Último Dragón (WAR, July 7, 1995)
“We wrestled at the WAR third anniversary show in July of 1995, and that was the match that got me into ECW and into WCW. Mick Foley was in attendance that night and convinced Paul Heyman to look at the tape of me and Último. Paul brought me in, and I eventually signed and started wrestling for ECW in 1996.
That same tape then went from Paul Heyman to the hands of Jimmy Hart, who gave it to Paul Orndorff, who gave it to the president of WCW, Eric Bischoff. It’s amazing what one good tape can do for a career.
Último would eventually come to WCW and we’d continue to have good matches, but I’ll always remember my best times with him working in Japan.”
Dean Malenko (Slamboree, 1998)
“The run with Dean ultimately led to some of the lasting fan-favorite Jericho promos, including “Man of 1,004 holds,” “Conspiracy Victim” and several others. Once I brought out a prosthetic leg that I claimed to be Rey Mysterio’s. I have very fond memories of it all.
The best part of our program together came at Slamboree 1998, when I was slated to face the winner of a 14-man cruiserweight battle royal. When the match ended and masked luchador Ciclope was declared the winner, he unmasked in the middle of the ring and revealed himself to be Dean. For my money it was one of the best surprise returns — and one of the best calls by announcer Tony Schiavone — of all time.
At the end of the day, the feud never really elevated either of us in WCW, but it was integral to the development of my Jericho character. A few years later, when I got to WWE, I was ready to take it to the next level.”
Shawn Michaels (No Mercy, 2008)
“It was just a brutal, violent feud. We had a great match at The Great American Bash, and then for the following two months we continued to roll — there was a retirement announcement, Shawn’s wife got involved, and I even got so much momentum from the feud that when it all finally culminated in an epic ladder match at No Mercy, the world championship belt was on the line.
The whole program ended up lasting a little more than seven months.
A hundred years from now, Shawn will probably still be talked about as one of the greatest performers in the history of wrestling. Being able to work with him in such a big way in 2008 is something I will always be proud of.”
Rey Mysterio (The Bash, 2009)
“Starting with a fatal four-way match at Backlash, Rey and I would put together a string of four pay-per-view matches that just really told a great story. Finally, it was a mask vs. title match at The Bash 2009 that served as our grand finale.
On the surface, it probably wouldn’t seem as though our styles would mesh, but that’s just another component that made working with Rey so great. We both were constantly changing it up in the ring, and I think we both did some of our best wrestling during that four-month span.”
Kevin Owens (Wrestlemania 33, 2017)
“When he finally turned on me, the moment had a great element of surprise — and more importantly, we had people watching who were emotionally invested. A lot of hearts were broken that night — but in a good way. There aren’t a whole lot of guys besides Kevin who would have been able to convincingly pull that off.
There were actually quite a few moments when we had to stand our ground when we told WWE what we wanted to go out and do every week. There was always some pushback, but ultimately I feel like we got to do everything we really wanted, and finished in a spectacular fashion.”
Kenny Omega (Wrestle Kingdom 12, Jan. 4, 2018)
“It hasn’t even happened yet, but this is as exciting as it gets. It’s not the type of match that comes around every day. In fact, this is not really a match that ever happens. At all. Not since the days of territory wrestling, when one champ would enter another promotion and challenge a top guy for his title. But here we are. And these aren’t the territories. This is Chris vs. Kenny — Alpha vs. Omega — Wrestle Kingdom 12 in the Tokyo Dome.
There’s a lot more I could say about Kenny, but I don’t think I need to. When we face off on Jan. 4, 2018, no matter what happens in the end, it’s going to be the biggest wrestling match of the year. Maybe the decade.”