Jericho's Second Book Set For Release

[CSL]

Reviews are starting to come

Originally Posted by Steven Wilson of MainEventRadio.com In the opening foreword of Chris Jericho’s new book “Undisputed: How To Become The World Champion In 1,372 Easy Steps," Mick Foley writes about how back in 2007 when Jericho’s first autobiography “A Lion’s Tale” was released, Foley found himself not only enthralled in the story Jericho was telling but worried that he was about to lose his title as the wrestling star with the best autobiography out there. While Foley has never defeated Jericho in a wrestling ring (a point Jericho makes sure to point out numerous times throughout this book), Mick refuses to relinquish his title in the author’s squared circle but not before putting him over big time and basically admitting that if someone is the next Mick Foley in the wrestling author ranks, it's Chris Jericho. If anything that is all you need to know before deciding whether or not to pick up Jericho’s new autobiography as Jericho delivers another awesome read. Picking up where A Lion’s Tale left off, Y2J takes you through his WWE career to date beginning with the famous debut segment on Raw where he interrupted The Rock turning out to be one of the most unique debuts in recent memory. Despite this fact, Jericho’s early days in the WWE were no different than many before him as he recalls the massive heat he developed backstage as he tried to adjust to the WWE way of doing things. Jericho’s story is both intriguing and hilarious at the same time. Coming from WCW to the WWE was a major transition for Chris. In the first few weeks and months of his WWE career, he managed to piss off locker room leaders like The Undertaker and Triple H, developed a reputation of being green as grass and nearly had his “Walls of Jericho” finisher named “The Salad Shooter” of all things. Yes that’s right, WWE’s creative team offered up some of the dumbest names one can think of, and Jericho includes the original email to prove it. Reading the stories of Jericho’s interactions with boss Vince McMahon is a fascinating look inside the WWE that we rarely get. Any wrestling fan has heard the things the so called dirt sheets has had to say about McMahon and his rapport with his staff, but having it come straight from the mouth of someone who has spent a lot of time working for him and someone without an agenda of being bitter over a release or sucking up in hopes of a push, makes much of this book a truly awesome read. Coming in at nearly 450 pages, the book covers a lot but doesn’t seem anywhere near that long as its quite the pager turner. Amongst what will be the most talked about chapters is the one simply entitled Benoit. It may be nearing four years since the tragic events of June 2007, but reading this chapter about Jericho’s interactions with Benoit in the weeks leading up to the tragedy and his reaction is truly captivating. Although Jericho doesn’t intend to offer up any sort of new information on the tragedy, he indirectly does so when describing how hard it was for him to interact with Benoit during his final years due to Benoit’s anti-social nature. Much like he did during the few media appearances Jericho made during the media blitz that covered the tragedy, Jericho does what I consider the best job in telling the world how and what to separate when thinking of Chris Benoit the man versus Chris Benoit the murderer. The other important aspect of this book is Jericho’s decision to chase yet another dream with the formation of his band Fozzy. The chapters about the adventures of Fozzy are sprinkled throughout the book and are just as interesting as the wrestling related chapters as you learn a lot about how the recording industry truly works and how hard it was for Fozzy to even get to the point they are today. Overall, Undisputed is yet another great book from Chris Jericho. It’s honest, its entertaining and it’s insightful, I highly recommend it, and to Mick Foley I’d say watch out, Jericho could quickly become the “undisputed” wrestling author champion of the world. Chris Jericho’s “Undisputed: How To Become The World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps” will be available February 16th in book stores everywhere.

Originally Posted by Greg Oliver Chris Jericho's latest autobiography, Undisputed, is only disappointing in comparison to his first one, A Lion's Tale. The difference stems from the very nature of his career, as recounted here. Whereas he once was an up-and-comer, struggling on the indy scene, he's now a WWE star and sometimes a rocker. In short, the big leagues are never as funny as the minor leagues. Slap Shot was great, but The Tooth Fairy or Mystery, Alaska, not so much. That said, Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps still deserves to be ranked amongst the top wrestling autobiographies e-e-e-e-v-v-v-e-e-r-r-r-r. And anyone who reads it will be laughing at the stories, touched by the honesty and emotion, and absolutely over the moon that this isn't a WWE-sanctioned book. Undisputed, co-written again with Peter Thomas Fornatale, picks up where A Lion's Tale left off, with Jericho making his WWE debut, about to verbally spar with The Rock. The insight into his debut is fascinating. "My cowardly heel routine made it hard for the audience to believe that I was a credible opponent for a megastar like The Rock, even though that was the initial plan," he writes, unashamed to acknowledge his failures. Jericho goes into detail on how he began "stockpiling nuclear heat" backstage, while naming names and exploring the multiple reasons. This is a decidedly non-PG book, not quite rated-R, but getting close with the tales of boozing and good times. It also makes me miss the so-called "Attitude Era" of the WWE, where Jericho was allowed to call Stephanie McMahon all kinds of wicked names, while the fans chanted along. As it is also a non-WWE sanctioned tome, thankfully, and Jericho is allowed to address the backstage relationships, including Triple H and Chyna, and then Triple H and Stephanie, his contract negotiations, payoffs and paycuts. After one particularly bad dispute with the boss, Vince McMahon, Jericho sought out Bret Hart for some advice. The Hitman said that McMahon "was like a drill sergeant who liked to tear people down and build them back up in his own image," to which Jericho writes, "Well, he had done half of that so far. I just hoped he wouldn't rebuild me with a bad pompadour and a loud suit." Along the way, Jericho shares his recollections of some significant WWE moments, including Droz's accident which left him paralyzed, his storyline (and backstage clashes) with Chyna, the arrival of screenwriters to the WWE's writing staff, Eddie Guerrero's death, TNA's growth, and Goldberg's arrival and departure from the company. He leaves the most significant one, the double murder/suicide of Chris Benoit in June 2007, to the end of the book, coincidentally almost the same point where Jericho had decided to return to the WWE, which is, once again, where his book concludes. Benoit is one thread that runs throughout the book, and a far more serious one than the jabs at Mick Foley, who wrote one foreword (Zack Ryder wrote the other, better one, surprisingly). As painful as the memories of Benoit's end may be, Jericho still has fond feelings for their in-ring performances, and reminds readers again and again that it's "unfortunate" that the footage has "been buried forever and technically doesn't exist anymore." Like with Foley's recent efforts, the side ventures, like Jericho's Fozzy band, are nicely compartmentalized in chapters, allowing fans who aren't into the music scene to skip ahead. Doing so would miss out on a lot of humour and heart of the book, but unless you have a serious love of metal music, the names and songs will mean little to you. On the personal front, we're privy to Jericho's wedding, the birth of his three children, his mother's death, and his forays into acting. In particular, the writing on his mom, who had been paralyzed for a number of years, was touching, and Jericho's efforts to forgive the man who caused her injury should be a lesson to us all. Some of the stories about his dad, Ted Irvine, who played in the NHL, are poignant as well, in particular the Stanley Cup story. My only complaint (aside from the generic cover) is more of a warning: Undisputed lurches from funny to serious to affecting, from his twin daughters to Axl Rose to Chris Benoit, leaving the reader shaken from the roller coaster ride. But it's all good, and leaves the door wide open for book number three.

lol Zack Ryder foreword