Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling

By ALEX MARVEZ
Scripps Howard News Service
Thursday, October 18, 2007

"Jerichoholics'' can now get their fix.

Two years after taking a hiatus from World Wrestling Entertainment, Chris Jericho has written a book chronicling his path to grappling stardom. "A Lion's Tale'' ($25.95; Grand Central Publishing) provides a hilarious, raunchy and behind-the-scenes look at how Jericho fulfilled his childhood goal of working for WWE.

During a telephone interview earlier this week, Jericho jokingly described his 412-page autobiography as being "like Catcher in the Rye, only it's with a half-naked guy in spandex."

"It's about following a dream as a stranger in a strange land combined with a coming-of-age story with wrestling as the backdrop," Jericho said. "It could have been written about a tiddlywinks player or a blacksmith. To me, this is more about the trials and tribulations I had over nine years to get to WWE (in 1999)."

Jericho's quest took him from his parent's home in Winnipeg, Canada to the Calgary-based Hart Brothers training school -- which wasn't even run by members of that storied grappling clan -- and promotions in Mexico, Hamburg and Japan.

"It's like I lived five different lives before I turned 25," said the 36-year-old Jericho, whose real name is Chris Irvine. "Not only did I hone my craft as a wrestler, I got to experience what life is like on the other side of the world at the same age most people are getting ready to move out of their parents' house."

Even with the major cultural differences that he details, performing for international companies seemed normal compared to what Jericho endured when getting his break in the U.S. Jericho writes about Extreme Championship Wrestling's strange financial workings - like the company using bereavement fares to fly wrestlers to matches - and the disarray in World Championship Wrestling management that helped destroy the company.

Jericho doesn't editorialize on some of the issues facing his generation of wrestlers like steroid abuse and early deaths. But Jericho said he was struck by "the amount of guys in the book who will never be able to read it" like Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit.

Jericho said he debated removing Benoit from the book after the latter killed his wife and child before committing suicide in June. Because he considered him a "big brother and mentor," Jericho kept Benoit in the book and wrote in the preface that "the man I knew and loved exists within these pages, not the man that existed in the final days of his life."

Medical reports showed Benoit had high levels of steroids in his system and brain damage from numerous concussions. But unlike other grapplers and journalists who spoke about Benoit on numerous talk shows, Jericho doesn't blame the pro wrestling culture for triggering his rampage.

"I never thought this was a wrestling problem," Jericho said. "I think you were dealing with a guy with serious mental issues who obviously couldn't find his way. There's a lot of different factors and we'll never know why. I don't think it changed my vision of the business at all."

Jericho admits he should soon be returning to WWE as teased on recent telecasts. Jericho said he regained his passion for wrestling during his time away and while writing "A Lion's Tale.''

"For 15 years, it was straight wrestling and you can see in the book what went into it," said Jericho, who segued into music and entertainment projects after leaving WWE. "There was a lot of mental and physical anguish and everything in between. I was completely burned out. In the first year I was gone, I didn't even watch wrestling and I didn't care. It was the perfect time for me to leave."

Jericho is embarking on a book tour in support of "A Lion's Tale.'' For more information, visit www.chrisjericho.com.

(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service.)