Sonny Onoo Discusses Chris Jericho’s Role In Cruiserweights Getting More Storylines In WCW

In a recent interview on the Perched on the Top Rope podcast, former WCW manager Sonny Onoo discussed Chris Jericho’s role in helping cruiserweight get more storylines in WCW, the company’s usage of cruiserweights, and much more. Here are some highlights (via Fightful):

Sonny Onoo on Chris Jericho’s role in helping cruiserweight get more storylines in WCW: “[Ultimo Dragon] became one of the guys when I say one of the guys I’m talking about Dean [Malenko], Eddie [Guerrero], Rey Mysterio, and they were the action right? You got to remember, back then, those guys were considered cruiserweights. Storylines for cruiserweights didn’t really start until Chris Jericho started demanding more story background.”

On WCW’s usage of the cruiserweight in the head-to-head with WWE: “So, if there was an Ultimo Dragon vs. Eddie Guerrero [match], you didn’t need a background, right? I mean, at least I didn’t. I think many of the fans will tell you they didn’t because they know how great these guys are going to perform. So the match was worth tuning in. You didn’t want to miss that. If you watch their show, if you want to go back and watch Nitro [cruiserweight matches] bridging into the second hour, where we go head to head against when WWE was putting on their show. So that, you know, when you’ve got stuff going on, you don’t want to miss that. You know, they didn’t want them to tune into their stuff. So they used these guys strategically, you know? A lot of the time, in the second hour or to open the show with a bang.”