Chris Jericho

Christopher "Chris" Keith Irvine (November 9, 1970), best known by his ring name, Chris Jericho, is an American-born Canadian professional wrestler, musician, media personality, actor, author, and businessman. He was most recently signed to WWE (who he has worked for on and off since 1999), and is also well known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and internationally in Canadian, Mexican, German and Japanese promotions. Jericho is known for his over-the-top, rock star persona – and for a contrasting run as an aloof villain from the late 2000s to the early 2010s.

Jericho has won 30 championships between WWF/E, WCW, and ECW - the three most prominent American promotions in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is credited as being the first Undisputed WWF Champion, having unified the WWF Championship and the WCW Championship.

In WWE, Jericho is a six-time world champion, having won the WWF Championship once, the WCW Championship twice and the World Heavyweight Championship three times. He is also a record nine-time Intercontinental Champion, and the fourth WWE Grand Slam Champion.

Outside of wrestling, Jericho formed the band Fozzy, in 1999, as their lead vocalist. Their eponymous debut album (2000) and Happenstance (2002) consist of cover songs and original music; All That Remains (2005), Chasing the Grail (2010) and Sin and Bones (2012) feature all-original music. He also competed in the 2011 series of Dancing With the Stars, lasting until the sixth week. Prior to this, he hosted the ABC game show, Downfall.

Independents, Mexico, and Japan (1990–1996)
A year after graduating from college, Irvine was setting up rings for promoter Bob Holliday. At age nineteen, he entered the Hart Brothers School of Wrestling. Two months later, he was ready to start wrestling on independent shows, making his debut in October 1990. He took the name "Jericho" from the Helloween album, Walls of Jericho and from his Christian beliefs.

Jericho worked for both Bob Puppets and Tony Condello in the tours of Northern Manitoba with future superstars Adam Copeland (Edge), Jason Reso (Christian Cage), and Terry Gerin (Rhino).

He also wrestled in Calgary's Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA), Canadian Wresting Connection (CWC) and Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling (CRMW). In the winter of 1992, he traveled to Mexico, where he was trained by Negro Casas in the art of lucha libre. He wrestled for several small wrestling companies as well as the largest in the country, Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). In EMLL, Jericho took on Silver King, Casas, and Último Dragón en route to an eleven-month reign as the NWA Middleweight Champion that began in December 1993. His burgeoning wrestling skills also took him to Japan in 1994 where he competed for the Wrestling and Romance (WAR) promotion, facing the likes of Gedo and Último Dragón, to whom he lost the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship. 1994 also saw Jericho reunited with his former teammate from CRMW, Lance Storm, as the Thrillseekers in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion. In 1995, Jericho competed in the second Super J Cup Tournament, hosted by WAR, losing to Chris Benoit. Storm and Jericho would also compete for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, under the name Sudden Impact.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996)
In 1996, thanks to a recommendation by Mick Foley to promoter Paul Heyman, Jericho began wrestling for the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, winning the ECW Television Championship in June 1996. While in ECW, Chris Jericho made a name for himself, wrestling top talent such as Taz, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Cactus Jack, Shane Douglas, and 2 Cold Scorpio. It was during this time that he drew the attention of World Championship Wrestling.

World Championship Wrestling (1996–1999)
On August 26, 1996 Jericho made his first appearance with WCW, and on September 15, he appeared at his first pay-per-view show, in a match against Chris Benoit at Fall Brawl. On June 28, 1997, Jericho defeated Syxx in Los Angeles, California to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship for the first time. He won the title again on August 12, 1997, by defeating Alex Wright.

Jericho began his WCW heel run when he won the title a third time, defeating Rey Mysterio, Jr. at Souled Out 1998 by forcing him to submit to the Liontamer. After the match, Jericho assaulted Mysterio's knee with a toolbox. Mysterio needed six months of recovery before he could return to the ring. Jericho then had a short feud with Juventud Guerrera with Guerrera repeatedly wanting a shot at Jericho's Cruiserweight Championship but constantly being rebuffed. This resulted in a Title vs. Mask match at SuperBrawl VIII. Guerrera lost the match and was forced to remove his mask. Following this match, Jericho began his ongoing gimmick of collecting and wearing to the ring trophy items from his defeated opponents, such as Guerrera's mask, Prince Iaukea's Hawaiian dress, and a headband from Disco Inferno]].

On the March 12, 1998 episode of WCW Thunder, Malenko appeared to defeat Jericho who was wearing the mask of Guerrera, however, this was revealed to have been a bribed Lenny Lane, resulting in a minor feud over Jericho not paying Lane for his role. At Uncensored Jericho finally wrestled Malenko and defeated him, leading to Malenko taking a leave of absence from wrestling. Jericho then proceeded to bring with him to the ring a portrait of Malenko, which he insulted and demeaned. Just prior to Slamboree, J.J. Dillon (referred to by Jericho as "Jo Jo") scheduled a cruiserweight Battle Royal in which the wrestler who won would immediately have a shot at Jericho's Cruiserweight Championship. Jericho accepted on the grounds that whoever had to face him would not have nearly enough energy to wrestle two matches in a row. At Slamboree, Jericho came out to announce the competitors in insulting fashion before the match started and then went backstage for coffee. The battle royal was won by what appeared to be Ciclope after Juventud Guerrera shook Ciclope's hand then eliminated himself but was in fact a returning Malenko in disguise who proceeded to defeat Jericho for the championship. This led to Jericho claiming to be a victim of a carefully planned conspiracy to get the belt off of him. He at first blamed the WCW locker room, then added J.J. Dillon, Ted Turner, and finally in a vignette, he walked around Washington, D.C. with the sign "conspiracy victim" adding President Bill Clinton to the list of conspirators after being rejected from a meeting. Eventually Malenko vacated the title. In the match to decide the champion, Jericho ended up defeating Malenko at The Great American Bash to win the vacant title due to Malenko being disqualified after hitting Jericho with a chair. The next night Malenko was suspended for his actions.

At Bash at the Beach, Jericho was defeated by the recently returned Rey Mysterio, Jr. (who had recovered from his knee injury) in a No Disqualification match when the still suspended Malenko interfered. The next night, however, Jericho regained the Cruiserweight Championship from Mysterio after he interrupted J.J. Dillon, who was at the time giving the championship to Mysterio. Jericho was again awarded the championship.Eventually, Jericho decisively lost the title to Juventud Guerrera at Road Wild with Malenko as special referee. On August 10, Jericho defeated Stevie Ray to win the WCW World Television Championship (Stevie Ray substituting for the champion Booker T).

Soon after this, Jericho attempted to instigate a feud with the WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg, calling him out repeatedly but never actually wrestling him. Jericho began referring to him as "Greenberg". At Fall Brawl, Jericho, Ralphus, and the Ninja participated in a scene where before coming to the ring they attempted to replicate Goldberg's guided ring entrance from his locker room but got lost repeatedly. At one point Jericho yelled "Rock and Roll! Hello Winston-Salem!" in reference to a similar scene from the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. When Jericho finally reached the entrance to simulate Goldberg's pyro, the resulting pyro was so poor it caused Jericho to flip out and start kicking it. Then, a four and a half foot tall midget instead of Goldberg came out and was easily defeated by Jericho, who now claimed to be 1-0 against Goldberg to satirize Goldberg's undefeated streak. This occurred three more times, eventually ending with Jericho claiming to be 4-0 against Goldberg, though they never actually wrestled once.

On November 30, 1998 Jericho lost the Television Championship to Konnan. Jericho then began a feud with Perry Saturn in early 1999. The feud saw Jericho and Saturn instigating bizarre stipulation matches, such as at Souled Out, where Jericho defeated Saturn in a "loser must wear a dress" match. At SuperBrawl IX Jericho and Saturn wrestled in a "dress" match which again saw Jericho defeat Saturn. Saturn finally defeated Jericho at Uncensored in a Dog Collar match.

Debut, early feuds, and mid-card (1999-2000)
Jericho alternated between WCW and a number of Japanese tours before his debut with the World Wrestling Federation. The build-up to Jericho's arrival was a clock labeled "countdown to the new millennium," counting down over the weeks prior to his arrival. On the home video, Break the Walls Down, Jericho states he was inspired to do this as his entrance when he saw a similar clock in a post office. Vince McMahon gave him the green light to use it as his intro to the WWF. The clock finally ran down on August 9, 1999 in Chicago, Illinois while The Rock was in the ring doing a promo. Jericho, a heel, who was actually being cheered instead of getting booed, entered the arena and proclaimed himself "Y2J" (a play on the Y2K bug). The Rock proceeded to verbally mock him for his interruption.

Jericho feuded with Chyna for the Intercontinental Championship. After losing to Chyna at the Survivor Series 1999, Jericho won his first Intercontinental title at Armageddon. This feud with Chyna lasted for many months, including a controversial decision during a rematch in which two separate referees declared each one of them the winner of a match for the title. As a result, they became co-owners of the title until Jericho attained sole ownership at the Royal Rumble. He ended up dropping the title to Kurt Angle at No Way Out. On April 2, Jericho participated in a Triple Threat match against Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 2000. Angle entered the match-up as both the WWF European and WWF Intercontinental Champion. The first man to score a pinfall or submission would be declared Intercontinental Champion. The second man to score a pinfall or submission would be declared European Champion. Jericho was first pinned by Benoit and pinned Benoit later on in the match, making Jericho the new European Champion. Jericho lost the title the next day to Eddie Guerrero on Raw after Chyna turned heel to side with Guerrero, claiming she could not resist his Latino Heat. On the April 17 edition of Raw, Jericho upset Triple H in a WWF Championship match. Referee Earl Hebner had made a fast count when Jericho pinned Triple H, giving Jericho the title. After previous weeks of assault on referee Earl Hebner, Triple H told him that if he reversed the decision, then he would never touch him while he was under contract. After Hebner reversed the decision, he fired Hebner and assaulted him. Despite the pinfall win over Triple H, WWE does not recognize Jericho's reign as champion. After the controversial decision, Jericho went on to feud with Chris Benoit. On the May 4 edition of SmackDown!, Jericho defeated Benoit to become Intercontinental Champion for the second time, but lost the title back to Benoit four days later on Raw.

Jericho's popularity skyrocketed when he started feuding with Triple H and his wife (just married in the storyline at the time) Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. Fans took particular delight in his promos toward Stephanie, as he showered her with insults, calling her a "filthy, dirty, disgusting, brutal, bottom-feeding, trash-bag ho" and throwing a pie in her face. He got the best of Triple H on more than one occasion, even helping the The Brooklyn Brawler, a renowned jobber, gain an upset victory over the then four-time WWF Champion. Their feud climaxed at Fully Loaded, when they competed in a Last Man Standing match, with Jericho only losing the match to Triple H by one second and thanks to multiple occasions of Stephanie helping Triple H, especially in the final moments.

Undisputed Champion; feud with Triple H (2001-2002)
At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Jericho defeated Chris Benoit in a Ladder match to win the Intercontinental Championship for the third time. At WrestleMania X-Seven, he successfully defended his title in a match against William Regal, only to lose it four days later to Triple H.

At Judgment Day, Jericho and Benoit won a "Tag Team Turmoil" match, earning a shot at Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H for their WWF Tag Team Championship on Raw the next night. Benoit and Jericho won the match, in which Triple H legitimately tore his quadriceps and spent the rest of the year injured, and Jericho became WWF Tag Team Champion for the first time. The team defended their title in the first Fatal Four-Way Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match where Benoit sustained a year-long injury doing a diving headbutt through a table. Despite being carried out on a stretcher, he returned to the match to climb the ladder and retain the championship. The duo lost the titles one month later to the Dudley Boyz on June 19, 2001.

In the following months, Jericho became a major force in The Invasion storyline in which WCW and ECW joined forces to overtake the WWF. Jericho remained on the side of the WWF (despite previously competing in WCW and ECW) and retained his status as a face. However, signs of a heel turn slowly became obvious as Jericho began to show jealousy toward fellow WWF member, The Rock. The Rock kept reminding Jericho that he had never won "the big one" (a world championship), and wrote Jericho off as a "comedy act". Jericho faced The Rock in a match at No Mercy for the WCW Championship after Jericho defeated Rob Van Dam in a number one contenders match. Jericho finally won "the big one", pinning The Rock after debuting a new finisher, the Breakdown. This championship victory was Jericho's first official world championship victory (Jericho had actually won the WWF Championship from Triple H on April 17, 2000 only to have that match stricken from the record 15 minutes later.) One night later, the two put their differences aside and won the WWF Tag Team titles from the Dudley Boyz, with Jericho becoming a double champion. After they lost the titles to Test and Booker T, they continued their feud. On the November 5 edition of Raw, The Rock defeated Jericho to regain the WCW Championship with a surprise roll up. Following the match, Jericho savagely attacked The Rock with a steel chair, thus marking a full-fledged heel turn that lasted for two years. At the Survivor Series, Jericho would almost cost The Rock, and the WWF, victory in their elimination matchup by attacking him again. On December 9, at Vengeance, Chris Jericho defeated both The Rock for the rechristened World Championship, and Stone Cold Steve Austin for his WWF Championship, on the same night to become the first-ever wrestler to hold both championships at the same time, making him the first WWF Undisputed Champion. He fought both of the men he defeated at Vengeance on separate occasions and retained his title at the next two pay-per-views, Royal Rumble (vs. The Rock) and No Way Out (vs. Stone Cold). Jericho lost the title to Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania X8. After his title loss Jericho became a member of the SmackDown! roster and continued his feud with Triple H, helping cost Triple H his newly won Undisputed Championship at Backlash. The rivalry culminated at Judgment Day when Triple H defeated Jericho in a Hell in a Cell match. Jericho then started a short feud with Edge. Shortly thereafter, Jericho was drafted back to Raw, where he captured the Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam and teamed with Christian to capture the tag team titles from The Hurricane and Kane on October 14, 2002.

Feuds with Christian and John Cena; departure (2003-2005)
On January 13, 2003, Jericho won an over-the-top-rope challenge against Kane, RVD, and Batista to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble match, choosing number two in order to start the match with Michaels. After Michaels' entrance, Jericho entered as the second participant. Christian, in Jericho's attire, appeared as the real Jericho attacked Shawn from behind. He eliminated Michaels shortly afterwards, but Michaels got his revenge later in the match by causing Jericho to be eliminated by Test, whom Jericho would feud with simultaneously along with Michaels and Jeff Hardy. The two fought again at WrestleMania XIX. In the end, Michaels managed to get a roll-up and score the victory. Jericho, however, hit Michaels with a low blow after the match following an embrace.

Later in 2003, Jericho began a romance with Trish Stratus as tag team partner Christian began one with Lita. This, however, to be a bet over who could sleep with their respective female first, with a Canadian Dollar at stake. Stratus overheard this and broke it off with Jericho, who then tried to make it up to her by saving her from Kane. Stratus agreed that the two of them could just be "friends". After Christian was put in a match against Stratus, where he put her in the Walls of Jericho, Jericho sought revenge on Christian, which led to a match at WrestleMania XX. Christian defeated Jericho after Stratus ran down and "inadvertently" struck Jericho (thinking it was Christian) and Christian got the roll-up. After the match, Stratus turned on Jericho and revealed that she and Christian were a couple. This led to a handicap match at Backlash, which Jericho won.

Jericho won his seventh Intercontinental Championship at that year's Unforgiven in a ladder match against Christian, the title previously being stripped from Edge due to an injury. Jericho's seventh reign was short lived, as he lost it at Taboo Tuesday to Shelton Benjamin, who the fans voted to be his opponent.

Jericho then teamed up with Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, and Maven to take on Triple H, Batista, Edge, and Snitsky at Survivor Series, where the stipulation stated that the winning team would become the General Manager of Raw throughout the next four weeks. Jericho's team were victorious, so they took turns as General Manager. During Jericho's turn as General Manager, Triple H was stripped of his World Heavyweight Championship because a Triple Threat match for the title a week earlier had ended in a draw. At New Year's Revolution, Jericho competed in the Elimination Chamber against Triple H, Chris Benoit, Batista, Randy Orton and Edge for the vacated World Heavyweight Championship. Shawn Michaels was the special guest referee. Jericho began the match with Benoit but was ultimately eliminated by Batista.

At WrestleMania 21, Jericho participated in the first-ever Money in the Bank ladder match. The match concept was suggested by Jericho, and he competed in the match against Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Kane, Christian, and Edge. Despite coming up with the idea for the match, he lost the match when Edge claimed the briefcase. At Backlash, Chris Jericho yet again challenged Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship, but failed in his attempt to win the belt. On June 12, 2005 Jericho wrestled in the first match of the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event, against Lance Storm. Jericho used his 'Lionheart' gimmick, instead of his more well known 'Y2J' gimmick. Jericho lost after interference from Jason and Justin Credible; Jericho was hit in the head with a Singapore Cane, allowing Storm to pin him.

Later that June, Jericho became a heel for the third time in the WWE by turning on WWE Champion John Cena. Jericho lost a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Vengeance which also involved Christian to Cena. The feud continued throughout the Summer and Jericho lost to Cena in a championship match at SummerSlam. The next night on Raw, Jericho faced Cena in a rematch, this time in a "You're fired" match, where the loser would be fired. Cena won again, and Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff kayfabe fired a pleading Jericho, who was carried out of the arena by security. WWE's official website confirmed on July 28, 2005 that Chris Jericho signed a short-term contract extension to stay with the company after his long-term contract expired, which presumably ended after his loss to Cena on August 22. On August 25, Jericho announced his departure from WWE in a statement on (and later pulled from) his official website, saying that after 15 years of wrestling he was mentally burnt out and no longer challenged by wrestling at that point in time, noting that he has done everything he has ever wanted to do in the business. He said that the "You're fired" match with John Cena was his last match "for now," but said he was not done with wrestling or WWE, and that if he returned to wrestling, it would be with WWE. On his official website he added a press release saying he is touring with Fozzy, acting, hosting his XM Radio show, The Rock Of Jericho, appearing on VH1's Best Week Ever, and being a guest commentator on MuchMusic's Video on Trial.

Face run (2007-2008)
His return had been promoted since September 24, 2007 with a viral marketing campaign using a series of 15-second cryptic binary code videos, similar to the matrix digital rain featured in The Matrix series. The videos contained hidden messages and biblical links related to Jericho, although speculation existed throughout WWE fans over who the campaign targeted. The text "Save Us" and "2nd Coming" were most prominent in the videos. The campaign spread throughout the internet with numerous websites, though no longer operational, that featured hidden messages and biblical links to further hint at Jericho's return.

Jericho made his return to WWE television on the November 19, 2007 edition of Raw, where he interrupted Randy Orton during Orton's orchestrated "passing of the torch" ceremony. Jericho revealed his intentions to reclaim the WWE Championship in order to "save" WWE fans from Orton. Jericho wrestled in his first match in over two years on the November 26 edition of Raw, debuting a new finishing maneuver called the Codebreaker, to defeat Santino Marella. At his first pay-per-view appearance, Armageddon, he was booked in a WWE title match against Randy Orton. Jericho, however, defeated Orton by disqualification when John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) interfered in the match. As a result, Orton retained the title. He began a feud with JBL and met him at the Royal Rumble. Jericho was disqualified after hitting JBL with a steel chair. At No Way Out, Jericho competed in his fourth Elimination Chamber match alongside Triple H, Shawn Michaels, JBL, Umaga, and Jeff Hardy. He was the third man eliminated when Hardy pinned him following Michaels' Sweet Chin Music. On the March 10 edition of Raw, Jericho captured the Intercontinental Championship for a record eighth time, this time defeating Jeff Hardy.

Heel turn; feud with Shawn Michaels (2008)
On the June 9 edition of Raw, Jericho turned heel by attacking Shawn Michaels during his talk show segment The Highlight Reel. At Night of Champions, he lost the Intercontinental title to Kofi Kingston after a successful distraction by Shawn Michaels. He hosted the final version of The Highlight Reel on the July 28 edition of Raw. At Unforgiven, Jericho lost an Unsanctioned match to Michaels. But in the main event, Jericho entered in the Championship Scramble as a replacement for the defending champion CM Punk and subsequently won the World Heavyweight Championship. On the September 22 edition of Raw he successfully retained his title in a Steel Cage match against CM Punk. Later on, it was announced that Jericho would defend his World Championship against Shawn Michaels at No Mercy, thus continuing the feud between the two. He successfully defended his title against Michaels at No Mercy in a ladder match. At Cyber Sunday, Jericho dropped the title to Batista with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee. Eight days later, however, on a three hour special episode of Raw, he defeated Batista to win back the title in a steel cage match. This reign would last until the 2008 Survivor Series, where Jericho lost to the returning John Cena. On the December 8 edition of Raw, he won a Slammy Award for WWE Superstar of the Year.

Move to SmackDown! (2009)
On the January 12, 2009 episode of Raw, WWE Executive Vice President Stephanie McMahon fired (kayfabe) Jericho. The next week, Stephanie McMahon rehired Jericho after he made a forced apology to her and the fans. One week later, Jericho qualified for the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out when he defeated CM Punk. At the pay-per-view, he started the match with Rey Mysterio and survived to the final three. He eliminated Mike Knox and helped eliminate Kane and the champion John Cena. Mysterio pinned Jericho after reversing the Walls of Jericho. Jericho started a feud with Mickey Rourke, star of the movie The Wrestler,and with all WWE Hall of Famers. He challenged and attacked Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, and Ricky Steamboat. Jericho won an elimination match at WrestleMania XXV against Snuka, Steamboat, and Piper. Jericho then fought Ric Flair and finished the fight with a Codebreaker. Jericho then challenged Mickey Rourke, who was at ringside for the event. Rourke kayfabe knocked Jericho out after a left hook to the jaw.

On the April 13 episode of Raw, Jericho was drafted to the Smackdown brand as part of the 2009 WWE Draft. Ricky Steamboat interrupted Jericho's Raw farewell address, which led to the two facing off at Backlash where Jericho came out victorious. In his Smackdown re-debut, Jericho participated in a fatal-four-way elimination match against Kane, Jeff Hardy, and Rey Mysterio. Mysterio executed a 619 on Jericho and then attempted to pin him with a seated senton. Jericho retaliated by throwing a chair at Mysterio and was disqualified. This sparked a feud between the two. Mysterio pinned Jericho after a 619 at Judgement Day to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Jericho defeated and unmasked Mysterio in a No Holds Barred Match at Extreme Rules to win his ninth Intercontinental Championship.

Jeri-Show (2009-2010)
At The Bash Jericho lost the Intercontinental title to Mysterio. Later in the pay-per-view, Jericho and his partner Edge won the Unified Tag Team Championship. Shortly thereafter, Edge suffered an injury, and Jericho announced that he had a clause in his contract stating that should Edge become injured during their title reign, Jericho would be allowed to select a new partner. At Night of Champions, he revealed The Big Show as his partner and they defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to retain the championship. Shortly after, the newly dubbed 'Jeri-Show' defeated Cryme Tyme at SummerSlam to once again retain their Unified WWE Tag Team Championships. The pair would go on to become one of the most successful and dominant Tag Teams in WWE History, until Bragging Rights where the cracks began to show. Jericho was named Co-Captain of Team Smackdown for a Raw vs. Smackdown team bout at the Pay-Per-View. Jericho claimed that he would recruit Big Show for his team, until Big Show sided with Raw Co-Captain Triple H after a brief altercation between the Tag Team Champions. Team Smackdown became victorious, when Big Show would turn on Team Raw after taking out Kofi Kingston with a knockout blow, allowing Chris Jericho to capitalize. For his efforts, Big Show was named number one contender to Undertaker's World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series, an honor that Jericho believed he deserved. Jericho beat Kane to become the second contender, making the World Heavyweight Championship match at Survivor Series a triple threat, between Chris Jericho, Big Show and The Undertaker. On the November 16th edition of Raw from Madison Square Garden, Jericho and Big Show were defeated in a triple threat Tag Team main event, pitting DX up against "Jeri-Show" vs the team of John Cena and The Undertaker. At Survivor Series, neither Big Show or Jericho would win the World Heavyweight Championship. Big Show and Chris Jericho feuded with D-Generation X, which is the team of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The Unified Tag Team Championship would be on the line at the Pay-Per-View, TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, and the match would be a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. DX won the match, ending Big Show and Jericho's reign as Tag Team Champions for over 140 Days together. Chris Jericho had held the Tag Team Titles for 168 Days. Next night on Raw, Jericho and Show used there rematch clause for the Unified Tag Team Championship, DX however DQ'd themselves, and would retain the titles, without the Tag Titles, Jericho was not allowed on Raw unless he held the title, so he was thrown out of Raw by the DX Army.

World Heavyweight Championship and feud with Edge (2010)
After losing the tag titles, and forced back to SmackDown, he went back with his gloating ways claiming that he will win the Royal Rumble. However, he was eliminated by his former partner Edge. Later that week on the February 5, 2010 edition of Smackdown, he rekindled his feud with Edge, who had turned face, taunting him about his injury.

Jericho would go on to defeat Undertaker at Elimination Chamber (after Shawn Michaels interfered and superkicked Undertaker) to win his 3rd World Heavyweight Championship, and 5th World Title overall. His feud with Edge heated up and Edge announced that he would challenge Jericho for the World Championship at WrestleMania XXVI. At Extreme Rules 2010, Jericho faced Edge in a steel cage match [which Edge won]. The next night on Raw it was the WWE Draft 2010 and Jericho got drafted from Smackdown to Raw. Jericho began a feud with Evan Bourne. The stipulation was they faced each other week after week. Some weeks Bourne won. And some weeks Jericho won which eventually led up to a match at Fatal 4-Way. Jericho faced Bourne in a singles match which Evan Bourne won [at Jericho's birth city New York] this making the win possibly the biggest win of Bourne's career. The next night on Raw he threatened to leave WWE for ever if he lost his rematch to Bourne. He won his rematch. Jericho is in a RAW Money in the Bank Ladder Match on the debuting PPV Money in the Bank 2010.

Feud with Nexus & Anonymous General Manager and Second departure (2010)
On the July 19 episode of Raw, after being assaulted by The Nexus, Jericho appeared to have turned face when he teamed with rivals Edge, John Morrison, R-Truth, The Great Khali, and Bret Hart in a team led by John Cena to face The Nexus at SummerSlam. However, Jericho criticized John Cena's reason in forming his team thus two weeks after joining Cena, Jericho lost a "Loser Leaves SummerSlam Team" match to Cena. After the match, Cena offered Jericho his spot on the team back but Jericho refused. Afterwards, he and Edge (who had left the Summerslam team earlier that night too) seemingly reconciled their differences and reformed their alliance, before the General Manager of RAW stated that the two would team up to face Bret Hart and John Cena the next week, with The Nexus as Lumberjacks. The match was ruled a no-contest after The Nexus attempted to attack Cena and Hart until Morrison, R-Truth, Edge and Jericho chased them from the ring. Jericho and his team along with the returning Daniel Bryan instead of Khali (who had been attacked by The Nexus the previous week on Raw) went on to defeat The Nexus at SummerSlam. Soon after, Jericho was revealed to be one of the contenders for the WWE Championship held by Sheamus in a Six-Pack Challenge at WWE Night of Champions. Two weeks later on Raw, he lost his spot after losing a match against John Morrison after the Raw General Manager ordered Jericho to win his match or not compete at the event, due to what happened the previous week when Jericho walked out in a 5 on 5 Elimination match against the Nexus. However on the September 13th edition of RAW, Jericho was re-admitted into the match by the GM after defeating the Hart Dynasty in a 2-on-1 handicap Steel Cage match. However, at the event, Jericho was unsuccessful at winning the title, as he was the first man eliminated. During the September 27th edition of Raw, Jericho was to be set to face Randy Orton in a main event. After the match was awarded to Orton via DQ because of interference by Sheamus, Jericho was punted by Orton, this was used to explain Jericho's departure from the company.

Second return to WWE (2012-Present)
Beginning in November 2011, WWE aired six cryptic vignettes that implied that someone would be returning to the company during the broadcast of the January 2, 2012 episode of Raw. Jericho returned on the January 2 episode of Raw as a tweener in a similar manner to his two previous WWE introductions; however, after physically hyping the crowd and relishing their cheers for a prolonged period, a smiling Jericho left without verbally addressing his return and did so the following week. On the January 16 episode of Raw, Jericho made his in-ring return in a six-man tag team match, although Jericho had no physical involvement in the match; he hyped the crowd upon tagging in, before tagging out and abandoning the match. Jericho finally spoke the following week to say, "This Sunday at the Royal Rumble, it is going to be the end of the world as you know it", but in the Royal Rumble match, he was eliminated last, by Sheamus.

On the January 30 episode of Raw, Jericho interfered in a match between WWE Champion CM Punk and World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, causing a disqualification victory for Bryan and then attacking Punk following the ruling. The following week, Jericho began returning to his 1999-2001 Y2J character as an anti-hero/tweener when he explained his actions by claiming all the other wrestlers in WWE were imitations of himself, referring to many main-eventers and naming CM Punk as the worst offender by calling himself the "Best in the World". Jericho was placed in an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship and won a Six-Pack Challenge against the other competitors to be the final entrant into the Elimination Chamber match. At the Elimination Chamber event, Jericho eliminated Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston but was kicked out of the Chamber by Punk, which gave him a head injury and removed him from the match without being eliminated. The following night on Raw, Jericho won a ten-man Battle Royal making him the number one contender for CM Punk's WWE Championship at Wrestlemania XXVIII. In a bid to psychologically unsettle Punk before their WrestleMania match, Jericho revealed that Punk's father was an alcoholic and Punk's sister was a drug addict which led Punk to his straight edge philosophy; Jericho also vowed to make Punk turn to alcohol by winning Punk's title from him. At WrestleMania, an additional stipulation was added that Punk would lose his WWE Championship if he was disqualified. During the match, Jericho's efforts to taunt Punk into disqualifying himself were unsuccessful as Punk managed to beat Jericho to retain the title. On the April 2 and 9 editions of Raw, Jericho continued his feud with Punk by attacking and dousing him with alcohol after his matches with Mark Henry. At Extreme Rules, Jericho failed again to capture the WWE Championship from Punk in a Chicago Street Fight.

On the May 7 episode of Raw SuperShow, Jericho pinned World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus during his tag team match with Alberto Del Rio against Sheamus and Randy Orton. After the match, Jericho, Orton, and Del Rio demanded a match for Sheamus' title at the Over the Limit, which they were granted; Sheamus pinned Jericho at the event to retain the title.

On May 24, at a WWE live event in Brazil, Jericho wrestled a match against CM Punk, during which Jericho crumpled up and kicked a Brazilian flag. Local police then intervened, threatening Jericho with arrest. Jericho issued an apology to the audience later on in the match, enabling the event to resume. The following day, WWE suspended Jericho indefinitely for denigrating the Brazilian flag while also issuing an apology to the Brazilian government and people. Later that day, WWE amended Jericho's suspension to 30 days.

On the June 25 episode of Raw Supershow Jericho made his return to Raw, interrupting John Cena, announcing himself as the third man in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank match alongside Cena and the Big Show, and then losing to Cena via disqualification due to interference from Show. Jericho's absence was explained by a European tour with his band Fozzy, which happened to coincide with his suspension. At Money in the Bank, he was unsuccessful as the match was won by Cena.

Feud with Dolph Ziggler (2012–2013)
The following night on Raw, Jericho confronted newly crowned Mr. Money in the Bank, Dolph Ziggler, however Ziggler would interrupt him and claim that he had lost his touch. This resulted in Jericho hitting Ziggler with a Codebreaker, thus turning face. The following week, on Raw 1000, Jericho teamed with Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio against Sheamus, Sin Cara, and Rey Mysterio; Jericho was pinned by Sheamus after Ziggler punched Jericho off the apron. Four days later on SmackDown, Jericho further cemented his face turn by attacking Ziggler whilst wearing Ziggler's signature shirt. Three days later on Raw, he solidified his turn by teaming up with Christian in a winning effort against Ziggler and The Miz. After the match, Ziggler hit Jericho with his Money in the Bank briefcase. On the August 6 episode of Raw, Jericho would cost Ziggler his match against Alex Riley after Jericho distracted on commentary. Four days later on Smackdown, Jericho hosted the Highlight Reel with Vickie Guerrero as guest, where he returned to his Y2J gimmick before being attacked by Ziggler. At SummerSlam, Jericho defeated Ziggler in a singles match by locking him in the Liontamer. The following night on Raw, Ziggler defeated Jericho in a rematch; as a result, Ziggler retained his Money in the Bank contract and Jericho's WWE contract was terminated as per a the pre match stipulation put in place by Raw general manager, AJ Lee. After the match, Jericho attacked Ziggler with his own briefcase and hit a Codebreaker before leaving the arena. This was used to write him off so he could tour with Fozzy for the remainder of the year. Right after these events, Jericho's WWE profile was moved to the 'Alumni' section of their website.

On January 27, 2013, Jericho made his return entering the Royal Rumble match as the number 2 entrant. Jericho lasted over 47 minutes before being eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. Jericho later revealed to Ziggler that due to a managerial change on Raw, he had been rehired, resuming his feud with Ziggler. Guerrero then placed the two in a "Strange Bedfellows" match (her choice) against Team Hell No, where Jericho, after pushing Kane (while he was arguing with partner Daniel Bryan) tagged Ziggler in and made him the victim of Kane's chokeslam, earning Team Hell No a victory as Jericho looked on with laughter. The following week on Raw, Jericho competed against CM Punk but lost to Punk's Go To Sleep. On the February 11 episode of Raw, Jericho defeated Daniel Bryan to qualify for a World Heavyweight Championship #1 contender's Elimination Chamber match where the winner will receive a title match at Wrestlemania 29. Six days later at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Jericho was the fourth man eliminated from the match by Randy Orton. The following night on Raw, Jericho teamed with Ryback and Sheamus to face their rivals The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins), but were defeated after Ambrose pinned Jericho for the win.

Feud with Fandango (2013)
Jericho embarked on a rivalry with Fandango during March of 2013. Jericho would stoke the flames of their rivalry by purposely mispronouncing Fandang's name and mocking his talent as wrestler and an entertainer. Their first official match was Wrestlemania XXIX where Jericho loss to Fandango. The weeks there after saw Jericho and Fandango continuing to assault, insult and interfere in each other's professional lives throughout the Raw and Smackdown broadcasts. On the May 13 edition of Monday Night RAW, Jericho participated in a Dance-Off Competition against Fandango and his partner Summer Rae. Jericho's partner was Edyta Sliwinska for the brief time the competition was in session. Summer Rae faked a leg injury which drew Jericho's concern for her long enough for Fandango to ultimately assault him, including use of part of the dance floor to punish Jericho. On the May 17 episode of Friday Night Smackdown, Jericho defeated Antonio Cesaro via countering Cesaro's Neutralizer with his Walls of Jericho. After the match, Fandango attempted to assault Jericho but was repelled, including Jericho turning back a sneak-attack by Cesaro. This last televised airing of their rivalry would lead into their second official pay-per-view match at Extreme Rules. On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Jericho defeated Fandango via a Codebreaker to achieve victory. On the following night on Raw Jericho teamed with The Miz to face Fandango and Wade Barrett. Jericho and The Miz capitalized on the distention between Fandango and Barrett and ultimately pinned Barrett as Fandango abandoned his partner and danced with his partner Summer Rae during the remaining moments of the match. After running off Fandango from ringside, Jericho offered to dance with the uncertain Summer Rae. After convincing her to dance with him, Jericho renigned on his offer and left Summer embarrassed for thinking the offer was sincere.

Feud with CM Punk (2013)
On the May 27 episode of RAW on his Hightlight Reel with Paul Heyman as his guest he questioned Heyman about where CM Punk was. Jericho then challenged Punk to a match at the Payback PPV, which Heyman accepted on behalf of Punk. On June 16 on Payback, Jericho Lost to CM Punk.

World Heavyweight Title Pursuit, Feuds with Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Ryback (2013)
The following week on the June 21st episode of Friday Night Smackdown Jerico wrestled Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. The match however ended in disqualification and a victory for Del Rio after Dolph Ziggler, who lost the title to Del Rio at Payback, attacked Del Rio. Jericho retaliated on Ziggler with a Codebreaker, leaving Ziggler vulnerable for an assault by Del Rio. Jericho went on to face Del Rio again on the following Raw show on June 24. The match ended with Ricardo Rodriguez attacking Jericho before Del Rio could submit to the Walls of Jericho. Dolph Ziggler then slid in to attack Del Rio while Jericho struck Rodriguez with a Codebreaker. Ziggler than put his Zig Zag on Del Rio before confronting Jericho who wound up receiving a retaliatory attack by Ziggler.

During the opening half-hour of the June 26 edition of Wednesday Night WWE Main Event, Jericho defeated Cody Rhodes. Jericho then began feuding with Ryback, which led to a singles match on July 14 at Money in the Bank, where Ryback emerged victorious. The following night on Raw, Jericho was defeated in a match by Rob Van Dam. The following night at the SmackDown tapings, Jericho wrestled his final match with WWE for the time being, as he is scheduled to once again go on tour with Fozzy.

Jericho went on to face Curtis Axel on the July 19 edition of Friday Night Smackdown for the Intercontinental Championship. Despite closing in on a victory, Jericho was distracted by Axel's manager Paul Heyman, allowing Axel to regain the advantage and pick up a victory over Jericho. Afterwards, Jericho was attacked by Ryback. Jericho took a hiatus to tour with Fozzy.

Third return to WWE (2014)
On the June 30 episode of Raw, Jericho returned and attacked The Miz who had also returned minutes earlier. However, he was immediately attacked by The Wyatt Family. Jericho beat Bray Wyatt at Battleground and was attacked by Bray Wyatt backstage on the following episode of Raw. The feud went on at SummerSlam, in which Jericho lost to Wyatt, then lost to him in a Steel Cage match on the season premiere of Raw. At Night of Champions, he lost to Randy Orton.

Trivia

 * When he was 11, Chris Jericho used to play Dungeons and Dragons.
 * Jericho's favorite KISS member is Paul.
 * Y2J was Jericho's idea, not the WWF's.
 * Jericho once worked as a model and bouncer in Canada.
 * Jericho is a member of the band Fozzy (formerly known as Fozzy Osbourne).
 * Jericho's ideal band would include: Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Eddie Van Halen on guitar, Mike Portney on drums and Steve Harris on bass.
 * Jericho is the only person to debut and return to the same show (Raw) under similar circumstances, with Jericho Debuting with the "Millenium Countdown" clock in 1999, the Save Us Codes in 2007 and the Biblical "He is coming" promo in 2011.

Quotes
"Thank you all for following me, 'cause it's not my fault that I am better than each and every one of you!"

"I hate the word 'fake,' there is nothing fake about what I do. It is a predetermined show, but it is a contact sport, it is just as real as football is as far as taking the hit and taking the punishment. We go year-round, we don't have any days off, we don't have any off-season, we don't have any home stands. It is a lot tougher, I think we are the toughest athletes in the world. I think people understand, but they don't really understand the amount of physicality that we have within our sport, because it's a show but it is a contact sport."

"People nowadays, they can find out anything they want just by going on a website, and I don’t think that’s fair. I mean, when I was a kid I didn’t know anything about wrestling, what was going to happen, I just knew I watched the shows every week, and whatever happened on the shows, I’d have to wait till the next week to find out more. And I think people feel a sense of entitlement, like 'I don’t know what’s going on, and I should know right now!'"

"I would have to say that Canada definitely produces the best wrestlers, I don't know why. I think Canada is a big wrestling country, and there are a lot of guys who are interested in wrestling in Canada. In the WWE there are probably seven or eight Canadians out of a roster of 50 or 60, that's about 20%... There's probably something in the beer! Canada is a great wrestling country and a lot of guys watch wrestling when they are kids. It's like how certain areas in the States produce wrestlers, like Florida and Minneapolis. It is just one of those geographic things."

"With my career being so varied as it was, spending so much time in Mexico, Germany, Japan, and all those places I wrote about in A Lion’s Tale I think there are a lot of matches from there that the WWE doesn’t own. It’s always fun to revisit those old days. Not just the matches themselves but the experiences I had to get there. Whether it be getting held up on the side of the road in Mexico and being left to die pretty much and then having to walk back at 4:00 in the morning in the most dangerous city in the world just following the lights in the sky to hopefully get me back to the city. Or smashing a flower pot in Japan and then having the Yakuza show up and tell me that the flower pot belonged to them and I had to pay them and clean it up instantly or get my finger cut off. I mean all those things happened to me before I was 25 years old. What makes this unique is that it is one of the last books that could ever be written this way. Just having all these strange experiences overseas and being a stranger in a strange land and like I said following this dream I had."

"The path I chose was wrestling because that's what I was into at the time. I had decided at 15 that I wanted to be a wrestler. The route into wrestling was a little more viable for me, than trying to make it in a rock band in Winnipeg. There wasn't much of a scene there. It was something that I always wanted to be involved in, so when the opportunity arose I took it and built this rock band the same way I built the Chris Jericho name. After accomplishing everything you could ever want to accomplish in wrestling, which I have, it is very cool for me to be working on something else."

Wrestling facts

 * Finishing and signature moves
 * Breakdown (Full Nelson Facebuster) (1990 - 2001)
 * Codebreaker(Running Double-Knee Facebreaker) (2007 - Present)
 * The Walls Of Jericho (Elevated Boston Crab) (1990 - present)
 * Lionsault (Middle-rope Springboard Moonsault)1990 - 2005 Used a regular move from 2000 - present
 * Liontamer (Elevated boston crab with a knee to the opponent's back or neck)


 * Signature moves
 * Standing, leg-feed, or a running Enzuigiri
 * Armbar
 * Backhand chop 
 * Diving european uppercut 
 * Double powerbomb pin
 * Double underhook transitioned into either a backbreaker or a powerbomb.
 * Flashback (Sleeper slam, sometimes to an oncoming opponent)
 * Giant swing - WCW
 * Leapfrog body guillotine to an oppoonent draped over the second rope, with theatrics
 * Jericho Spike (Hurricanrana, sometimes from the top rope)
 * Jericho steps on the opponent's chest with one foot in a pinning attempt, with theatrics
 * Missile dropkick
 * One-handed bulldog
 * Spinning wheel kick
 * Springboard dropkick to an opponent on the ring apron
 * Springboard plancha


 * Nicknames
 * "Y2J" (2000-Present)
 * "King Of The World" (2001-2003)
 * "Lionheart"
 * "The Ayatollah of Rock'n'Rolla"
 * "The Living Legend"
 * "The Mental Mastermind" (Striker's nickname for Jericho)
 * "The Best in the World at what He does"


 * Tag teams and stables
 * Chris Jericho and The Big Show (Jeri-Show)
 * Chris Jericho & The Miz
 * Chris Jericho and Edge
 * Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit
 * Chris Jericho and Christian
 * Thrillseekers/Sudden Impact - with Lance Storm (Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Japan)
 * Team WWE (was kicked off of the team & then returned)


 * Notable feuds
 * Shawn Michaels
 * Triple H
 * The Rock
 * "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
 * Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
 * John Cena
 * Batista
 * Rey Mysterio
 * Edge
 * Randy Orton
 * John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)
 * Jeff Hardy
 * Rob Van Dam (RVD)
 * Eddie Guerrero
 * Hollywood Hulk Hogan
 * "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
 * CM Punk
 * Goldberg
 * Christian
 * The Alliance (WCW & ECW)
 * Chris Benoit
 * Kurt Angle
 * Dean Malenko
 * Chyna
 * Hardcore Holly
 * X-Pac
 * Ken Shamrock
 * "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
 * Kevin Nash
 * Cryme Tyme
 * Montel Vontavious Porter
 * Mark Henry
 * Evan Bourne
 * The Nexus


 * Managers
 * Chyna (WWF) (2000)
 * Ralphus (WCW)
 * Lance Cade (WWE)
 * Wade Barrett (WWE)


 * Nickname for Fans
 * "Jerichoholics" (2000-2008)
 * "Hippocrits" (2008-Present)
 * "Parasites" (2008-Present)
 * "Wanna be's" (Present)
 * "Jericlones" (Present)


 * Theme music
 * "Break The Walls Down" by Jim Johnston (WWE) (1999-2002) (2003-Present)
 * "Crank The Walls Down" by Maylene & The Sons of Disaster (WWE) (2009-2010)
 * "Days Of My Life" by J.Hart & J.Helm (WCW)
 * "Don't You Wish You Were Me?" by Fozzy (WWE)
 * "Eletric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)" by White Zombie (ECW)
 * "Everybody Dance Now" by C&C Dance Factory (CMLL)
 * "King Of My World" by Saliva (WWE) (2002-2003)
 * "One Crazed Anarchist" by J.Hart and J.Helm (WCW)
 * "Rock America" by Danger Danger (SMW)
 * "Soul Crusher" by White Zombie (ECW)
 * "Thunder Kiss '65" by White Zombie (WAR)

Championships and accomplishments

 * Empresa Mundial de Lucha Libre
 * NWA World Middleweight Champion (1 time)


 * Extreme Championship Wrestling
 * ECW World Television Champion (1 time)


 * World Championship Wrestling
 * WCW World Cruiserweight Champion (4 times)
 * WCW World Television Champion (1 time)


 * World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment
 * World Heavyweight Champion (3 times )
 * WWF Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion (1 time)
 * WCW World Heavyweight Champion (2 times)
 * World Tag Team Champion (3 times) - with Christian (1), The Rock (1), Chris Benoit (1)
 * WWE Unified Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Edge (1), Big Show (1)
 * WWF/E Intercontinental Champion (9 times)
 * WWF European Champion (1 time)
 * WWF Hardcore Champion (1 time)
 * 4th WWE Grand Slam Champion
 * WWE Superstar of the Year 2008
 * WWE Tag Team of the Year 2009 - Jeri-Show


 * Wrestle Association-R
 * WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Gedo
 * WAR International Junior Heavyweight Champion (1 time)