Talk about it here.

Aw, the Georgia Dome. I sill think it was a terrible business move for WCW to not hold a signature PPV in the Georgia Dome as with the right match, the probably could have had close to a sell out.

 

Jericho comes out with a chair and tuxedo and he apologizes to David Penzer about last week's tantrum. He presents Penzer with a new chair and tuxedo jacket. You could tell Jericho was relishing this role and the crowd was right there with him. He throws in a couple of lines such as being a role model to millions just to make sure everyone is on board with what is happening.

 

The match is only three minutes long but continued the storyline. Jericho and Page shake hands a couple of times after coming to a standstill. On the third handshake, Jericho pulls Page down into a pinning combination. He then goes for a kick to the balls but Page grabs the leg and spins him around into a vicious looking Diamond Cutter. The segment closes with Jericho pitching another fit on the outside with the steel steps turned over. (*)

This had some really fun work in it for a short match. DDP is just crazy over here.

Fun television match. Jericho was so great in his heel role during this time. I've found him to be hit-or-miss throughout his career, but this was one portion of his career where he thought he totally nailed it. I am looking forward a lot to all of his segments throughout the year.

Thought we would get a few more minutes out of this one. In the end felt more like continuing an angle than an actual match with DDP getting a quick victory. This was period where I really warmed up to Jericho. And yeah Soup, I always wondered why WCW didn't have a PPV in front of a big crowd. Starrcade 97 would have been an obvious choice since Hogan/Sting was booked so far in advance.

We continue the build to the heel turn that made Jericho a star. Dave Penzer is the target of his wrath, which would become a pattern. The echo in Jericho's voice was great. Fans already see exactly where this is going and you could argue that they are booing him because of his actions, but I think at this point he had Alex Wright-as-a-babyface heat where people just didn't care about him at all and found him annoying when he was around. To Jericho's credit, he was able to channel that into something that worked in a big way. I'm looking forward to reliving what was a banner year for the guy though, as Jericho was my favorite wrestler in 1998.

 

This is a rare chance to see Jericho against a top-level heavyweight. I've become a big fan of DDP as a guy who works with everyone up and down the card. This was a fun TV match with Jericho laying on the sugary sweet babyface act extra thick, shaking DDP's hand after every exchange that DDP wins, and then sneaking in hair pulling and other heel tactics, then pretending to be frustrated with himself. DDP gets the Diamond Cutter and a win and while this was short, it was also a lot of fun.

 

Jericho snaps once again after the match while screaming about a conspiracy.

Short TV match but they make the most of their time. Babyface Jericho has spent 4 years now coming off as an insincere ninny of Bischoff-ian proportions, but now it's actually starting to work for him with the disingenuous promo he cuts before the match. He hasn't found his voice quite yet but he's starting to get there. Jericho wrestles an almost John Tatum-esque match here, handshaking constantly before getting frustrated and switching to cheap heel tactics, but DDP drops him with a Diamond Cutter out of nowhere for the win. Jericho throws another tantrum after the match.

This is when I started becoming a Jericho fan -- something that has since left me. Yes, more of an angle than a match. Jericho is a whiner and DDP is over as shit.

 

Rating: Brought back memories.

Jericho and DDP are two of the best things about WCW in 1998, so it's cool to see them have this moment to kick off the year.  You can feel the heat for Jericho building, and DDP is on a roll as possibly the most over babyface in the company coming out of the storyline/main event of Starrcade.  I'm looking forward to re-watching this year for him as I do think DDP is the in-ring MVP for WCW in 1998.