AEW's Chris Jericho On WWE Raw Debut, How Long It Took To Earn Vince McMahon's Trust

AEW star Chris Jericho has recalled his iconic WWE debut in 1999, as well as when he earned the trust of Vince McMahon.

Jericho recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet on "Insight," where he discussed in detail about his debut with The Rock, and the behind-the-scenes conversations.

"It was my first show. I'd been to Detroit to watch Sunday Night Heat the night before, just to be around the set, the guys, and everything," he recalled. "We didn't have a rehearsal, which is crazy to think. The Rock and I, and Vince Russo, kinda went to a back area and came up with some ideas. I remember Rock came up with the 'Y2J KY Jelly up your ass,' and the Juventud Guerrera line in there as well. So we just went over it ourselves."

The veteran star also remembered his brief interaction with Vince McMahon backstage, where the former WWE Chairman commented on Jericho's hairstyle, and told him that he would be looking intently at his performance.

"Then I saw Vince, before I had my hair up in a ponytail and had kind of the Billy Goats gruff beard, he looked at my hair, 'Interesting hair.' I said, 'Cheap heat, brother,' or something like that, and he's like, 'Indeed.' I remember asking, 'Is there anything you want me to do?' and he said, 'No, I'll be watching you like a hawk. If there's anything I don't like, I'll tell you,' which, of course, he never told me anything, and I found out afterwards that he didn't like a lot of the things I did, but he never said a word."

Chris Jericho also recollected the thoughts he had heading into his debut, remembering how crucial it was not to blow this massive opportunity.

"And then I remember when the idea came up for the countdown clock — which we had been doing it for about a month on Raw — when the idea came up to end at zero during The Rock's promo, which is Vince's idea ... which doesn't get any bigger than that. Rock was the number one guy in the company at the time — probably still is now — but to have that interrupt him was like, 'Damn dude, here's your teed-up chance at hitting a home run.' I just remember being backstage thinking, 'Okay ... this was nine years into my career, all the miles I've traveled, all the matches I've had, all the places I've been... This is it. You have to hit a home run. If you don't, this could be the end.'"

Jericho stated that fans in the arena knew that the surprise wrestler was going to be him, and claimed that many fans had signs with his name on them. While his debut elicited a huge reaction, he was soon brought down to earth in the months to follow. The AEW star said that he didn't believe that he had the trust of Vince McMahon for years, only gaining his trust sometime in 2008. 

"I think it took all the way until the Shawn Michaels–Jericho suit-and-tie feud in 2008, that's when I really felt like I lived up to my potential. That's when I truly earned Vince's respect as someone he knew he could trust, both in the ring and out, as far as being a general."