Former WWE Writer Reveals the Story Behind the List of Jericho

Chris Jericho’s “The List” was one of the most successful and outlandish acts of his WWE career. It was an idea that originated from former WWE writer Jimmy Jacobs, who recently detailed the origin of the concept during an interview with McGuireOnWrestling.

Jacobs recalled how he came up with the idea during a RAW taping from Memphis. The segment involved Jericho airing his grievances against Mick Foley, and Jacobs thought that he should have a physical list of grievances.

“We had a bit on Raw. We were in Memphis and Jericho was gonna come out and air his grievances against Mick Foley. So we thought, well, he should have a list of grievances, like a physical list. He’s gonna have grievances. Well, he should have like a physical list.

Jacobs then remembered how Steve Corino had his own “s**t list” of people who had wronged him in his life and career. He thought Jericho should have a similar list, except with his own petty reasons for including people.

“Then I thought about in real life, Steve Corino has the Corino’s s**t list, right? The people who in his life and his career they make his list, they’re like dead to him. So I thought, what if Jericho has the same sort of thing? Except he’s super petty and just like, puts all sorts of people on it for all different reasons.”

Other members of the creative team heard about the idea and contributed to it, and Jacobs knew it was good. He pitched it to Jericho, who loved the idea and added his own touches, like the big clipboard and the click of the pen.

“I pitched it to Chris for RAW. I pitched it to him and he went to me ‘So you’re talking about doing this more than just a night.’ I’m like ‘Yeah dude, this can be your thing. You’ve been doing the Gift to Jericho – Drink it in Man! This could be like the List of Jericho.’ He got it right away and he added on to it.

He added the having the big clipboard. He added of course the way it was delivered with a click of the pen and all that sort of stuff. So he really brought it to life. But it was a really fun time. Getting a thing that just hit the bull’s eye. For a while that was [the thing] that will get the biggest reactions at Raw. When Chris Jericho puts your name on the list that was like, that’s what you build to.”

For a while, “The List” became the thing that would get the biggest reactions on RAW. When Jericho put someone’s name on the list, it was a big deal.

Were you a fan of Chris Jericho’s list? Do you think he should bring it back? Leave a comment below.