harsh Larry King Live comments, having flown in elite fighters and an Israeli bounty hunter on his own dime to protect him or retaliate if Jericho tried anything funny.

Mickey Rourke brought former UFC champion Frank Shamrock and other heavy-hitting bodyguards to the stadium to serve as personal security in case Jericho double-crossed him.

Building the Legends Match

When creating a backup storyline featuring veteran talent, strict self-imposed criteria can help shape a compelling attraction even if the participants are past their physical prime. After the Rourke match failed, Vince McMahon devised Plan B using strict criteria for the legends Jericho would antagonize: they had to be WWE Hall of Famers who competed at the very first WrestleMania. Although traditional workers like Greg Valentine or Jerry Lawler were considered or rejected, Ricky Steamboat was ultimately brought in after reacquiring the legal rights to his name.

Ricky Steamboat returned to the ring at WrestleMania 25 in a 3-on-1 handicap match against Chris Jericho alongside Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka.

When you design a similar attraction or evaluate veteran talent, you must apply rigorous standards:

• Ensure the talent is in the WWE Hall of Fame
• Verify the talent competed at the first WrestleMania
• Confirm legal ownership of the performer's professional name

Experienced workers can improvise historic finishes live in the ring by referencing classic archival moments when memory fails under pressure. During a live match in Greenville, South Carolina, Jericho wanted to execute the exact finish of Steamboat's famous WrestleMania 3 match against Randy Savage but forgot the term roll up. By whispering WrestleMania 3 finish to Steamboat, the veteran instantly understood and executed a tight rollup for the pin, delighting the local crowd and agents like Arn Anderson.

In Greenville, South Carolina, Jericho used the WrestleMania 3 finish audible with Ricky Steamboat to create an unexpected and exciting match conclusion.

Creative angles in professional wrestling often require personal passion and physical proof to convince management to approve unconventional ideas. When pitching complex or unusual ideas to Vince McMahon, relying on standard chain-of-command is sometimes insufficient. Bringing the boss physical or in-ring proof can instantly shift his skepticism into approval.

When Vince doubted that Jericho could physically unmask Rey Mysterio during a 619 finisher, Jericho brought Vince to the arena ring, executed the move twice in rehearsal, and immediately won over the boss.

When you pitch an unusual concept, you should follow a direct implementation path:

• Identify an unconventional or risky creative idea.
• Test the mechanism physically to ensure it is logistically possible.
• Approach the ultimate decision-maker directly to demonstrate passion and execution.

Resourceful fan tactics from adolescence can be repurposed in adult life to capture once-in-a-lifetime moments with rock legends. Using an old high school trick where one person looks at the camera while another calls out a name to make a celebrity turn around, Jericho managed to secure a photo standing directly between Steve Harris and Lars Ulrich.

At an Iron Maiden after-show party in Los Angeles, Eli Roth snapped a photo of Jericho and his friend standing between Lars Ulrich and Steve Harris while they were deeply engaged in conversation.

When you want to capture a spontaneous photograph with an elusive idol, you can apply this specific technique:

• Stand next to a wall near a target
• Call out the target's name so they turn and look toward the lens
• Smile at the camera to create the appearance of a shared photograph

4. Music, Touring, and Personal Health

Maintaining a successful heavy metal career alongside wrestling demands visual branding, strict songwriting processes, and adopting specialized recovery routines.

You can evaluate band members for both technical skill and visual alignment with the band's image, and make difficult lineup changes when a member's heart or style no longer fits the collective vision.

Fozzy implemented a strict image makeover to fix an amateurish grunge-inspired look. The band shifted from casual, frumpy clothing to a cohesive, high-energy rock star aesthetic with consistent styling and stage presence.

In past music videos, members wore mismatched outfits like gray cords, cowboy hats, camo pants, and watches, which the band later realized undermined their credibility until they upgraded to a unified aesthetic with faux hawks and signature stage gear.

You can build lyrics and musical arrangements around compelling titles collected from literature and life.

• Collect interesting phrases, sentences, and book titles over time.
• Write full lyrics backward starting from the compiled song titles.
• Use completed lyrical concepts to inspire musical riffs and melodies.

Jericho sent fourteen full lyric sheets to Rich Ward upon reuniting to create the album Chasing the Grail. Songs like 'God Pounds His Nails' were lifted from Stephen King's The Talisman, and 'Pray for Blood' was adapted from a friend's catchphrase about Vikings.

You must prioritize music over stage banter when opening for major headliners.

• Use music rather than stage rap to engage unfamiliar crowds.
• Strictly adhere to allocated set times to show respect to headliners.
• Keep setlist pacing tight without unnecessary storytelling during short opening slots.

Jericho went five minutes over a thirty-minute opening set for Anthrax due to excessive grandstanding. The tour manager advised him to play more songs and drop the stage rap.

Fozzy Image Makeover

You must surrender absolute trust to bus drivers working through exhausting night shifts, making transportation safety a constant underlying hazard.

• Verify driver alertness and rest schedules when possible before sleeping.
• Acknowledge the inherent risks of overnight road travel in touring bands.

While discussing Cliff Burton's fatal bus accident from 1986 with members of Anthrax, Fozzy's spare secondary driver fell asleep at the wheel at four forty-five A.M. in Germany, driving up a median and totaling the bus without injuring anyone.

You can commit to daily yoga sessions to cure debilitating spinal disc injuries.

• Commit to daily or twice-daily yoga sessions.
• Execute modified poses and follow through with the full routine despite initial difficulty and pain.
• Maintain consistency to keep the spine and joints pain-free.

After an MRI revealed two herniated discs from dancing, doctors suggested spinal fusion surgery. Diamond Dallas Page convinced Jericho to try his wrestling-inspired yoga program, successfully curing his chronic pain after three months of daily sessions.

DDP Yoga and Recovery

You can eliminate sugar-induced bloating and hangovers by drinking straight spirits with ice.

• Fill a glass with ice.
• Pour straight vodka over the ice without adding any sugary mixers or pollutants.

Jericho invented the signature drink during his fortieth birthday trip to Turks and Caicos after dropping eighteen pounds through quitting beer, dancing, and yoga, down from two hundred thirty pounds weighed on September 24, 2010.

You can secure a high-profile comeback by building a compelling personal storyline and distinct visual identity.

• Secure a specific, personal storyline that generates genuine conflict before returning.
• Release cryptic promotional videos weeks in advance to drive viral online speculation.
• Invest in distinctive custom gear to visually anchor the character's rebirth.

Jericho signed a six-month contract with the WWE, generated over half a million views on teaser videos in the first week, and spent nearly ten thousand dollars to build a custom lighted leather jacket.

You can conquer physical fear by testing high-risk movements in private training sessions.

• Identify the specific movement or action causing the greatest psychological anxiety.
• Test the movement in a controlled, private environment with a trusted professional.
• Commit fully to the action without hesitation to dispel mental doubt.

Jericho tested his back with a Lionsault in a private training session with Lance Storm to conquer his fear twenty-two years after their very first match together in Ponoka, Alberta.

Conclusion

Chris Jericho's career proves that enduring success in the entertainment industry requires constant reinvention, absolute discipline, and the courage to abandon past successes.

You can master high-pressure careers and physical recovery by applying these practical rules:

1. Reinvent your persona completely when your current approach grows stale, shifting your attitude and visual style to catch the audience off guard.
2. Build your professional angles on authentic psychological grievances and high-impact risks that command immediate attention.
3. Navigate corporate politics and ego clashes by protecting your creative vision while respecting the hierarchy of the business.
4. Balance demanding parallel careers through strict scheduling, clear visual branding, and specialized recovery routines that preserve your physical health.
5. Embrace the villain role when necessary to provoke genuine emotional reactions and drive your narrative forward.

10 Key Ideas

1. Returning to a wrestling promotion with an outdated persona guarantees a lukewarm reaction, requiring a complete character overhaul and a shift to an uncompromised heel stance.
2. An effective villain must commit completely to the character without breaking kayfabe, refusing to sign autographs or sell merchandise so the audience develops genuine animosity.
3. Organic storylines built on psychological grievances and high-impact physical risks create memorable angles that sometimes cross the line into real-world controversy.
4. When a scripted storyline crosses into an accidental physical mishap involving non-performers, the angle transcends fiction and generates intense public outrage.
5. Celebrity involvement in sports entertainment can fall apart when mainstream management and agents worry about damaging an actor's prestige or awards season prospects.
6. When creating a backup storyline featuring veteran talent, strict self-imposed criteria can help shape a compelling attraction even if the participants are past their physical prime.
7. Fozzy implemented a strict image makeover to fix an amateurish grunge-inspired look, shifting from casual clothing to a cohesive, high-energy rock star aesthetic.
8. You can build lyrics and musical arrangements around compelling titles collected from literature and life by writing full lyrics backward starting from the compiled song titles.
9. Diamond Dallas Page convinced Jericho to try his wrestling-inspired yoga program, successfully curing his chronic spinal disc pain after three months of daily sessions.
10. You can secure a high-profile comeback by building a compelling personal storyline, releasing cryptic promotional videos weeks in advance, and investing in distinctive custom gear.