The John Cena-Chris Jericho match on the same show also created a lot of debate and confusion. The original plan there was for Cena to win via pinfall and then for Jericho to attack Cena leading to their Vengeance match. Triple H and Paul Heyman supported this scenario, while Jericho and Hayes did not but in the end it was not used. At one point, Vince McMahon wanted to re-do the entire match after the taping but was talked out of it by Hayes who then got upset at Triple H and Heyman because he thought his finish was fine. However, then others went back to Vince and complained that Cena was getting buried at which point Vince seemed to have enough and pulled the match off of the PPV (although it was later re-added). Vince also reportedly was close to not even airing the original Smackdown! match due to the complaints and worries.

Chris Jericho: Yeah, well Springsteen and Fozzy are the two biggest acts in American Rock N' Roll today, and we've gotten the same amount of coverage. He did Late Night With David Letterman, he did the Today show, he did MSNBC, and I'm doing 1Wrestling.com, so it pretty much works out.

Dave Scherer: That's pretty much what I was thinking. We're both pretty much centered out of New Jersey, so you have that going for you.

Chris Jericho: Exactly.

Dave Scherer: I've listened to the new CD, and I think it's pretty good. You and the Stuck Mojo guys make some pretty good music.

Chris Jericho: Thank you, I appreciate it.

Dave Scherer: I appreciate you doing it. When I first got it, I wasn't sure what to expect, your prowess for heavy metal is legendary and proceeds your reputation, but I really didn't know what to expect when I got the CD, and it's good. For those people that don't really understand what you do, or what kind of music you play, how would you compare what your band does to the music scene.

Chris Jericho: What we do, and its kind of funny you say that, because a lot of people when they first hear about the band think Chris Jericho can't sing, because people are always under the assumption that because you succeed at one thing you can't do anything else. But when they hear the record, the response is always the same, man you guys are awesome, I got to go buy this, or whatever, but what we did was, when we first started, everyone thought it was a joke, and when they heard it they realized it was real, and we've taken a giant step forward on that success. What kind of music we play is basically we take from a lot of different styles kind of based in metal from the 80's, not the hair metal stuff, but more of the power metal stuff, like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. We try to take a lot of the elements of the metal of the past, combine them with a lot of elements of the metal of the day, to create kind of our own hybrid for the future. We take the chunkiness and heaviness of today and combine them with the melodies and harmonies of the past to create, like I said, this new hybrid style that we're playing now.

Read more Chris Jericho interview

-1WRESTLING.COM

7/23/02

The world's biggest rock stars, Fozzy, are about to descend from the skies once again to enthrall the masses and incinerate the skeptics.

The band's Happenstance, due July 30, combines five brand new skull-shattering rockers with classic tracks that were pilfered from Fozzy over 20 years ago, then made famous by groups including Judas Priest ("Freewheel Burning"), Black Sabbath ("The Mob Rules") and W.A.S.P. ("Love Machine").

"You know what W.A.S.P. stands for? It stands for 'We Are Stupid People because we stole Fozzy's song and now we got busted and now we're embarrassed,' " snarled vocalist Moongoose McQueen after swinging by to promote his new record, which he said pre-sold 10 million copies. "Now that we're back, we're tracking down these charlatans and pulling down the curtain to reveal the shriveled-up old men shivering and shaking and saying, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' All the pirates who have stolen our stuff are now bowing down and scared to death that Fozzy has returned to the United States. I want signed, written apologies from all of them. And I'm gonna get 'em, too."

McQueen's arrogance and hostility are warranted. Fozzy virtually invented heavy metal. They were the first band to wear leather, grope groupies and conceive moshing. Artists who have unsuccessfully auditioned for the band include Paul McCartney, Ozzy axeman Zakk Wylde, Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles, who, Moongoose revealed, took up bass just to audition for Fozzy. Heck, they even invented nü metal.

"That was ours, but we spelled it k-n-e-w, because we knew we were better than everybody else," McQueen boasted. "As far as Korn Bizkit goes and all those other guys, it's fine that they're playing their little new-age metal, but nobody can compare to the true metal glory of Fozzy."

If all this sounds bogus, that's because Fozzy really aren't all they claim to be. Most of their accomplishments exist only in the mind of WWE wrestler Chris Jericho, who created the band's mythos. Jericho, who had played in various metal groups in his youth, formed Fozzy three years ago with Stuck Mojo guitarist Rich Ward while he was recovering from an ankle injury. During his many years in professional wrestling, Jericho learned the value of a good storyline as well as how to work a crowd, and he applied both to his new group.

"My character of Chris Jericho is not my real-life persona, that's my character," said the wrestler, whose real name is Chris Irvine. "People don't pay money to see me, they pay to see my character. It's the same thing with rock and roll. People don't pay to see David Lee Roth. They pay to see Diamond Dave. They pay to see Paul Stanley as the Star Child. And that's what it is with Fozzy. Moongoose McQueen is the most pompous, arrogant lead singer of all time, but also flamboyant, very charismatic, and one of the greatest live performers of all time in his own head."

After Fozzy's self-titled debut came out, Jericho planned to tour as much as possible and enjoy a few laughs. When audiences responded well to the album and live performances, Fozzy decided to continue the legacy. Only with Happenstance, Jericho decided not to play the spoof angle quite as hard. While the first album featured eight classic metal covers and two originals, the new disc is made up of five originals and six covers. And Jericho said the band's next album will probably have even fewer covers.

"It's fun playing the other guys' songs, but playing our songs is the ultimate rock and roll moment," Jericho said. "We're evolving and getting tighter and stronger, so it's a natural evolution to play our own material. It's a different thing, because it's your own picture that you're painting, not someone else's picture that you're copying. But that's what music's all about."

Now that Fozzy is becoming more of a serious band, Jericho is dropping his guard and letting fans in on the joke. He's not eliminating the Moongoose shtick, but he's drawing clear distinctions between his personae.

"We're kind of like the Blues Brothers now, which is better than a Tony Clifton/ Andy Kaufman type scenario [in which Kaufman wouldn't admit to fans that he played both characters]. Doing it that way in the past confused people, and as a result it became difficult to hang onto the storyline completely. I realized if we opened the door a bit and let people into the joke it's much more accessible and more understandable, which is going to create more opportunities for Fozzy."

Jericho said the WWE plans to promote the band at various house shows and wrestling broadcasts, which should help spread the legend of Fozzy far across the land. As for the nonbelievers ...

"Who doesn't believe in Fozzy?" Jericho sneered, returning to the character of McQueen. "Give me the name and telephone number of every person who doesn't believe in Fozzy and they'll pay the price. My bodyguards Moishi and Tico, we'll send them door to door. We have the money to do that. I'll send them to Sidney Bernstein in Peoria, Illinois, and Clarence Johnson in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. We'll have a little talk with them and we'll straighten them out. They'll become true believers very quickly."

The rock god threw back his head, brushed a hand through his long hair and took a moment to compose himself. "The people that don't believe in Fozzy are complete and utter nerds," he concluded. "They're the people that sit at school when everyone is outside smoking cigarettes and groping each other and failing their classes. I bet you they're the ones that are studying their books and being A-plus students and going on to lucrative lives and great careers. Who needs that? If you're listening to Fozzy, it doesn't matter if you're a derelict."

-MTV.COM

Chris Jericho, for those who do not already know, will be joining Team Canada, aka The Anti American's. Jericho has been aligning himself with the team in recent weeks as well as at last nights Vengeance PPV. The 'official' alliance will likely go down on this Thursday's WWE SmackDown! telecast

Prowresltingscoops.com

Chris Jericho is going to do double duty when the WWE heads to Australia this August, as he will be wrestling and performing with his band Fozzy. Here is the official press release on the Fozzy performance.

Press Release

GLOBAL MELTDOWN

Chris Jerichos Fozzy To Play Global Warning Wrestling After Party.

Saturday August 10 was already going to be a big night for Melbournes wrestling fans with the WWE Global Warning Tour Melbourne happening at Colonial Stadium, but now the night just got bigger.

WWE Superstar Chris Jericho fronts Atlanta based heavy rock band Fozzy and today it was announced that Fozzy would be headlining Global Meltdown the Global Warning After Party at Festival Hall on August 10.

Festival Hall, a short walk from Colonial Stadium, was Melbournes traditional home of rock and wrestling and so it will be a perfect location for wrestling fans and metal fans to meet after the Global Warning event. Doors open for Global Meltdown at 10.00pm and the bands hit the stage from 11.00pm allowing fans plenty of time to make the short walk from Colonial Stadium. Fans of all ages are welcome at the events, although a bar will operate in a restricted area for fans over 18.

Tickets for Fozzy at Global Meltdown go on sale from 9.00am Wednesday July 24 from Ticketmaster outlets and by phone 136 100 or on-line at www.ticketmaster7.com

Fozzy will be joined by Melbourne heavy rock legends Bigger Than Jesus and the hard N Fast DJ tag team of Stratos and James The Hound Dog.

Fozzy are the creation of Chris Jericho (known to wrestling fans as Y2J) and guitarist Rich Ward and include members of revered metal act Stuck Mojo. Providing a combination of balls to the wall heavy rock and an over-the-top live performance Fozzy are regarded as one of the worlds premiere exponents of metal. Rumoured to be taking a key role in an upcoming Smackdown angle Fozzy fever is set to spread across the globe

Fozzys new album Happenstance is out now in Australia on Shock, under licence from legendary US metal label Megaforce

For more information contact:

Andrew Watt

PD Entertainment Corporation

andwatt@earthlink.net

1wrestling

Chris Jericho also did an interview. After he was done and it went to black (I guess a commercial break), a few seconds later he popped back on the screen to rip on Detroit, saying that it was a crappy city and that if we could make better automobiles America's economy wouldn't be sucking right now. He said that Scotty Bowman retired as the Red Wings coach because his team was old and he knew they couldn't win another Stanley Cup. Y2J said he couldn't wait to take care of John Cena so he could get the hell out of Detroit and go across the bridge to Canada. Basically cheap heat to set him up as a heel for his match later on.
prowrestlingscoops

HHH is finding himself on the receiving end of some major heat from the WWE locker room lately due to a controversial change of plans that took place at last week's Smackdown tapings. WWE newcomer and general can't-miss prospect John Cena was scheduled to enter Vince McMahon's office at the tapings, engage in a heated debate with McMahon and nail him with an open hand slap. This would lead to Cena taking on Chris Jericho later in the evening and getting several near falls on Jericho, prompting Jericho
to resort to cheating to defeat the newcomer. This idea was comprised by Paul Heyman and Pat Patterson and was very popular with the rest of the staff. HHH apparently confronted Vince McMahon about this decision and convinced him to change the angle, claiming that no one should touch Vince McMahon until his feud with Hulk Hogan blows off in order to not deter from the intensity of that storyline. Vince reluctantly changed the storyline to Cena striking Jericho, a move that enraged a good part of
the locker room who feel as though HHH is visibly threatened by Cena's potential. While I wasn't there and can't confirm or discredit the report, it's ridiculous that a man who has done absolutely nothing of note since returning and who isn't as over as WWE likes to pretend that he is can alter a major storyline just because he doesn't like it.