Christopher Keith Irvine who is better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-born Canadian professional wrestler.As a part of WWE, he is credited as being the first-ever Undisputed Champion in WWE. His first reign as WWF Champion and his second reign as WCW Champion (then known as the World Championship) together make him the first Undisputed Champion in history. In addition, he is also the ninth Triple Crown Champion and the fourth Grand Slam Champion.
A year after graduating from college, Chris Jericho was setting up rings for promoter Bob Holliday. At age nineteen, he entered the Hart Brothers School of Wrestling where, on his first day, he met Lance Evers, the future Lance Storm. The two remain close friends to this day. Two months later, he was ready to start wrestling on independent shows, making his debut in October 1990 in a draw against Storm. The pair would go on to work as a tag-team, initially called "Sudden Impact". He took the name "Jericho" from the Helloween album, Walls of Jericho.
Jericho and Storm worked for Tony Condello in the tours of Northern Manitoba with future superstars Adam Copeland (Edge), Jason Reso (Christian Cage), and Terry Gerin (Rhino). The pair also wrestled in Calgary's Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA) and Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling (CRMW). In the winter of 1992, he traveled to Mexico where 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, Negro 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, 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.
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 WCW.
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 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 by forcing him to submit to the Liontamer. After the match, Jericho assaulted Mysterio's knee with a toolbox. Mysterio (kayfabe) 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.
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 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.
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.
Jericho's 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, with a new haircut and the Y2J gimmick again. 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.
On the June 9 edition of Raw, Jericho turned heel once again by attacking Shawn Michaels during his talk show segment The Highlight Reel, and after that developed a "self-righteous businessman" gimmick, wearing a suit and tie. In doing so, Jericho purposely shed many of the trademarks associated with the "Y2J" character, taking "every characteristic that made him popular, and strip[ing] those traits away from himself." Paul Heyman was enthusiastic about the transformation, claiming "All that's left is an articulate villain who delivers his lines with little emotion but lots of conviction. Jericho's contempt for all those who dare to oppose him is a 180 degree turn from the fun-loving Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla whose fan base had few peers in terms of numbers and volume." 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 the Superstar of the Year.
On the January 12, 2009 episode of Raw, Jericho was involved in a narrative in which WWE Executive Vice President Stephanie McMahon fired him. The next week, he was rehired by McMahon after 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 as he eliminated Mike Knox and helped eliminate Kane and the champion John Cena. He was pinned by Mysterio when he reversed the Walls of Jericho. Jericho started a feud with real-life actor - and star of the movie The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke 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 Double Knee Facebreaker called the Codebreaker. Jericho then challenged Mickey Rourke, the star of "The Wrestler. Rourke kayfabe knocked Jericho out after an elbow to the back of the head.
On the April 13 episode of Raw, Jericho was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 WWE Draft. On his Raw farewell address he was interrupted by Ricky Steamboat which led to the two facing off at Backlash where Jericho came out victorious. On his Smackdown re-debut, Jericho participated in a fatal-four-way elimination match which also featured Kane, Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio. Mysterio gave Jericho a Tiger Feint Kick and tried to follow up with a Springboard Seated Senton before Jericho threw a chair into him and was then DQ'd. This started a feud between the two and a face off at Judgment Day for the Intercontinental Championship was booked, where Mysterio pinned Jericho after a 619. The feud would continue with the two facing off in a No Holds Barred Match at Extreme Rules where Jericho was able to win and unmask Mysterio. He consequently broke his own record, increasing his number of reigns with the Intercontinental Title from eight to nine. At The Bash Jericho lost his Intercontinental Title back to Rey Mysterio. However he would compete later on in the PPV, winning the Unified Tag Team Championship with partner Edge.
Shortly afterwards, Edge suffered a real life injury and needed time off. In the storyline, Jericho announced that he had a clause in his contract stating that should Edge become injured during their title reign, Jericho would not be forced to forfeit, but rather would be allowed to select a new partner.
On July 26, 2009 at Night of Champions, Jericho revealed The Big Show as his partner, and they defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to retain the championship.
The next night on Raw NBA star Shaq O'neal was introduced as Raw's special guest host for the night. Jericho interrupted Shaq in the ring and told Shaq that when he heard that the greatest NBA player of all time was there tonight he thought that Kobe Bryant was there. Jericho continued to mock Shaq but Shaq started mocking Jericho back and began giving Jericho little pushes. Jericho then introduced his Unified tag team champion partner Big Show who came out into the ring and exchanged insults with Shaq. Shaq then set up a match for later that evening with Cryme Tyme taking on Show and Jericho and said he'd be the special guest enforcer for that tag match.
Cryme Tyme battled the tag team champs later that evening and the match came down to Big Show beating unmercifully on JTG & Shad. The ref finally called for the bell in a DQ. Show kept stomping away on Cryme Tyme and then prepared to chokeslam both men in front of Shaq. Show shoved them down and then called for Shaq to get in the ring. Shaq tore off his enforcer's ref shirt and climbed into the ring. Shaq got right in Show's face and the two kept trash talking. Show pushed Shaq, so Shaq shoved back. Show then slapped his hand around Shaq's neck, so Shaq did the same back. The two held each other there, and then Cryme Tyme ran over to kick Show. Shaq did a running shoulder block into Show to knock him out of the ring with the crowd cheering it.
On July 31, 2009 on Smackdown Cryme Tyme would battle the Hart Dynasty and the winners of the match would get the opportunity to battle Big Show and Jericho for the Unified Tag Team titles at Summer Slam 2009. Cryme Tyme won and will challenge for the Unified Tag Team titles at Summer Slam.
On August 23, 2009 at Summerslam Jericho and Big Show were able to beat Cryme Tyme as they successfully defended their Unified tag team championship belts.
Jericho then started feuding with MVP after a match in which MVP hit Jericho with brass knuckles. The match was a MVP and Mark Henry match against Chris Jericho and the Big Show. Floyd Mayweather, who had knocked out the Big Show at Wrestlemania 24 with brass knuckles was sitting ring side and tossed in brass knuckles to MVP during the match.
