The Best in the World, by Chris Jericho

This memoir is the third in a series written by Chris Jericho. The full title, The Best in the World: At What I Have No Idea, gives a sense of the many facets of the author. He does lots of things. In addition to performing in the ring, Jericho is a musician, actor, dancer, comedian, showoff, father, and husband. Like his previous books, A Lion’s Tale and Undisputed, Jericho regales his readers with his adventures and misadventures, chronicling the highs and lows during the past few years.

First and foremost, Chris Jericho is a professional wrestler. His career spans more than two decades. Since 2010 he’s helped create some of the most entertaining wrestling angles (storylines) in history. In The Best in the World, Jericho highlights his recent wrestling “feuds” with Shawn Michaels, Ricky Steamboat, and CM Punk. He recounts his altercations with Mike Tyson and Mickey Rourke, being fined for various in-ring antics, and becoming world champion no fewer than three times. His ability to capture an audience’s imagination makes him among the best professional wrestlers everrrrr.

A consummate self-promoter, Jericho not only uses The Best in the World to playfully plug his previous books and his many wrestling successes, he also uses this latest memoir to showcase his life outside of the squared circle. Jericho has a passion for heavy metal music, and a significant portion of this book talks about his career as a musician, touring with the band Fozzy. When not working for World Wrestling Entertainment (a.k.a. WWE), Jericho sang lead vocals with his band. Fozzy toured Europe, played music festivals, and cemented their fan base. Within the heavy metal world, Jericho stood in awe of the top tier acts, always striving to improve his performance and be the best in the world.

When he was not singing or wrestling, Jericho became a household name as a competitor on Dancing With The Stars (DWTS). He notes the experience was physically and mentally exhausting. He didn’t win DWTS and basically admits he was not the best dancer in the competition. Still, he suggests he was robbed and should not have been eliminated when he was.

Although Jericho takes his endeavors seriously, he nearly always pokes fun at himself. He knows he is a living caricature. He is extremely self-confident, yet quick to admit missteps he’s made along the way. Jericho’s stories can be funny, although they are sometimes a bit disturbing. More often than not his errors are compounded either by too much alcohol or too quick a reaction (Jericho’s temper comes out more in this memoir than in the previous books). Despite his flaws, Chris Jericho may well be the best in the world at something. When he figures it out, he will be the first to let us know.

Check the WRL catalog for The Best in the World.