On the eve of a potential new conflict between competing wrestling companies, many are recalling the old days of the 90s. The Attitude Era was full of wrestlers switching between one show and the next, and it seems like everyone made appearances on every show. One notable exception is Val Venis, a popular mid-card act in WWE that appeared everywhere but WCW. In an interview with The Hannibal TV, the wrestler recalls a tryout with WCW scheduled before his WWE audition.
After finishing up his tryout, WCW officials told Val to call them after going to WWE, saying they would match any offer Vince gave him. However, Val chose not to make that call and signed with WWE. The reason? Current AEW headliner Chris Jericho.
I remember Jericho, he was one of the guys who walked up to me after I did my dark match. I had been introduced to Bischoff and gone back to the locker room. Jericho comes up to me and said “Don’t come here man.” It was one of those things, if WWE made you an offer, go there.
Val goes on to describe WWE’s locker room as mostly friendly in comparison to WCW’s which was full of “these little cliques” that seemed to be constantly fighting for attention.
You can see the full interview clip embedded below:
