Chris Jericho knows all about paying his dues in pro wrestling.
Jericho recently made an appearance on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast and spoke about his early days in the professional wrestling business.
“I had become a pretty big star in other countries before I became a star in the [United] States,” Jericho said.
Maron then asked about paying his dues and wanted to know if he ever did any ‘hell gigs’ like a stand-up comic would.
“All of them [were]. I did a kids’ birthday party once for a hot dog and an orange juice. That’s my best payoff,” Jericho quipped. “But yeah, you do all of those ones, I remember some of the places in Mexico we worked were so shitty. I remember a guy taking a shower out of the back of a toilet. He’s like, ‘No, it’s OK! It’s clean water!’ I’m like, ‘Dude, it’s from a toilet. I don’t care how clean it is, a toilet is a toilet.’
“We always had a ring, sometimes we had a boxing ring which is hard like this table [knocks on the table]. You’re not doing any bumping — we call them bumps. Not bumps of cocaine, bumps are the falls that you take in wrestling. You’re not taking a lot of bumps in a boxing ring because it’s just too hard,” Jericho explained. “So you would just go out there and pantomime and just fuck around because it’s not on TV, there’s 50 drunks in the crowd. You get the hell out of there and get your 200 pesos and go home.”
Jericho then said the smallest crowd he’s ever wrestled in front of was seven people in Canada.
“The smallest crowd I ever was in front of was in Rimbey, Alberta. Seven people. And it’s hard — I could wrestle in a stadium tomorrow in front of 70,000 people and be less nervous than wrestling in front of seven people. You could see each person in the crowd. You actually get to know these people. I’m sure you’ve done the same gigs,” he said. “That’s the real secret, that’s paying your dues. If you can get a crowd of seven interested in what you’re doing, that’s a hell of a talent to be able to have.”
Read More: Chris Jericho Recalls Vince McMahon’s ‘Ass Cream’ Pitch That He Turned Down
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