REY MYSTERIO JR (C) VS. CHRIS JERICHO

 Chris Jericho makes his way out first, wearing a Rey Mysterio Jr T-Shirt, in a brilliant move. The champion is out next as Tony Schiavone says Mysterio hasn’t been 100% lately. He’s joined in a cosy booth by “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Mike Tenay. Chris Jericho doesn’t like the fans beginning with chants that he sucks.

 

REY MYSTERIO Jr. © VS. CHRIS JERICHO

(WCW Cruiserweight Championship)

WWF Souled Out 1998 (24^th January 1998)

  Chris Jericho shows Rey who’s taller before they lock up. He backs Rey into the ropes, toying with him. Another lock up, Mysterio is backed into the corner, but is able to switch places with Jericho, leading to a complaint to Charles Robinson. Jericho kicks Rey in the gut, but the clothesline is ducked. Rey Mysterio Jr. slaps Jericho, knocking him down. Rey Mysterio Jr. gets in some forearm shots and sends Jericho off the ropes but is knocked down with a shoulder tackle. Jericho chops at Mysterio and lifts him overhead, but Mysterio lands on his feet and baseball slides to the apron. Chris Jericho is caught with a forearm and a shoulder tackle through the ropes, Rey Mysterio Jr sends Jericho out to the floor with a headscissors. Jericho avoids the Tiger Kick but Rey seems to have hurt his knee, Chris Jericho notices after he’s taken a breather and gets back into the ring, only to be met with forearm shots.

  Rey Mysterio Jr. puts Jericho in a chinlock on the mat, but Jericho slowly gets to his feet, lifting Rey with him. Rey Mysterio ends up in the electric chair but counters into a Victory Roll for a nearfall. Chris Jericho takes a shot at Mysterio’s knee and reverses an irish whip but Rey Mysterio Jr. travels the great female wrestlers of the past, taking Jericho down by the hair. Chris Jericho rolls out to the apron but gets to his feet quicker than Mysterio. He counters a hurricanrana, dropping Rey across the top rope. Rey Mysterio is brought to the floor, Jericho hits a Tiger backbreaker and sets up the ring steps. Jericho runs up the steps and hits Mysterio with a knee strike and brings it back into the ring. Rey Mysterio is sent corner to corner taking the Bret Hart bump, Jericho sends his injured knee into the middle turnbuckle, then kicks at a downed Rey. Jericho sends Rey across the ring but ducks too early, taking a kick to the jaw, Rey get on Jericho’s shoulders but Jericho knocks him back down to his feet.

  Rey Mysterio Jr. hits a facebuster and knocks Jericho back into the corner. Rey sends him across the ring and Jericho is stuck across the top rope, Rey helps him with a kick using the good leg and a baseball slide to Jericho on the apron cuts him off at the knees. Rey Mysterio hits a springboard somersault senton but favours his knee as they exchange rights at ringside, Chris Jericho clotheslines right over Rey’s head and is flapjacked into the ring steps and rolled into the ring. Chris Jericho knocks the rope as Rey attempts a springboard and drops his ribs over the top rope. Chris Jericho gets crotched on the turnbuckle, Rey climbs to the top rope but the Super Hurricanrana is countered into a Liontamer on the way to the mat, Rey taps out without much resilience.

WINNER: CHRIS JERICHO (NEW WCW Cruiserweight Champion)

This was a good match, Chris Jericho’s dellusioned character was a great time in his career, from being loved to underestimating Rey Mysterio, who hung with him until the end of the match on one leg. [***¼] 6.75/10.

  Chris Jericho grabs the microphone and says he’s finally realised that people like him. But the boos from the crowd tell a different story, so Jericho stomps at Rey’s knee before attacking Rey with his own brace. Rey Mysterio’s leg is trapped between the ring steps as he hobbles to the floor and Jericho grabs a toolbox from under the ring, running into Rey’s knee with it.