Chris Jericho Recalls Rebounding From First WCW Match, Described As 'Terrible'

Chris Jericho kicked off the latest "Talk Is Jericho" by reflecting on his WCW match with "The Gambler" Jeff Gann that turned his career around.

"We were doing 'Worldwide' tapings in Orlando, and I had just had a match a few days prior, my first match in WCW with Jerry Lynn and it just didn't work out," Jericho recalled. "It was not good. I had just come from Japan where I'm working 20-minute matches and they give me five minutes and I didn't know what to do."

He continued, "I had a really bad cloud over my head because I came back from that match and Terry Taylor said, 'I heard you were supposed to be good. What was that? It was terrible.' Now when you're a young guy and you hear that, it just kind of crushes you and you don't even know what to do."

Jericho then asked Gann if he remembered being paired with him to put on a better match.

The Gambler said, "Oh, yes. Terry Taylor actually came to me and said, 'Look here. We like this kid. We want to sign him. I need you to go out and have a good match with him... but cut him off occasionally and see how he recovers. Go out and have a good, solid match with him, but get him over good.' I said, 'Okay, I'll do it,' because that's what my job was. It was a pleasure, man."

Jericho noted that despite traveling the world for six years at that point, he had really low self-esteem because he was trying to make it. Then things turned around once he had the match "without bells and whistles" with The Gambler.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Talk Is Jericho" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.