[www.vancouversun.com]- Witnesses say pro wrestler Chris Jericho hit a woman in the face outside Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre after a World Wrestling Entertainment match Saturday afternoon, in a profanity-laced brawl captured by a witness on a cellphone camera and posted on YouTube.
The incident occurred when Jericho, driving away in a white Chevy Tahoe, was surrounded at a stop sign by hundreds of people, who prevented him from leaving. They were heckling him after he lost Saturday’s RAW Live WWE bout.
In the video, one man can be heard yelling at Jericho, “You’re an insult to Canadians you [expletive].” A blond girl pushes Jericho after he gets out of the vehicle. The wrestler, wearing dark sunglasses and a leather jacket, stares her down for several seconds, then turns around to get back into the SUV. She pushes him again, and he retaliates with a swing to the face that knocks her to the ground.
A melee ensues where Jericho pushes at least one arena security guard, yelling, “Do your [expletive] job — get this [expletive] out of here.” Several witnesses said arena security guards didn’t do enough to break up the fight.
Darshan Stevens, who was passing by and watched from about a metre away, said she didn’t expect to see the 225-pound wrestler hit the woman. “I was really surprised that a pro wrestler would do that with everyone watching,” Stevens said. “And hit a girl — what are you thinking?” Jericho drove off, she said, just minutes before several Victoria police cruisers arrived.
Victoria police confirmed there was an altercation involving Jericho outside the arena, but said the wrestler left before police had a chance to speak to him. Two fans were taken into police custody but later released.
Investigating officer Const. Brenda Kelly said yesterday that police have been unable to contact WWE representatives and Jericho. No charges have been laid and the incident is under investigation. Police want any witnesses to contact them, said Kelly.
The WWE issued a statement yesterday saying that Jericho was physically and verbally assaulted after his car was attacked by a “mob.”
WWE spokesman Kevin Hennessy said yesterday that the female fan provoked the incident. He rejected suggestions that Jericho punched the woman, calling the term “a little extreme.” The woman who was hit, 20-year-old Ashley Levey, said the altercation began when her boyfriend, Kalen Johl, heckled Jericho. Jericho got out of his vehicle, Levey said, and made a derogatory comment to Johl, who is South Asian. She said Jericho pushed Johl first. Levey called Jericho a racist, so he spit on and punched her, she said. Levey said she and Johl were later arrested but released without charge.
Jericho is a five-time World Heavyweight Champion and the first WWF Undisputed Champion. Raised in Winnipeg, Jericho was inducted into the Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1997.