I don't think a day goes by when I don't watch something pro wrestling-related on YouTube. My interest in '90s wrestling and tokusatsu rarely intersect, but this is one such occasion where they actually (and surprisingly) do.
While watching this Chris Jericho shoot interview about working with Mickey Rourke just after The Wrestler (2008) was released, Jericho brings up working with fellow squared-circle legend "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and shares an anecdote about working with Piper on a film as an extra before Jericho hit it big in the wrestling business.
The story has little to do with Piper and is actually about Piper's co-star in that film, none other than Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba.
At the 9:48 mark in the above video, Jericho states:
I did a movie with him [Roddy Piper] in Mexico City in '93 called Immortal Combat -- not "Mortal," "Immortal"! If you pause at the right moment, you'll see me. I was getting the shit kicked out of me by this Japanese karate guy called Sonny Chiba, who was about 65 at the time. And, on the tenth take, he was literally just kicking me right in the face.
I watched and enjoyed Jericho's mid-to-late-'90s WCW run and (if I'm being honest) paid little attention to his WWF/WWE work. But I had no idea that he'd ever worked with Sonny Chiba on film, which is why I wanted to point it out in this blog post.
I wonder if Sonny Chiba kicked harder than Ralphus.
