‘I’m sorry’ – WWE halted live match with star fined $10k and forced into apology after stunt sparked riot threat
Sunday night’s WWE Clash in Paris crowd featured one of the liveliest audiences in recent memory.
As Logan Paul tangled with John Cena and Roman Reigns clobbered away with Bronson Reed, a hugely appreciative and noisy crowd lapped it all up.
It comes as WWE continues to draw sensational crowds in international markets, not least in Europe.
While the company can do little wrong in the eyes of those paying eye-watering ticket prices to watch shows, it’s worth remembering the going wasn’t always this good.
Sometimes the crowds aren’t quite as hot and, very occasionally, even the contents of the most basic of wrestling shows can leave tempers boiling over. Just ask Chris Jericho.
In 2012, Jericho was headlining a WWE event in São Paulo, Brazil, against CM Punk. The crowd had been polite but reserved for much of the evening, until Punk hopped on the apron waving a Brazilian flag a ringside fan had handed him. When referee Mike Chioda tried to give it back, Jericho demanded otherwise.
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“No, give me that flag, Mikey,” he hissed, recalling the story in his autobiography.
What followed sparked one of the most dangerous incidents of Jericho’s career. Looking to stir some boos, he “dropped it to the mat, stomped on it twice, and kicked it to the floor in a hail of boos.” Instead of creating the lively reaction he wanted, the act turned deadly serious.
Jericho suddenly became aware of Charles Robinson rushing to the ring as backup. Sliding under the ropes, the veteran official leaned in close and whispered, “Stop the match now.”
Jericho ignored him until the warning grew louder: “Seriously, Chris! You have to stop the match NOW and apologize for kicking the flag or you’re going to get arrested!”
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With the arena swarming with Brazilian soldiers and WWE’s John Laurinaitis waving his arms at ringside, Jericho was forced into a surreal spot. Dropping the villain act entirely, he grabbed the microphone mid-match to address the stunned crowd.
“I just want to say that I would never purposely disrespect the country of Brazil or your beautiful flag. I did what I did to entertain you and I would like to sincerely apologize to everybody here in the arena and to the entire country of Brazil. I’m sorry.”
The fans applauded respectfully, though Jericho would later recall they seemed “a bit confused, as if they were wondering why I was apologizing in the first place.”
What he didn’t know then was how close he had come to being arrested on the spot, with Dean Malenko later warning him, “When you kicked the flag, that old guy went crazy. He’s some sort of colonel and wanted to rush the ring and arrest you right then and there.”
Jericho had survived the show, but his problems only grew once Vince McMahon got word. The WWE boss didn’t see the apology as enough. “There will be no more Brazilian tours for you or any of us. The WWE will no longer be allowed to perform in Brazil in the future! WTF, Chris!” he’s said to have told Jericho in a message.
In a follow-up, Vince snapped: “It was F’N stupid! When was the last time I allowed this kind of s***? 1985? Go home, you’re suspended. We will talk when you get back to the U.S. Thanks for ruining what would have been a great market for us. Who knows how this is going to hurt us elsewhere?”
If the suspension wasn’t humiliating enough, Jericho was also hit in the wallet.
“Vince was fining me half of my guarantee for the month that I was suspended.”
In wrestling terms, a guarantee is the contracted base salary a performer is owed regardless of appearances. Losing half meant Jericho was staring down a financial penalty that he believed would exceed six figures, even larger than the $100,000 fine Batista had once been slapped with for breaking another McMahon rule in a match involving Jericho.
Left to stew in hotel rooms and then back home during his one-month suspension, Jericho said he was given further doses of reality from his boss.
Jericho recalled Vince laying down the point bluntly, telling the wrestler: “These people have nothing but pride for their country. All they have is the flag and what it represents. What if the fans had rioted and somebody got hurt? That would’ve been on your hands.”
Jericho himself reflected with dry humour. After a “thirty-minute debate,” the fine came down to $10,000 – an amount the star claims might never have been actually even taken from his pay packet in the end. “So I don’t think I got fined anything,” he added.
He went on: “Plus, I still got paid my full guarantee and earned it by spending the next month pulling [children] Ash, Cheyenne, and Sierra on an inner tube around our lake; not bad work if you can get it! Maybe I should become a professional flag kicker?”
For all the talk of heel heat, few moments blurred the lines between storyline and real jeopardy quite like Jericho’s Brazil nightmare.
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From trashing the Brazil flag to waving a white one in apology, Jericho had once again saved his own skin with adept skill. It’s little wonder the signs are he’ll be back in WWE once again soon enough.
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