Chris Jericho as a great worker

[Cvaldezjr04]

Over the past few days I have watched both "The Monday Night War" DVD and "The Rise and Fall of WCW" DVDs. and something I noticed in both was how much Chris Jericho said HE, along with Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr, Chavo Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Juventud Guerrera, among others, were the workers of WCW at the time, he raved about how great the Cruiserweight division was, AND IT REALLY WAS GREAT!!! AMAZING MATCHES HAPPENED IN THAT TIME. But what gets me is that he compares himself to all the rest as if he was a great in-ring worker like them, after youtubing some of his matches in WCW, I just don't see that in him. I don't think the guy is/was that great...What do you guys think? was he as great a quality worker as those others? I just don't see his matches as entertaining as lets say Eddie/Juvi or Juvi/Mysterio or Dean/Guerrero, what do you guys think? Am I wrong?? I mean is entertaining, his mic work is great, the way he gave hell to stephanie mcmahon was hilarious!! (yes I know that was not WCW) But his in-ring work, to me, is average at best....
So if I'm wrong about this, someone please give me an example (preferrably on youtube or another video site), to prove me wrong...

 

[THE AWESOME MIZFIT]

Chris Jericho at the time was still young in WCW. He was still developing his character and finding out who he was. At the time he was amazing on the mic. When he was face people loved him and when he was a heel people truly hated him. Hated him to the point where trash would be thrown at him. Although he wasn't the best in ring worker at the time he was one of the best workers in WCW at the time. Chris Jericho before arriving in WCW traveled and wrestled all over the world. He wrestling in Mexico, Germany, Japan, Canada, the USA. He traveled the world to become one of the best wrestlers in the world and to figure out if he had what it took. He wanted to learn everything. He respected the business and didn't care what it took to become a star. That's what makes him so great. The fact that he wanted to better himself and better the business.

When he came to WWE he was still young. But again amazing on the mic. If you can go toe to toe with The Great One on the mic for your debut who know you have something. And to be trusted and to have of all people VKM having faith in you that means you have something. He has done it all. He won the IC Championship, European Championship, Tag Team Championship, WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, and the first ever Undisputed Championship. He is without a doubt one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. He is one of the best all round performers in history. He is also one of the few to have the capability to have the crowed love him one second and absolutely despise him the next. He is one of the most respected performers in the industry today and that's why he is so good.

 

[Foshinzo]

Well, as someone who remembers when the Cruiserweights were big in WCW, I will tell you that wrestling has changed a lot, since then. Nowadays, Jericho is just a good wrestler. But, back in the 90s, things like the Lionsault were kind of awesome. Jericho did get by probably more on the fact that he was a total package, but he did wrestle very well, consistently, and I think his selling probably made your more botch prone workers like Rey better. He probably wasn't as flashy, but as far as Cruiserweights went, he was a little more like Malenko; they were just good, but not colorful.

I loved the character a lot, but he was indeed a great worker. Like I've said, being a great worker is way more than having a flashy offense. Jericho brought excitement to the ring, in his own way and like I said, he probably made other Cruiserweights look better than they might have been, sometimes. Compared to the luchas, he might have seemed less impressive. But, I do maintain that back when he was more fresh, people hadn't seen as much of guys like him. I still have a big soft spot for Jericho, but it's also because he was and will always be great.

 

[GI Cake]

Woah wait a minute, are we talking about the same Chris Jericho that was in WCW at as young as 19? Are we talking about the same Jericho who has been one of the top stars to put an impact on professional wrestling as a whole? Are we talking about the same Jericho that would have woman throwing their bras at the stage as soon as his music hits? Are talking about the same Chris Jericho that would get trash thrown at him? Hell, we are still discussing the Chris Jericho that got punched by a fan in the stage, simply because on how well Jericho was playing them?

Chris Jericho is one of those men who deserve all the credit he earned through his years of work in Professional wrestling. Every match he was in he always did his best to put on the best match he could. In the end he always made not only himself look good, but also the men he was just in the ring with. Which is still a very rare thing in most wrestlers today. Even today Jericho has stayed in prime shape and still put on quality matches. The man is in his 40's and he still looks like he is in his late 20's and early 30's. Granted his move-set is a tad limited to where it was back in '98 but his ring work is still in prime shape.

Now onto his mic work. Instead of writing a long winded paragraph on how awesome his mic work is and the quality of effort he clearly shows in his work on the stick. I might as well just point out he negatives, it would make this paragraph shorter and easier to understand. But in all honesty, I can not think of a negative thing about his work on the mic. Maybe the start of his feuds his mic work comes off as a little forced. But after the first great promo, the next ones are always exceptional.

The man has done it all, he feuded with all the all-time legends of this decade. And in all his feuds, have always stole the show. Not only that, he is the only superstar today to have debuted in a promo against perhaps, the single greatest Mic worker in professional wrestling, The Rock. Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels was perhaps Shawn's greatest feud in the 2000-2010 if you exclude Shawns feud with the Undertaker. Chris Jericho has done too much for Professional Wrestling to be considered "overrated" In any means.

Let us not forget, Chris feuded with all the guys you mentioned in your post. And he didn't need the main-event spotlight to do it either. In 2009 he managed to make the IC title feel important with his amazing feud with Rey Mysterio. And not only that, the biggest names of the WWE, D-X, and Edge helped make the tag team division cool again.