“Well, everybody was playing so busy, I decided to just pick one note and stick with it. But I had to make sure it was a good one!” he quipped before barking another barrage of his boisterous laugh.
I joined in and mentioned how cool it was to see the Stones back on stage after a lengthy layoff, and asked if they were thinking about doing any more shows.
“Absolutely! I knew if I could just convince HIM to play one show, that HE would get the bug again and HE would want to do more, and that’s what happened. HE was on the phone with me the next day to talk about a tour.”
I realized of course that the HE and HIM to whom Keith was referring was Mick Jagger, who’d famously feuded with his pal over the past few years. But now that the heat had apparently blown over, I’d just been given the exclusive news by one of the Glimmer Twins that the Rolling Stones were ready to do some more dirty work, baby!
We chatted for a few more minutes as Jimmy explained what they had planned for that evening, including a bit where Keef would be sitting in the audience heckling himself as he got interviewed (“Whatever you want, Jimmy, anything for you, man”). Then Jimmy asked if he could take a picture of me with Jumpin’ Jack Flash himself.
“Of course, man! Just make sure you get my good side,” Richards said with a grin. “Wait a second, I’m sixty-nine years old . . . I don’t have a good side!” (Insert rusty-blade chuckle here.)
He slid his arm around me and I laughed as Jimmy snapped the photo. It was a great shot and I’ve gotten more comments about that picture than any other I’ve taken. As a matter of fact, when I sent it to Guns N’ Roses guitarist and my bro Slash, he dug it so much that he said he was going to print it out and save it.
Keith then told his assistant to give me one of the exclusive Keef T-shirts they had brought with them, stacked in small pile in the corner.
“What size are you, man?” he asked. When I told him large would be fine, he said, “Take a medium too, just in case. Give the one that doesn’t fit to your grandma . . . she’ll know who I am!” He cackled once again.
We thanked him for his hospitality, and I shook his hand and proclaimed my eternal respect for him and his band as we left the room.
Jimmy and I stood in the hallway for a few moments like excited groupies, buzzing about the previous fifteen minutes. I couldn’t thank him enough for arranging the once in a lifetime meeting and he said, “I told you I would make it happen!”
Then he clapped me on the back and said he had to go to work, which was perfect timing, because I did too. The best part was that it was only 5:15 p.m., which gave me plenty of time to get back to the Izod Center. I even had time to give my regards to Rodman, who was still in the greenroom recounting his tales of Jong-un to anyone who would listen. A few minutes later I was in the SUV, and thanks to the miracle of no traffic was back at the arena about thirty minutes later, at 6:15 p.m. During the drive, I sent the picture of me and Keef to a bunch of my friends, including Vince.
“Awesome,” was his one-word response.
When I got back to the Izod Center, I checked out the evening’s rundown taped to the wall and was relieved to see my segment was scheduled at the top of the third hour, which would be around 10 p.m. Vince had lived up to his promise and put me on as late as he could, and I in turn had lived up to my promise and gotten back to the arena with plenty of time to spare.
So despite all the reasons why it might not have worked out, I had taken a chance, beat the odds, and met Keith Richards.
A few weeks later, I sent a rare Rolling Stones vinyl box set to Fallon’s office as a token of my appreciation. I received a nice email back from him saying what a great time it was and that I had an open invite to return to his show whenever I wanted.
Well, I haven’t been invited back since he took over hosting The Tonight Show, but when I am, I have a wicked Van Halen/VDS medley that needs to be heard to be believed.
I’ve got it bad
I’ve got it bad
I’ve got it bad
I’m hot for Van Damme . . .
CHAPTER 4
THE
VINCE
MCMAHON
PRINCIPLE
WORK HARD . . .
THEN WORK HARDER!
You got me workin’, workin’ day and night,
And I’ll be workin’ from sun up to midnight . . .
—MICHAEL JACKSON, “WORKIN’ DAY AND NIGHT”
(Michael Jackson)
I do a lot of stuff.
Between my WWE career, Fozzy tours, twice weekly episodes of Talk Is Jericho, running the Jericho Network, hosting shows, planning cruises, and writing books, it’s fair to say that I am at work more than most people. I’ve been fortunate to turn my various passions into professions because I like being creative, but the bottom line is I like working. It’s fun to accept a challenge and then use my brainpower to make it successful. I’ve always had a strong work ethic, instilled in me at a young age by my parents, and cultivated to the highest degree for the last seventeen years by my WWE boss, Vince McMahon.
As the head of a billion-dollar company that thanks to him has become a worldwide phenomenon, Vince hasn’t shirked any responsibilities along the way. Even today, as he approaches his mid-seventies, I get the sense that he works just as hard now as he ever did. His joie de vivre for what he does is infectious, and I honestly enjoy being around him. He’s constantly pushing his own boundaries and has no fear of leaving his comfort zone to try new things and expand his business in various ways. They don’t always work . . . (cough, XFL, cough) . . . but most of them do, like the WWE Network and last year’s Raw/Smackdown brand extension, and he continues to expand his business model every year. He also has a motto that I apply to myself when I’m working on all my various business ventures.
“There’s no job too big or too small, Chris,” he told me one day in his office, as he bent over to pick up and throw away a random bit of trash. It struck me that the head of a billion-dollar company was perfectly happy taking a turn doing janitorial work, because it needed to be done.
His other motto is “I’d never ask you to do something that I wouldn’t do myself,” which is why you’ve seen him fall off the sides of cages, have Porta-Pottys of poop poured on him, and even dance and sing in the music video for his song “Stand Back.” (Haven’t seen it? Please go to YouTube and treat yourself now!) The guy is fearless and willing to try anything if he thinks there’s a chance it will benefit his company. This is an attitude I’ve adopted in my own life, and I promise it will benefit you in your own future endeavors as well.
A few years ago, I hosted the revamped WWE Tough Enough on the USA Network. While it wasn’t a hit, it was an amazing experience because as the host, I was expected to sit in on the production meetings led by Vince and give my opinions to better the show. Some of my ideas worked, some didn’t, but more importantly, Vince taught me how to conduct myself in a professional meeting. Once after I obnoxiously cut somebody off, he took me aside and explained that I didn’t always have to be the loudest guy in the room.
“Sometimes it’s better just to sit back and survey the situation. If you choose your words carefully, people will pay more attention to what you don’t say than what you do. And then when you talk, your words will mean more.”
That was something that my friend Chris Benoit was great at: listening. He didn’t say much, but when he did, he commanded your complete attention. If he was bothering to talk, you knew he had put great thought into what he was about to say.
After a live episode of Tough Enough, I was invited to ride on the WWE corporate jet, so I could make it to the NBC Upfront convention in New York City to do press the next morning. Despite the fact Vince ribbed me and left the TV studio without me, I still made it to the airfield on time, and took a seat on the plane directly facing him. Over the course of the next three hours, we had a blast talking about AC/DC and the Rolling Stones, Dancing with the Stars (Vince was very supportive of my decision to do the program and admired t
he “balls” I had to actually go through with it), old-time wrestling, and ribbing The Big Show, all the while enjoying a few cocktails as two gentlemen are wont to do. As a result, I was pretty loaded when we finally landed in New York around 4 a.m. I was tired and dreading the fact that I was going to have to wake up in a few short hours to get ready for the big press day, but apparently Mr. McMahon didn’t feel the same way.
“What are you doing now?” he quizzed me. “Wanna go to the gym and work out?”
“Go to the gym? Are you nuts? I’m wasted and I have to get up in three hours!” I slurred in disbelief.
“So? I have to get up in two.”
Needless to say, I didn’t accept Vince’s offer and went to the hotel to get some much needed sleep. I woke up to a text from my sixty-nine-year old boss sent while he was working out at 4:30 a.m., burying me for not keeping up with him. Meanwhile, I was drooling all over my pillow in a drunken snooze and was barely able to get out of bed.
McMahon: 1
Jericho: 0
When you think about it, Vince’s legendary work ethic has transferred to his most successful employees as if by osmosis. Working for him inspires those of us who want to do great things in the WWE and beyond. You don’t have to go far to see why Vince’s employees who have been successful in other areas have ended up that way.
Look at The Rock, for example. At this point, he’s one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, with new movies being shot constantly, a hit HBO television series in Ballers, a successful production company producing hit after hit, and all the while maintaining an intense physical regimen. Plus, he’s renowned for having a good attitude, a strong work ethic, and being very easy to work with. That comes from Vince as well, as there’s no place for prima donnas in his modern-day WWE system. You’re expected to do your job to the utmost of your abilities and go the extra mile without question.
John Cena is another example of the McMahon work ethic personified. He was tireless in his efforts for the WWE, inside of the ring and out, including being the most requested Make-A-Wish celebrity or sports figure EVER. Think about that . . . more kids have requested to meet him than anybody else on the planet!
He’s also worked his ass off to make a splash in Hollywood and has become one of the most promising comedic actors in the business. Add in a regular guest hosting gig with the Today show and a plethora of other projects, and you see how his work ethic is paying off. Hell, the guy even learned how to speak Mandarin Chinese in order to help break the WWE in China. Think about how much of an effort that must’ve taken . . . I can barely speak English these days!
Dave Bautista also fits in this category after becoming one of the biggest (literally) character actors in the world, and if you don’t believe it, find me another guy whose movies have grossed over three million dollars in box office receipts in just a few years.
Big Dave is in the Big Time now.
I also take great pride in also being one of “Vince’s guys” when it comes to my business acumen. I don’t take every project I’m offered, but I’m not afraid to try new things and take a chance if an opportunity interests me. I’ll also do whatever I have to do to make something happen if I think it’s a smart move careerwise.
When Fozzy was offered a short tour with Slash and his solo band, the Conspirators, by Slash himself, I knew we had to make it work no matter what. The only issue was there wasn’t a lot of money offered, but there comes a time when you have to do things for the Big Picture, not short-term financial reasons.
In this case, the prospect of touring with Slash would not only put us in front of big crowds in the States, but also give us the chance to impress one of the greatest guitar players in history, who would be touring (and needing opening acts) for years to come. Plus, the low-money offer forced us to get crafty with the budget. Fozzy’s manager, Mark Willis, and I challenged each other to make the tour happen and to make it profitable. It wasn’t easy, but we did it.
We made a few concessions, like downgrading from a tour bus to a van and going out with only two crew members, but we doubled our VIP efforts, built up our merchandise, and booked a few headlining shows on the days off in between Slash gigs. We also used our “in case of emergency” endorsement money from the amazing people at Monster Energy (shout-out to Matt Larsen) that we had saved for a rainy-day tour like this. When it was all sang and done, after playing five awesome shows with Slash and two headlining gigs of our own, Rich Ward (Fozzy’s guitar player and my partner in crime) and I were able to pay all our expenses and still walk away with a profit. More importantly, we earned Slash’s respect, as he told us that we were the best opening band he’d had on the tour so far, and high praise like that can’t be bought. So even though it required a lot of planning, scrimping, and extra work to make those shows happen, it paid off big time.
The point I’m trying to get across is if something is worth doing, then you need to put in the effort to make it work. And that motto is the secret behind the success of my podcast, Talk Is Jericho.
After finishing up a two-year run of The Rock of Jericho show on Nikki Sixx’s Sixx Sense channel on SiriusXM, I was looking for another radio gig. I really enjoyed the weekly interview segments on Rock of Jericho with my various musician friends and wanted to continue the chat-show format but wasn’t sure how.
Then like a stunner out of nowhere, I got a call from Steve Austin (who had recently started his own podcast), asking me if I’d be interested in doing one of my own.
I was excited at the prospect and thought it would be the perfect forum for me to continue to hone the interviewing skills I’d been working on since I’d studied journalism at Red River College in Winnipeg (represent, yo!), twenty-five years prior.
Steve hooked me up with his boss, Norm Pattiz, who had created an audio kingdom with the Westwood One radio network back in the 1970s. He had since founded the PodcastOne network, after having the foresight to see that podcasts were the future of radio.
Norm was a charismatic guy, funny and driven, who reminded me a lot of Vince McMahon. They both had the bravado, fearlessness, and implied arrogance that went along with being the head of a self-created multimillion-dollar pop culture empire. I’d experienced Lorne Michaels to be the same way when I worked for him on MacGruber. (Check out the hilarious summit between the two of us in my humorous handbook, The Best in the World.)
Norm and I hit it off immediately, and we decided to work together only a few minutes after we met. The best part of starting Talk Is Jericho for me was that I was going to get a hundred percent creative control over the content of the podcast, which was important because my mission was to make TIJ more than just a wrestling show. I wanted it to reflect the diverse interests of Chris Jericho. Wrestling would be a part of it for sure, but I also wanted to have musicians, paranormal experts, comedians, porn stars, athletes, family, friends, and anything in between on as well. Basically, anybody who I felt was interesting enough to carry on a conversation with me for an hour could make the cut. I wanted Talk Is Jericho to be like The Tonight Show in that people tuned in because they liked Jimmy Fallon, not because of any particular guest.
So that’s how I structured it.
Austin was my first guest and Edge was my second, but within the next ten episodes, I had Eddie Trunk on to talk about KISS in the Hall of Fame, M. Shadows to talk video games, Ted Irvine to talk old-time hockey, and a ghost hunter to talk elephants. Actually, the ghost hunter spoke about ghosts, but you get the idea.
The wrestling guests got the most downloads, but my non-wrestling shows drew some great numbers right off the bat as well. As a result, Talk Is Jericho was an instant hit.
I was ecstatic, but my mission was to keep it a hit and also expand my audience. I felt from the start that my real competition wasn’t Steve Austin or Colt Cabana, but rather Adam Carolla and Chris Hardwick, two podcast masters who were “must dos” when celebs had something to promote.
In order to get into that rarified podcasti
ng air, I realized early on that the best interviews were always done in person, so I made it a rule to do phone interviews only if there were no other options (guys like Ace Frehley and Jesse Ventura always get call-in passes). As a result, I started carrying my recording gear with me everywhere I went, in a white pillow case (it’s durable and flexible), so I was prepared to do interviews no matter where I was.
If I was on a WWE tour and we passed through Detroit, I would go chat with Insane Clown Posse. If I did a festival like Carolina Rebellion with Fozzy, I would arrange a chat with Corey Taylor, Vinnie Paul, or whoever else I knew that was on the bill. Also, by working steadily with the WWE and being in the locker room weekly, I had Kevin Owens on the week after he became the Universal Champion and Seth Rollins the day he came back from a six-month injury. Even though it was a lot more travel and work for me, I was delivering the best guests in the best settings, which translated to excellent show quality and ratings.
Then to take things further, if I could book a cluster of guests to make it worthwhile enough, I traveled to certain cities on my days off. For example, I flew to Chicago to talk to Charlie Benante about the Beatles, Billy Corgan about TNA wrestling, and Bobby Hull about the WHA Winnipeg Jets all in one day. Then I flew to Las Vegas to talk to Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden, Annie Lobert from Hookers for Jesus, and Disco Inferno from the soup kitchen, then zipped over to New York to chat with Paul Heyman, Jim Breuer, and the Impractical Jokers.
I was going out of my way to get the most interesting and diverse guests, and I didn’t care if I had to spend some money in the process. Besides, the cash I spent on airfare or hotel expenses added up to only a small percentage of the increasing ad revenues I was bringing in.
It wasn’t easy running the entire TIJ organization basically by myself (with some help from my amazing producer, Stacie Parra), and it was a lot of extra work to book the guests or record episodes on the same day as other gigs (tracking a live Talk Is Jericho in Toronto with Kevin Owens just a few hours before my main event at Survivor Series 2016 comes to mind). Worse yet was the mental mindfuck when guests cancelled or barely made it in time to do a proper show, like when Meat Loaf got lost for three hours and arrived at the studio only fifty minutes before I had to leave for a flight, or when Kevin Smith was out walking his dog and totally forgot we had arranged to meet that day, or when Ralph Macchio claimed he wanted to do it but bailed every time I gave him a possible date, until I started feeling like a mark and quit asking. But for the most part the stress and extra labor were worth it, because I had now developed a legitimate third source of income and created a whole new cottage industry for myself.
No is a Four-Letter Word Page 5
