WATCH | Reconnecting with Chris Jericho, who gave me a pep talk 16 years ago
By Now or Never host Trevor Dineen
Here's something I think you should know about me: I grew up loving wrestling. From as early as I can remember, my Dad would take me to the video store and I would rent every wresting VHS tape I could find.
Wrestlemania, Survivor Series, Summerslam... I watched them all. So, now that you know my history with wrestling, let me take you back to 2001.
I was in my first year of a communications degree at Winnipeg's Red River College. Our journalism instructor told us we had to interview someone that had graduated from the school. And that's when I realized... Chris Jericho had graduated from the same program.
For those of you who don't know who Chris Jericho is — shame on you. He's been called the "Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla", "The Man of 1004 Holds" and most notably "Y2J". In 2001 he was one of the most popular wrestlers on the planet. But he was also a Winnipegger.
So I did what any young first-year journalism student would do: I emailed his fan club and asked if I could interview him for my class paper. And here's the thing... Chris Jericho responded.
He said the WWE was coming to Winnipeg for an event and that I could come backstage for an interview. I went down to the arena, he met me backstage, and he let me interview him for an hour. 60 whole minutes!
He was ridiculously kind, easygoing and funny. And he even gave me some advice on getting through school which was, "don't ever let anyone take away your creativity." Those words have always stuck with me.
So here we are, 16 years later, and I was given the opportunity to talk to him again. This time, minus the puka shell necklace and sideburns.
I know what you're thinking: did he remember that spiky-haired young upstart from years ago? No. No he did not. But he did get a good laugh out of the picture of us. And he was just as kind, easygoing and funny as the first time.
And instead of giving me a pep talk on school, this time around he gave me some advice on handling fear.
His advice was basically this: people are afraid of failing, but real failure is not attempting something. If you take risks and believe in what you do instead of listening to what other people tell you to do, nine times out of 10 things will work out.
And considering he's one of the best wrestlers of all time, a best-selling author of four books, the lead singer of a band, and stars in the CBC comedy series But I'm Chris Jericho... I'm pretty sure he knows what he's talking about. I can only look forward to what advice he has to give me in another 16 years.
I'm hoping by then puka shell necklaces come back in style. We all can dream.