The Best in the World by Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho returns with his third memoir entitled, “The Best In The World At What I Have No Idea”.  Beginning with his return to WWE in 2007 up to his return in 2013, Jericho’s third book details his acclaimed programs with Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and Edge while also looking at the growing popularity of his metal band Fozzy as well as his ventures into acting, game show hosting and a brief reality TV stint on Dancing with the Stars.

While there was a fair bit that I found interesting, it very much felt like the weakest release of the three.  Both his in-ring work and character during the period detailed were undoubtedly the best of his career – his ladder match with Shawn Michaels in October of 2008 is often considered a classic – but parts of the book felt like glorified recaps of the events adding little new information to what went down.

Outside of that, he shared hilarious stories about the boys backstage (the stuff about Santino Marella – a goofy, comedic wrestler – stands out), the time he was trapped in a war zone while visiting Iraq for a tribute show to the U.S. troops, the Icelandic volcano disaster that left the majority of the WWE roster stranded in Europe and his brush with the Brazilian police after kicking and stomping on their flag in an attempt to get a reaction from the crowd.

The bits and pieces dedicated to his ventures outside the squared circle didn’t do much for me.  I think Fozzy are a fine band and they’ve certainly grown as a unit but the stories about Jericho mandating a certain fashion style for the group, their festival gigs and the countless name dropping of various musicians he’d met fell flat to me (although, his story about geeking out meeting Metallica was charming).

I usually read a fair amount of books about pro wrestling each year and my 2014 list has been filled with some excellent books – The Grappler, Titan Sinking and The Hardcore Truth – Jericho’s new book just didn’t stack up.