I’m not sure where to start with this one. It was quite a while ago that I read “A Lion’s Tale” and I likely should have written down my thoughts right after I finished. I’ve actually read the book twice, I read an early draft sent to me by the publisher and the final product sent to me by Chris. Not a bad deal I’ve got two copies of the book and haven’t spent a dime (LOL).

I’m not sure what I can say about the book that hasn’t already been said. I’ve done a few reviews already on my site promoting the book, partly because Chris is a friend of mine, but mostly because the book is just so damn good it deserves it.

This was my favourite Wrestling Bio; of all the bios I’ve read (and granted I haven’t read all that many) this was the best. Have a Nice Day may have been better but I enjoyed A Lion’s Tale far more. Being a part of Jericho’s career as much as a was gave me a great perspective to judge this book, and it’s honesty, and I’ve got to tell you this is bang on. I was around for most of his early years and Chris just tells it like it is and since his life and career journey was so amazing, just telling it like it is made for a great story.

I laughed out loud though the majority of this book, and as funny as all of you may have found it reading these stories, let me assure you they are way more funny when you actually know the people he is referring to and know exactly why he sees them the way he does. I am curious how some of the fringe characters from the book feel about how they were portrayed though. I assume many of the people we went to camp with read the book, as no doubt did the Strange Kentucky People (assuming they can read); were they offended or did they find their portrayal amusing? I was really hoping to get responses from some of those people but since I’ve already edited the majority of submitted responses I doubt we will.

There were a few stories in the book that I remembered differently than the Chris, which I thought would be fun to give my side of the story for. I jotted notes down while reading the book solely for this purpose, but like an idiot I’ve misplaced my notes. I’ll have to do my best by memory.

Two stories from SMW were the biggest, the first being our top rope double drop kick finish. I remember at our first TV taping Jericho talking about using the double drop kick (I still think that was an amazing looking move, that we timed so perfectly) and I told him we’d never be allowed to use it. He asked why and I pointed out that the Rock and Roll use a double drop kick, as a finish so there was no way Cornette would let us show them up with a top rope version of their finisher. Not 5 minutes after I said that Jimmy came by and specifically asked us to use that as the finish in our first match. When Jim left I shrugged and we hit the move. Tracey Smothers told me, years later, that the Rock and Roll Express almost had a heart attack when they saw us hit the move. In hind sight I think Jimmy was using us as political pawns at the time, sending a message to the R&R that they could be replaced, in hopes of having more leverage when dealing with them.

The other story I recall differently is the DQ Drive Thru story. In my recollection this whole thing was Jericho’s fault. Chris was sitting in the back of the van and I was up near the front. When we were ordering our food Chris ordered last, and at the end of his order wanted to know if he could order a banana. He didn’t want a banana split just a banana. A lot of the boys were laughing at him when he was trying to order said banana and I think this is the reason why the lady at the drive thru thought our order was a joke, and it was Jericho’s banana that caused her to delay the order until it could be verified. That’s not all, when we got to the window and the girl started verifying the order, Cornette commented that he thought they’d have already been “fixin” our food. She then commented that she had thought the order might be a “joke”. Jimmy didn’t explode right away and was at first just a little miffed and confused. Chris then piped up from the back, in his best Spinal Tap impression, “You think this is a joke, does this look like a fucking joke to you” which I assumed was a direct quote from the film. The lady heard Chris say “Fucking Joke” and that is when she said, “If you are going to cuss at me you won’t get your food.” It was at this point that Cornette lost it, and went on the greatest cuss riddled tirade since I last watched Impact, including getting out of the car and trying to climb through the drive thru window, while cussing out, not only the poor lady, but the horse she rode in on. I don’t’ think Jericho took near his full amount of credit for inciting this wonderful situation.

I’ll wrap up here; I could likely tell stories until this review rivaled the book in length, so best to just stop now. Hopefully a few other stories will come up when I read more of your responses.

Lance