Over a period of just seven years, Chris Jericho has gone from being known mainly as a wrestling icon and part-time heavy metal star to one of the best storytellers in either genre. Which is great news for those of us who have craved a third instalment in his autobiography series.

 

In 2007, Jericho brought us A Lion's Tale, the story of how he made his way through the territory system to his dream of wrestling in the WWF. In 2012, he gave us Undisputed, the tale of his ups and downs once he arrived there, en route to becoming the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.

 

The Best In The World At What I Have No Idea picks up where his last book left off, returning to WWE for his most impressive run yet, transforming his entire look (twice), feuding with Shawn Michaels, teaming with The Big Show and Edge, being suspended for kicking the Brazilian flag and competing at WrestleMania against CM Punk. Because it's so recent, the entire period may be overlooked by some fans, but Jericho is able to shed light on why he excelled and what made it so special.

 

Much like his first two autobiographies, Jericho (and author Fornatale) bring lots of humility, pop culture references and self-depreciating humor to the mix, which is a trait that only fellow author Mick Foley has been able to do thus far. In fact, Jericho jokingly refers to his first two books throughout The Best In The World, suggesting they're available at pawn shops and garage sales these days.

In addition to his wrestling exploits, Jericho also takes us behind the scenes for his appearance on Dancing With The Stars, the ABC game show Downfall (which he hosted for a cup of coffee), his band Fozzy and many other outside-the-ring experiences. Still, the WWE background is still the real star here, and Jericho doles it out in spades.

One thing I really appreciate is how much content Jericho kept exclusively for this book. It would have been easy for him (what with two podcasts every week plus various other avenues) for him to tell some of his crazy road stories before this book was published. Instead, he saved pretty much everything for publication, including heat he had (as recently as a couple of years ago) with the likes of Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels and CM Punk.

 

Two (extremely minor) gripes this time around: In A Lion's Tale and Undisputed, Jericho went into great detail about the love he has for his family, a great tool to make the author seem like an everyday person instead of a multimillion dollar celebrity. There's less of that in The Best In The World, although it certainly hasn't disappeared entirely. And the black and white photos throughout the book are often smaller than they have appeared before, which can make it hard to readers to see the details in some pics.

 

That aside, The Best In The World makes you feel like an old friend has come back to visit and tell you stories you haven't necessarily heard before in an entertaining, funny setting. 

 

Overall Rating: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be. Chris Jericho is The Best In The World at being an author. This is as good an autobiography about wrestling you're likely to find out there and being the third in a series, you really want to see how Jericho's career turns out.