The Walls oF Jericho

[HBsam31]

I noticed upon Chris Jericho's latest return he has started applying the Walls of Jericho like he did in his early WWE/WCW days. It seemed after he made the jump to WWE that he started applying it in a more Boston crab style. Tonight on Raw he applied it to Kofi Kingston perfectly even with his knee on the back of Kofi's head. Now if anyone doesn't know what I mean just look at tonight and then look at any one of his matches from his last run. My point is it looks so much more unique and painful the way he put it on on tonight. For the record my favorite incarnation of Jericho was the WCW version. That being said I always wondered if WWE told him to change they way he did the move or if he decided to change it, or even if they were worried about his opponents necks? If the latter was the reason I am not sure why he would go back to the old way now. Just something I noticed and wondered if anyone had any input? Has anyone else noticed the change, and does anyone know why he toned the move down so much in the past?

 

[freaky107]

Simply put, Jericho was working with cruiserwights in WCW for thee most part. Bigger guys like HHH, Kane etc. just don't bend that way. Jericho often does the old Liontamer submission on smaller opponents such as Rey Mysterio or Kofi Kingston, but it just doesn't work on most of the bigger guys.

 

[HBsam31]

That's not entirely true though. He worked with Angle, Benoit, and later on HBK, and the move was still applied Boston Crab style. I see your point though, and in those cases you mention it is true, but there are other instances like I mentioned that make me wonder if there was something else. I don't think this is some conspiracy or anything like that so please don't get me wrong. This was just something I have always wondered about.

 

[LigerBomb]

1 from Column A & 1 from Column B. Big(ger) guys don't bend that way and some other guys have head/neck/spine issues that disallow for such artistic flourishes. You work with what you got. Jericho has mentioned something to this effect a few times if I'm not mistaken.

 

[freaky107]

I assume he used the boston crab on the guys you mentioned for the sake of constancy; if he used the liontamer in a match, the audience may not recognise it as his finisher. In the case of HBK, it may have something to do with his back. That's just speculation on my part, of course.

The liontamer is a much cooler looking move, but I think it's good if he just uses it every now and then, to make it seem as if he is putting extra effort into really punishing his opponent.

 

[HBsam31]

I agree with you on that second part. I gotta admit tonight was the first time it jumped out at me and I found myself saying yeeeeaahhhh as he cinched it in deep. It definitely drove home the fact that he wanted to punish Kofi. Maybe in part to it brought back a lot of good wrestling memories when he did it the Liontamer way.

 

[Psyclone]

I agree with you on that second part. I gotta admit tonight was the first time it jumped out at me and I found myself saying yeeeeaahhhh as he cinched it in deep. It definitely drove home the fact that he wanted to punish Kofi. Maybe in part to it brought back a lot of good wrestling memories when he did it the Liontamer way.

he also did the same to punk before wrestlemania.. same style... As others have mentioned He didn't do it when he joined the wwe because as he stated in his book, those guys just don't bend that way... He still does it boston crab style every now and then, but when he really needs it (and the performer he's doing it on can bend like that) he'll throw it on his old way...

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

As others have said it is a combination of the bigger wrestlers not being able to bend in the same way as the smaller, more flexible guys making the "boston-crab" style Walls Of Jericho a necessity.

Also, with guys like Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit (severe neck injuries) and Shawn Michaels (severe back injuries), the move is applied differently in order to not damage these weakened body parts.

I like the Liontamer version of the Walls looks far more effective. The "Boston Crab" style version where he sits down barely looks like it has any effect, but I can perfectly understand why it is done in that way.

 

[ヒュー　G.　レックション]

I always thought it was because the Boston Crab was easier to reverse, but the explanation the others have provided makes perfect sense. Think it's real cool Jericho whipped it out this time though. He made Kofi look damn good in that match too!

 

[#heel420]

I too noticed that he applied the Walls Of Jericho Lion Tamer style this past monday he use to do it that way all the time in WCW but when he came to the WWF he modified it to just a high angle Boston Crab with out the knee in the back of the neck probably because he's going to be facing for the most part larger talent.