Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 48: Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho (Nitro 12/30/96)

This is the first time Chris Jericho makes the set with a match. Benoit we know for all his matches on the set so far. Benoit worked a lot with Jericho early in his WCW run and got him ready as he went forward. Jericho actually talks a bit about working with him in Japan and WCW, and how it brought him along. I’m admittedly not a huge fan of this part of Jericho’s career, but lets see if new eyes does the trick.

This is probably the best Jericho has looked to me in that early WCW run, but it’s still to busy. This is a four to four and a half minute match, and it looks like Benoit is letting Jericho run through as many high spots as he likes to keep him happy. When Benoit takes over after the first sprint of a minute, it gets more thoughtful. Benoit again shows all the personality where Jericho was a terrible babyface to get behind at the time.

Jericho gets a nice little run at the end coming back with more appropriate offense than his opening flurry, but this whole thing is a far to short sprint. I saw these guys do a Saturday Night or a PPV match from Sept. ’96, and at times it was better, but had all the trappings of overkill big moves without heart. This had a smidge more heart but a lot less time. 2 ¼ and 4/10.