WWE News: Vince McMahon's reaction to Chris Jericho's famous catchphrase

What’s the story?

Chris Jericho has revealed Vince McMahon’s reaction to his now-legendary catchphrase, ‘Stupid Idiot’.

In a recent interview with Rock 100.5 ATL’s Bailey and Southside, Jericho stated that, according to Vince McMahon, no one other than Y2J could call WWE fans ‘stupid idiots’ and simply get away with it.

In case you didn’t know...

Chris Jericho, whose real name is Christopher Keith Irvine, popularised the ‘Stupid Idiot’ catchphrase during his run as a heel alongside Kevin Owens.

Although Jericho’s aforementioned catchphrase initially earned him boos from the fans, and he eventually introduced his infamous ‘List’ gimmick, wherein he would write the names of any and every WWE personality whom he finds irritating, on the list.

Jericho’s ‘Stupid Idiot’ catchphrase and ‘List’ gimmick eventually got so ‘over’ with the WWE Universe that WWE would turn him face, until his latest stint with the promotion ended on a recent episode of SmackDown Live.

The heart of the matter

Jericho recalled the time when Vince McMahon reacted upon coming across the catchphrase ‘Stupid Idiot’. Here are a few excerpts from his statements regarding the same-

“They’re chanting it now, ‘stupid idiot’ and I remember when I started saying that, Vince was like, ‘nobody could say this, nobody can get away with this, but you can. You’re the only guy in the world who could do this’ because when I started using ‘stupid idiot,’ it got heat. I would call the fans, ‘you’re stupid idiots’ and they’d be like, ‘boo!’ and then, like everything else, suddenly people loved it.”

Jericho also revealed the person who came up the idea of ‘The List’, “Working with this guy who’s a writer in the WWE named Jimmy Jacobs. He used to be a (pro) wrestler. He came up to me one day and said, ‘what if we do something where you put somebody on this list?’ I’m like, ‘I knew this guy once who had a list of people he didn’t like.’ I’m like, ‘oh, that sounds funny.’ So I said it and it kind of got a reaction.”

Additionally, emphasising the popularity of The List of Jericho – something that’s seen off-the-charts fan support from the pro-wrestling community – Jericho claimed that The List is more popular than 85% of the guys on the WWE roster, including himself. Besides, Y2J also asserted that you just never know what would make an impression on the fans.

What’s next?

Chris Jericho is presently on tour with Fozzy and has stated in recent interviews that he would not regret if he never wrestles again.

Nevertheless, the 46-year-old has been advertised for a few upcoming WWE live events and will return to the squared-circle in the next few weeks, once he fulfils his touring obligations with his band Fozzy.

Author’s take

Chris Jericho’s impersonation of Vince McMahon is truly hilarious. In my opinion, Mr. McMahon deserves credit for identifying Jericho’s genius and giving him the go-ahead for the over-the-top ‘List’/’Stupid Idiot’ gimmick.