Credit: Ryan Rider and Main Event Radio
SHOW: The Main Event, Sundays on CJLO 1690AM in Montreal
HOST: Ryan Rider
Chris Jericho appeared on Main Event Radio, here are some highlights from his appearance:
How did writing Undisputed differ from A Lion's Tale?
Undisputed is now officially a New York Times Bestseller. It is very gratifying. It takes a lot of time to write a book; it took a year and a half to get it how I wanted it. It feels good. Many times when you do something for the first time, it's always unchartered waters. You don't really know how to do it, where to go. Now that I have one under my belt, I kind of knew the shortcuts but it's a long arduous process. That will never change. This time I had more experience, more knowledge. It probably went by a little bit quicker because of my experience with the first one. If you're going to do it right - for both of these books I wrote every word that you see. Everybody seems to like it, it's being critically acclaimed. This is the type of buzz that you want.
One of the things I was surprised about in the early part of the book was the amount of heat that you had coming into WWE. The "tobacco spit" incident with the Rock Why do you think that the Rock never laid into you for it and has that subject ever come back up in a conversation with Rocky?
He remembers it, of course he does. What happened was it was the first match I ever had against The Rock. I did have a lot of animosity and uphill battles when I first got to WWE. I picked up a cup from the floor but when I threw it in the Rock's face [and] it wasn't beer or soda, it was tobacco spit juice. He was really freaking out, it went in his eyes. He never really did go nuts on me about it. I think because he kind of emphasized with me about it because he came in with a lot of animosity coming in. He kind of had the same thing when he was first coming in - he got a big push coming in, a lot of people didn't like him. He got a really big push right off the bat and people didn't like him. The cream always rises to the top. He was my only ally when I first got there in 1999.
You seem to be your own biggest critic throughout both of your books. Do you ever feel that you are a bit too harsh on yourself?
It's one of the reasons I'm always successful in everything I've done. I've never settled for anything. I've always wanted better. I always want it perfect, but nothing could ever be perfect. It makes you strive for that. It makes you create better moments in wrestling, or in music, or in writing. As an artist you always want to get better. Every time you sit back and think "I am the best in the world at what I do", but if you believe that all the time then you're living in denial. That's something that people appreciate in both my books is that I'm always very honest. When something didn't work out the way I wanted it to work out I had no problems bringing it up and facing it. It makes for great stories and great writing no matter what the situation might be. I think Undisputed overall is a better book than A Lion's Tale because it is just as funny, just as honest but it a lot deeper because of all the experiences I went through during the time period I wrote about. The first book is written from a guy in his 20's with a frivolous and fancy free type of vibe. Things in life hit you in different ways. Mature experiences, grown up experiences seen from a guy in his 30's sees it in a different vibe; but still very funny, very entertaining. A good movie will take you through an emotional roller coaster. That's what Undisputed does.
SHOW: The Main Event, Sundays on CJLO 1690AM in Montreal
HOST: Ryan Rider
Chris Jericho appeared on Main Event Radio, here are some highlights from his appearance:
How did writing Undisputed differ from A Lion's Tale?
Undisputed is now officially a New York Times Bestseller. It is very gratifying. It takes a lot of time to write a book; it took a year and a half to get it how I wanted it. It feels good. Many times when you do something for the first time, it's always unchartered waters. You don't really know how to do it, where to go. Now that I have one under my belt, I kind of knew the shortcuts but it's a long arduous process. That will never change. This time I had more experience, more knowledge. It probably went by a little bit quicker because of my experience with the first one. If you're going to do it right - for both of these books I wrote every word that you see. Everybody seems to like it, it's being critically acclaimed. This is the type of buzz that you want.
One of the things I was surprised about in the early part of the book was the amount of heat that you had coming into WWE. The "tobacco spit" incident with the Rock Why do you think that the Rock never laid into you for it and has that subject ever come back up in a conversation with Rocky?
He remembers it, of course he does. What happened was it was the first match I ever had against The Rock. I did have a lot of animosity and uphill battles when I first got to WWE. I picked up a cup from the floor but when I threw it in the Rock's face [and] it wasn't beer or soda, it was tobacco spit juice. He was really freaking out, it went in his eyes. He never really did go nuts on me about it. I think because he kind of emphasized with me about it because he came in with a lot of animosity coming in. He kind of had the same thing when he was first coming in - he got a big push coming in, a lot of people didn't like him. He got a really big push right off the bat and people didn't like him. The cream always rises to the top. He was my only ally when I first got there in 1999.
You seem to be your own biggest critic throughout both of your books. Do you ever feel that you are a bit too harsh on yourself?
It's one of the reasons I'm always successful in everything I've done. I've never settled for anything. I've always wanted better. I always want it perfect, but nothing could ever be perfect. It makes you strive for that. It makes you create better moments in wrestling, or in music, or in writing. As an artist you always want to get better. Every time you sit back and think "I am the best in the world at what I do", but if you believe that all the time then you're living in denial. That's something that people appreciate in both my books is that I'm always very honest. When something didn't work out the way I wanted it to work out I had no problems bringing it up and facing it. It makes for great stories and great writing no matter what the situation might be. I think Undisputed overall is a better book than A Lion's Tale because it is just as funny, just as honest but it a lot deeper because of all the experiences I went through during the time period I wrote about. The first book is written from a guy in his 20's with a frivolous and fancy free type of vibe. Things in life hit you in different ways. Mature experiences, grown up experiences seen from a guy in his 30's sees it in a different vibe; but still very funny, very entertaining. A good movie will take you through an emotional roller coaster. That's what Undisputed does.