His behavior had nothing to do with being a wrestler, or being a heel, or Chris Jericho. From watching the video, his behavior was motivated solely by the fact that he was alone, surrounded by a mob who were yelling, shoving, and attacking both his car and his person.

His reaction was entirely proportional to that circumstance. I'm glad nobody was seriously hurt.

Eck,

1) I'd rather have the woman Jericho punched in the face in the elimination chamber instead of Kane

2) You'd be surprised how many wrestling fans out there are still "true believers" My old man and I went to a SD/ECW house show last year in Hershey and we figured that at least 60% of the fans thought the matches were legitamite.

Jericho is a good man, an honest man, and always tell the truth. Conversely, some of those WWE fans in Victoria are brainless troglodytes can't comprehend that respect should be given to the 2008 Superstar of the Year.

Morons. I thought only little kids believe that the characters wrestlers play and who they really are are one and the same.
My favorite part is the guy who yells "You're an insult to Canadians, [expletive]!"
I have to wonder how much liquid courage actually factered in to the situation. But hey, drunken fans is another issue in itself.
Idiots.

Those fans take things too seriously.

This would be great if it were work. I hope it is, maybe the woman was Chyna or something???!

What are you insinuating,the matches aren't legit?OMG,next then you'll be telling me there isn't a Santa Claus.You can't fool me that easily,I might have been born at night,but it wasn't last night.

If I were in Jericho's shoes I would have reacted the same as he did. It was a dangerous situation, and security in this instance, was close to being entirely worthless.

Randy Orton's intermittent explosive disorder must be contagious.

i dont blame jericho 1 bit. If im by myself,and surrounded by a group of people and i start getting attacked,i dont care who it is,man,woman,tranny,whatever,im swinging for my life and getting out of there..fans think they have some kind of right just because they bought a ticket..that right ends on the parking lot outside

Okay Kevin, I've stated many a few times on your blog - that I can't stand Chris Jerkicho (as I choose to call him) --- He plays the heel part very, very well - However, I, as well as I'm sure many wrestling fans would never stoop to the type of behavior those so-called "fans" did --- I've not seen the video, etc., but the majority of us know that Chris is a person, and I'm sure a wonderful husband, father and friend outside that ring. Those type fans are in the same category I put the Ultimate Warrior, who felt that Heath Ledger was gay since he portrayed a gay person in Brokeback Mountains and his daughter would be better off without him --- The Ultimate Warrior and those fans who attacked Chris need to get a life and get enlightened.

After watching the video, I agree it could have turned out much much worse for all parties. Security was a total joke outside the arena and I don't blame Jericho one bit for losing it.

kinda awesome how you take sides with the guy that punched a chick;
can only guess that it was Nancy's fault for Benoit goin' crazy.

RESPONSE FROM KEVIN ECK: To bring Benoit into this situation is reprehensible. I don't condone hitting a woman, but I also don't condone a woman shoving a man and spitting in his face.

Elevation -
I agree (to point #2). Kevin don't kid yourself about the "small number of fans" . It seems that there is a large number of people that don't or "can't" (if you get my drift) differenciate real from scripted . In fact I'd go so far as to say it's a small number that can !
Back to the incident , what's the point of the "rented" security if the can't do a better job than that .

My initial reaction was to blame Jericho, but after watching the video and reading online accounts of people who were there, I now say that his actions were completely justified. Oh, and that security firm should either shape up or be wished well in its future endeavours.

Account of how the fans who "attacked" Jericho behaved during the show here: http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/powellsmailbag/article1004522.shtml

What I find funny? Towards the end, a girl calls out "He punched a girl!"
This is the kind of mentality that gets some women in trouble. Being a female doesn't permit you to go about bullying people.
When that "girl" reached through the mob of people and assaulted Irvine, she literally crossed the line and broke the law. Groups of irate people can be extremely dangerous. It was apparent the Chris Irvine was genuinely scared and did what any person with a backbone would do in that situation- protected himself.

Very unfortunate. It looked as if Jericho was actually restraining himself until enough was enough. Glad he wasn't harmed. Actually surprising that it took place in Canada, but I guess Canadians don't view him in the same regard they view Bret Hart.

yea I think jerico had everyright to fight back especially if the crowd is angry, but the worse thing weather male or female is spitting on someone the fan and her boyfriend had no right to spit on anyone and jerico has everyright to defend himself when fans surround his automobile. I would have done the same thing.

It's nothing like the old days, not that it's a bad thing either. Wasn't Freddie Blassie stabbed on multiple occasions by fans?

I am still amazed at the amount of people who think that the wrestlers and characters are the same. They are basically actors playing a part. Most of them are nothing like their characters but there are several heels that act that way all the time. As I am sure Kevin will personally vouch for some of the worse heels in the business are the nicest guys in the business and the biggest babyface can be some of the biggest a-holes around. I have met Chris on several occasions and most of the time always found him to be friendly and approchable whether he was a heel or a face. These fans just stepped out of line and the only fault that I have with Chris is that he should have never gotten out of the car. Instead he should have used a cell phone and called for police if security was no help. I would assume that their are police around or near the arena that probably could have handled the situation a little better.

I think it's a work....free publicity for WWE...

He was in a crowd of people who were being threatening; any of them could have had a weapon. She lunged at him so he punched her. He had every right to defend himself including, hitting a woman who was attacking him both verbally and physically. She crossed a line; being a woman or a man has nothing to do with it.

I know people who believe film and TV actors are the same as the characters they play, so it doesn't suprise me wrasslin' fans can't tell the difference.

I agree with t. So many women think they can run arpund hitting people and get away with it because they are girls. Well, my (ex)girlfriend knows that ain't how I roll.

Funny how jericho looks kind of small compared to other wwe guys but looks big compared to average people.

Hey, after the way he punked HBK's wife, should any of us be shocked by this?

The bottom line is he hit a woman. The man should go to jail for assault. He could've got back in his car, but he decided to get out. Take him to prison and sue hi,.

I think it's a work....free publicity for WWE...

Posted by: Steve | February 9, 2009 2:41 PM

--------------------------

I really don't think it is, but I'm sure that won't stop the WWE from making it a storyline, or say within the next 24 hours.

In any case, I think there's a little too much evidence against Jericho to completely absolve him of responsibility, with multiple accounts having him spitting in the woman's face before she struck him. Fair or not, being a celebrity he has to realize the situation at hand, and not hesitate to call law enforcement, as there will always be people looking to take advantage of the situation for their own gain.

Wrestlers just like any other members of society are entitled to defend themselves. The fans were acting in an inexcusable manner and had no right to put their hands on Jericho. That said, Jericho made several errors. The 1st of which was leaving his vehicle... had he stayed in his car this situation would have been resolved more peacefully. He also should not have put his hands on that woman even though she was COMPLETELY out of line for assaulting him. Jericho was obviously enraged and even understandably so, but because his life was not in jeopardy and he was not seriously harmed by the woman, he needed to find a way to react in a less violent manner. In my opinion Jericho was more disrespected than physically harmed by the woman and while I echo his internal sentiments of frustration and anger, he still needs to know better than to put his hands on a woman like that. In this case the fans were out of line AND Jericho was out of line.

First things first- I am a big Jericho fan.
Now that that's out of the way, I feel he was totally justified in his actions. To me, whether male or female, if you spit on someone and/or shove someone, you deserve to get shoved back. I don't believe in hitting women, but that's no excuse for a woman (drunk or sober) to feel like she can push someone around. This isn't the 1950's anymore. If a woman spit at me and shoved me, I can't honestly say that i wouldn't take a swing. Those idiots were obviously drunk, security was a joke, and the mob-scene could have gotten much worse. Now, those idiots will find an equally idiotic attorney and sue sue sue. Instead of taking responsibility for their actions as morons, they will most likely be rewarded for their stupidity by a settlement of some kind. Its sad, but thats the mentality these days. Those people shouldn't breed.

"Troglodyte(s)" - nice vocab usage, Quin. I enjoyed it.

I completely agree with you, Kevin. I've read on some other sites comments faulting Chris for punching a woman. As a woman, and a feminist at that, she deserved what she got. You dish it out (in this case, assault) you gotta be able to take it. It's called equality.

One word for this story (SAD!!!!!!!!!!!) The man walked to his truck alone and shut he door. Looks as though all he wanted to do was leave. The fans or Idiots in my booked caused all that BS!!!!!!!

The guy who talked about some r heels been the nicest people is true besides Chris Irvine been in that caterogy I read that Yokozuna(can't remember his real name) was a nice guy even though he was a heel in the WWE. Alot of guys had high remarks for him including Stone cold and The Undertaker

Zane: As Jericho pointed out in his book, it's amazing that alot of the long time heels are great guys and the longtime faces(Hogan,Goldberg,Hart,HBK,etc) are jerks.

Chris is one of the BEST in the game. The fans were totally out of line. It appears security was not doing their job so Chris took matters in his own hands. I'm sure Vince will hear about that. But knowing Chris he will talk about this tonight on WWE, show the video tape and bring his HEEL image to another level. Just as you wrote about Terry showing those knives as trophies ... Chris comes from the same mold ... Chris is one of the BEST in the game. A BIG WOOOO!!!

"The bottom line is he hit a woman."

Women serve in law enforcement and the military. Furthermore, there is at least one woman on my university's volleyball team who is larger and stronger than I am. William R. said it well: This isn't the 1950s. The "girl defence" no longer has relevance.

You Screwed Brett!!!
Oh wait wrong guy

Here's where I have a problem. All you people that say "he shouldn't have hit a girl" are the same people that argue for equal rights for women. Equal pay and treatment and all that. If women want to be equal they need to be able to take a fist in the mouth. Mrs. HBK gets it... i'm just sayin'.

I worked for a security company briefly and used to sit in the office and listen to grown men talk like it was completely legit. I honestly think there's way more people than you think that buy this silliness. I've stopped going to the matches years ago just not to be lumped in with these type of people.

lol@ "Randy Orton's intermittent explosive disorder must be contagious."

I can understand younger wrestling fans thinking that this stuff is real. I've been there. I used to be one for a couple of years.

However, the people that attacked Chris Jericho were adults.

You can't tell me that there's not at least one person in their lives that hasn't sat them down to explain things to them?

Just something that I found interesting , in an internet poll by Foxsports , the question was posed " who is at fault Jericho or the fan " ?
Interestingly 53 % of the responses said Jericho . Ouch.

I'm going along with others' that he really shouldn't have got out of the car in the first place. Punching the FAN (gender is irelevant) was a little overboard. Then again in this day and age maybe he figured his life was in danger and the fan could have had a knife or something. I guess times have changed because I can't imagine the Beatles punching their fans.

Regarding people still thinking it is legit, I am not surprised. I myself used to think it was legit till 2001. My impression changed when the Raw team visited India for some house show and I saw heels like Jericho, HHH and Test talk to presenters in a friendly manner. Then the realisation dawned that hey, this thing may be scripted after all.

However my earlier impression was mainly due to Pro Wrestling not being covered as thoroughly in India as it is in the US. In the USA, with so many newsletters and blogs like this, one would expect people to get the drift.

I've heard stories that Batista in real life is a big aggorant jerk. I saw information in his book and he doesn't sound like the nicest person.

I, too, wondered if it were a work at first -- designed to advance his heel persona -- using a female independent wrestler. But if it were, they took a big risk doing it in a large crowd like that. It could have gotten out of control. And, Flair, didn't mention it during their confrontation on Raw. Saying Jericho hits women would have fit in nicely.

those feminists wants equality they're gonna get it. it's funny when they expect guys to treat them as equals, and they freak out once a guy give em a shove or kick or whatever.but i digress, the chick that got shoved deserved it. jericho is still a human being and i can understand the stress of being on the road drove him to act the way he did

Maybe instead of those "Don't try this at home" things they sometimes run, they should show "You know this isn't real, right?" messages.
This issue really hit home for me before this incident, when Matt Hardy "turned" on Jeff at the rumble. I decided to look at Matt's myspace page to see if he posted a blog on how it would be working an angle against his brother. What I saw was way too many comments from fans, calling him every name in the book and saying how they just couldn't believe that he could do that to his brother.
It's just sad, really.

If it is not a work and it doesnt seem to be, it is a very unfortunate incident as it tarnishes the sport that we all enjoy no matter who is right or wrong. Thankfully these incidents are pretty rare nowadays and hopefully it stays that way.

Wow went to alot of sites regarding the Chris Jericho incident and alot of people seem to think Jericho was on roid rage or was a jerk for hitting that women. I dislike people who make their opinion without knowing all the facts. Chris Jericho could of been in serious danger. She could of had a knife in her pocket or the guy that called Jericho a disgrace to Canada. Chris Jericho's actions were justified and I hope (highly unlikely) that the women will charge Jericho with assault as accounts of the video shown that she instigated the incident and Jericho was in every right to defend himself.

There is NO situation in which it is okay for a man to hit a woman. Using this "equality" argument is arrogant and stupid. No "chick" deserves to get punched by a professional wrestler, no matter what these idiot comments have to say. There is simply no logic on earth that defends what he did. Chris lost it, I'm sure he knows that, and I'm sure he doesn't think what he did was okay in the least.

To Michael S who said "the way he punked HBK's wife, should any of us be shocked" --- get a life --- all of us know unfortunately that the scripted hit went wrong and she sported a bruised mouth for awhile, but I know she probably got paid quite well to take that punch. That was on some of the wrestling sites that both Chris and Shaune were horrified after that hit but Rebecca thought it was quite amusing.

Also to Ric in Baltimore - as you're now aware, there was no mention by Chris or Ric Flair last night of the incident. I'm sure Chris wants this to go away.

While I am totally against hitting women, and against domestic violence, where men as well as women can be victims --- I don't blame Chris one bit. My philosophy is do unto others as you want them to do unto you. And I'm sure Chris doesn't go around normally spitting on women....So let's give the man some credit here.

From what I have seen Jericho was fairly restrained for most of the encounter and only got out when his car was being stopped by someone that could just as well have broken the window and reached into the car.

To Jordan R and other people who keep saying that it is NEVER all right for a man to hit a woman. I would suggest to them to try their hand at being attacked by a mob that includes women, then try to defend themselves and not hit the women in the crowd. The simple fact was that the woman was a part of an assault on Chris Irvine and he fought back. And come on lads, if one of ye were attacked by someone like Awesome Kong or Beth Phoenix (although by the looks of it the insane fan wasn't in any ways as strong as those two) don't tell me you'd just stand there and take it because you "don't hit women". They would (and could) kick your behind six ways to Sunday.

I dont blame Jericho at all for lashing out, the footage shows just how much danger he was in, and everyone knows starting on a testorone filled bloke who is bigger than you isnt a smart move. He was bound to be in some pain and stress after working a match and just wanted to get home.

Having said that though I was very shocked to see him hit a girl, yes I believe in equal rights and stuff of corse but a man should not hit a woman, simple as.

I am sure Jericho feels really bad about this incident, he lost his cool which is understandable, but I dont think Jericho was thinking when he fought back, its just the natural thing to do, Im sure Jericho just wants this incident to dissapear. Remember he is a family man, its understandable he lost his cool but I have no doubt he is regretting it.

As for the fans, some of the best fans truly believe in the wrestling and angles. Personaly I know its all scripted and stuff but watch it as I have huge amount of respect for the superstars. Yet when I was much younger I thought it was real and bought into it, which we all know WWE wants with the target market now bieng youngsters. These fans who attacked Jericho arent typical people who buy into the product, they are as Jericho would say Jackasses who should be able to see the difference of reality and entertainment at their age, was terrible to see a valued performer who gives so much to WWE treated like that. But the problem isnt all fans who buy into the product, just the small minority of idiots around.

I wonder if Jericho will apologize? Personaly I think he should explain his actions and clear a few things up but he wasnt in the wrong in my eyes

Everybody has completley missed the point.This has nothing to do with male or female or, they should know the difference between right or wrong,or real and fake.The simple fact is this, CANADIANS ARE CRAZY!!!!!! (eh)
These are the same people that still boo Shawn Michales out of the building because of what happened to Bret Hart,
11 FRIGIN' YEARS AGO!!!!
They just breed em' different up there!!
I guess I can't blame them, imagine if you couln't go outside for 6 to 8 months out of the year because it's so cold and all you could do was sit around the house doing nothing but watching a sport as violent as hockey year round.And then one day you get to go outside- to the wrestling matches no less,you're gonna have some pent up frustration!!And more alcohol content per bottle of beer is'nt doing them any favors either!
I speak the truth!

Andre the Midget, I am a Canadian, and I do not say "eh," nor do I interact with anyone who does. How this "eh" business got started is anyone's guess.

As for hockey, I played it when I was a boy, but now, I don't even watch it. I watch football, and I prefer the NFL over the CFL.

I don't deny that the weather is a bit cold, at the moment.

The bottom line: don't take those Molson Canadian beer commercials too seriously. They are just some advertisement agency's attempts at humour. I think that they are pretty lame, myself.

Christopher, you never denied that you were'nt crazy!

Chris Jericho is a LOSER for hitting that girl. As if he actually felt threatened by her.

it's chris jericho?

Honestly? The girl shoved him once, thats technically assault, then she clearly went after him again WHILE He was getting IN the car with his BACK to her! That means he had no idea she was attacking him again until she touched him, and considering the crowds state, the shove, and that boy acting all ghetto, Jericho probally honestly thought he was about to be assaulted, so he struck out first. He is completly justified, girl or not, you dont attack someone from behind and not get punished for it.

Yeah sorry girls, hitting a girl who did nothing is wrong is one thing, I would never do it personally. Defending myself from being shoved and spat on while being hemmed in by a seemingly angry mob and being slightly disoriented due to said mob, yo ass s getting knocked out. And so is your baby daddy. And so is his best friend. And so is your grandaddy. Until I can get away from the dangerous situation, I'm either going to defend myself or die trying. Anyone who doesn't believe me: try fighting a mob.