Chris Jericho's WCW Conspiracy Storyline Led To Some Unexpectedly Funny Moments
Though Chris Jericho isn't the first professional wrestler to claim there's an elaborate conspiracy out to get him (we're looking at you, Sami Zayn), Jericho took the idea perhaps further than anyone else. During his time in WCW, Jericho feuded against noted technician Dean Malenko while holding the company's Cruiserweight Championship, and Jericho found a way to work a conspiracy angle into the story.
During a period when Malenko was off TV, Jericho claimed that Malenko had quit, and made fun of Malenko's late father, wrestler Boris Malenko. The WCW Cruiserweight Champion even faced off against a parody of Boris – a wrestler he named Bore-Us Malenko. Unfortunately for Jericho, Dean Malenko returned at Slamboree in May of 1998, disguising himself as masked wrestler Ciclope, and won a battle royale. In the process, Malenko earned a shot at Jericho and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in a highly memorable match. Malenko went on to defeat Jericho and win the title. The night after his loss, Jericho had something of a meltdown backstage, claiming there was a conspiracy afoot against him, and that Malenko's victory was unfair. The former champion destroyed a large photo of Malenko and promised to go after WCW Commissioner J.J. Dillon until he was reinstated as champion.
Jericho Takes His Conspiracy to the Top
Things only became more unhinged from there. The following week on "WCW Nitro," Jericho walked down to the ring for a match against El Dandy holding a sign that proclaimed himself as a "Conspiracy Victim." Following a quick victory over El Dandy, Jericho picked up a microphone and continued his claims of a conspiracy, even bringing himself close to tears. Jericho called out Dillon, who shut down Jericho's hopes of being reinstated as champion.
The next week, "WCW Nitro" featured a video segment of Jericho, dressed in a suit, walking the streets of our nation's capital, Washington D.C., in an attempt to find evidence of the conspiracy against him. To this day, the argument can be made that this is one of Jericho's most memorable segments in WCW. After getting turned away from the Capitol Building, Jericho made his way to the Supreme Court as well as the gates of the White House, only to be turned away there as well. Finally, Jericho ended up seated on the floor of the Library of Congress, intent on finding proof to present to Dillon regarding the conspiracy.
Jericho Reclaims the Cruiserweight Championship
The week after his trip to D.C., Jericho returned to "WCW Nitro" with a letter in hand from Turner Broadcasting Systems founder Ted Turner. However, the letter didn't exactly contain the response Jericho wanted. In it, Turner thanked Jericho for his recent contributions to WCW and agreed that Malenko should not be the WCW Cruiserweight Champion. However, Turner then stated to Jericho that he didn't like his "incessant whining and complaining," and ruled that the decision would stand at the end of the letter. Jericho's crusade for justice would be forced to continue.
Finally, on the June 11, 1998, episode of "WCW Thunder," Malenko voluntarily vacated the WCW Cruiserweight Championship to get another match with Chris Jericho. Does that make a whole lot of sense? No, but that's WCW for you. At The Great American Bash the next week, the two clashed once again for the now-vacant title, with Jericho coming out on top due to a disqualification on Malenko, after Malenko hit Jericho with one of the weakest-looking chair shots to the back in modern professional wrestling history. The two would continue their brawl into the back and onto the streets, but Jericho's claims of a conspiracy against him were firmly at an end as he reclaimed the championship he had lost the month before.