Ex-WWE Star Says Chris Jericho Taught Him Physical Lesson During Match

A former WWE superstar has explained how painful it was to be put into Chris Jericho’s “Walls of Jericho” submission move.

Chris Jericho has been one of the most successful pro wrestlers over the last 30 years thanks to his 20-year run in WWE that was preceded by his days in Japan & Mexico. For the last five years, Jericho has been a leader in AEW as the company’s first World Champion who also held the ROH World Championship as well.

While Jericho isn’t considered a big man in the pro wrestling world, he is a hard hitter who is known for delivering hard chops and other strikes. His longtime finishing move called the Walls of Jericho (or Liontamer) is like a high-angle Boston Crab that looks more painful than most submission moves in pro wrestling.

During his reign as WWE’s Undisputed Champion, Chris Jericho had a match on Raw in January 2002 with a rookie wrestler named Maven, who won the Tough Enough show, which earned him a contract.

Maven is now a successful YouTuber who spoke about that match with Jericho while revealing the former Undisputed WWE Champion locked in the Walls of Jericho extra hard that night.

“On Monday Night Raw I found myself in an Undisputed Championship match against Champion Chris Jericho. Now, the finish of the match called for the Walls of Jericho. I have never been placed in the Walls, I had no clue what the Walls felt like. I had obviously seen him put this move on other competitors, but you don’t know how something feels until it happens to you. I have learned this lesson that night.”

“What the Walls feels like for those of you who will never be a wrestler, I know you have all jammed or bent your finger back and you get it to the place where it won’t go any further. That’s what the walls felt like that night as I saw my boots from an angle that I have never seen before.”

“Chris locks it in and goes back to a specific point, a point he normally goes to with other guys. Then from that position, he sat back a little bit further and I am sure it was to teach me a lesson.

You can see on my face as I tap out I am completely done, that’s not an act. That’s not me selling, that is sheer pain, that is the most pain I was ever in [while] in that ring. I can still remember it.”

“I remember my body going to a point where I didn’t think it could bend any more. When I thought that, he bent it a little bit more. To add insult to injury, Chris made sure that he kept it locked in even after the bell rang, just to help me pay my dues a little more.”

As the storytelling continued, Maven revealed when tapped out to Chris Jericho’s Walls of Jericho submission three years later, it was a much lighter edition of the move and it led to an interesting discussion after the match.

“Three years later I would wrestle Chris again. By this time I was no longer just the Tough Enough kid. I had paid some dues at this point. Again, I would lose to Jericho and I would lose to the Walls of Jericho. This time he didn’t put it on [anywhere] near as tight as he did the first time. I remember getting backstage, I didn’t tell him prior to the match, because I didn’t want him to try it again and put it in even tighter.”

But once we got backstage after the match was over, I did tell him about that first match. I’m glad this one didn’t resemble that one. In true Chris form, he grinned at me just to tell me ‘Of course kid. I have to make you earn it kid.’ He laughed and walked on.”

“Chris did me a favour that night. All these lessons I had to learn made me better at what I did. I am grateful to everyone who helped me not only pay my dues but who gave me receipts when they were warranted.”

Chris Jericho Wins Another Championship At AEW Dynasty

For the first time in his illustrious career, the 53-year-old Chris Jericho is the new FTW Champion after beating Hook at AEW Dynasty. Jericho used some underhanded tactics to win the match and even hit Hook in the head with a baseball bat (it was legal based on the rules of the match). Jericho is now calling himself “The Learning Tree” of AEW and is happy to offer help to anybody who wants it.

On AEW Dynamite in Jacksonville, Big Bill told Chris Jericho he would like to learn from him, so it looks like a new alliance could be formed.