Spotlight on: Chris Jericho’s WWE Career
It’s hard to believe that it was just about a decade ago when Chris Jericho first débuted in the WWE as Y2J; The Millennium Man.
For the most part, he has had a largely successful WWE career, although there have been ups and downs and early on the deck was stacked against him.
First off, he is a smaller wrestler and Vince has always had a preference for bigger guys. He came in with a lot of build up, which put a lot of pressure on him and led to jealousy from some WWE Superstars. He also made a powerful enemy early on in HHH.
Early Days
Jericho’s Feud With HHH - More Than A Storyline
After starting out as a major heel, interrupting anyone and everyone with self righteous rants about being the saviour of the WWE, Jericho became a huge fan favorite, second only to the Rock.
He would feud with Chyna early on, not the best person to work with but he made the most of it and won the Intercontinental title. During that feud with Chyna, he supposedly injured her in a match, earning the ire of her then real-life boyfriend, HHH.
Jericho would go on an extended losing streak in 2000, which seemed to be a form of punishment. Despite his losing ways, he did have a very memorable feud in 2000 with long time rival Chris Benoit over the Intercontinental title.
Sensing there was real-life tension between Jericho and HHH, the people behind the scenes decided to use it to their advantage by working it into the ring.
Jericho began hurling insults toward the boss’ daughter and HHH’s new girlfriend, Stephanie McMahon. This led to a match on Raw for the WWE title in April 2000, a match where the crowd was hot for Jericho and popped big for him when he won. Of course the decision was reversed, and Jericho had to relinquish the title.
Jericho and HHH rekindled their feud in July of that year, in a well-built feud leading to a very memorable Last Man Standing match at Fully Loaded, which HHH barely won. The feud just screamed rematch at SummerSlam (with Jericho winning) but it never happened. HHH was “The Man” by this time and could have made Jericho by putting him over, but he chose not to. Jericho’s stay in the main event wound up being nothing more than a cup of coffee and he was quickly whisked back into the mid-card.
Grabbing the Brass Ring
That was until about a year later when Jericho feuded with then WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin.
After coming up short in several title matches he began gaining the reputation as the guy who couldn’t win the “Big One.” That all changed at No Mercy when he defeated the Rock for the WCW title in a great match.
He would win an even bigger one two months later as at Vengeance, he would have the biggest night of his career.
On that night, he would defeat both the Rock and Stone Cold, two of the biggest superstars in WWE history in two separate matches to become the first Undisputed WWE Champion. He had finally arrived. He would go on to defeat the Rock again in another excellent match at the Rumble (he and the Rock had great chemistry both on the microphone and in the ring) and Austin at No Way Out, in a match that was memorable for the nWo’s appearance.
The Rock and Austin had made Jericho. Then all the hard work to build Jericho as a top star went down the tubes. He was put in a terribly booked feud with HHH leading up to WrestleMania that was seen by many as more punishment for not doing as well at being ‘top dog’ as he was expected to do.
Jericho was made to look weak and insignificant; in truth a complete afterthought. The storyline would focus on HHH’s feud with Stephanie and Jericho was reduced to being Stephanie’s errand boy. To no one’s surprise HHH won at WrestleMania in a mostly forgettable match with a dead crowd.
Jericho Back in the Mid-Card
Jericho would be dropped back into the mid-card for the next couple of years, only getting the rare title shot when he was thrown into the occasional Elimination Chamber match more to make up the numbers than anything else.
He would feud on and off for the IC title, which by this point he had proven he was above. He did have a memorable feud with Shawn Michaels in 2003 leading to a very good WrestleMania match, unfortunately the wrong guy went over. In 2004 he was involved in a love triangle with Christian and Trish Stratus which led up to another good WrestleMania match with Christian which saw Trish turn on him.
In the summer of 2005 he feuded briefly with John Cena for the WWE title. They had a memorable match at SummerSlam that year with a very hot crowd. Of course Jericho came up short and eventually decided to take some time off, losing a ‘You’re Fired’ WWE Championship match against Cena the following night on Raw.
The 2nd Coming
Save_Us.Y2J
Jericho made his long awaited return a little over two years later in November of 2007 after a barrage of cryptic viral messages played with the underlying message of ‘Save_Us’.
Speculation surrounding these messages was rife, with each one being analysed by fans to see if there were any hidden clues regarding Jericho or who his target may be when he did return.
He made this clear his first night back on Raw, when he interrupted Randy Orton and told him he was coming for his WWE Championship.
The two met at Armageddon where Jericho gained a victory but not the title as JBL who was at the time doing commentary, got involved just as he was set to win the match. The two would go on to feud in a mostly forgettable program which did little more than illustrate that JBL was clearly rusty.
Jericho - The Hottest Thing In Wrestling in ‘08
In 2008, after turning heel once again he rekindled his old feud with Shawn Michaels. It was gold and their out-of-ring work was great.
Jericho would accuse Shawn of being a liar and a hypocrite then cement his heel status by putting Shawn face first through the Jeritron, causing an eye injury.
At SummerSlam, Shawn was ready to announce his retirement becuase of the injury but Jericho interrupted (his calling card early in his WWE career) and the feud picked up steam as Jericho accidentally struck Shawn’s wife Rebecca. Jericho, being the great heel that he was, showed no remorse and actually blamed Shawn for the incident. This lead to a very good “Unsactioned Match” at Unforgiven which Michaels won, but this wouldn’t be the end of Jericho’s night.
C.M. Punk was injured at the hands of Randy Orton and couldn’t defend his World title in the World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match that had been booked.
Jericho took his place and eventually picked up the win, a nice reward for all his hard work. This was his first World title in over six years and he would go on to defend it against Shawn at No Mercy in an excellent Ladder match.
This was voted Feud of the Year just about everywhere.
Jericho lost the title at Cyber Sunday to Batista, but won it back in a Cage match, just eight days later for his fifth World title reign. He would go on to feud with his old rival Cena, where he got the short end of the stick again and lost the title.
Despite losing the title he received the Slammy for Superstar of the Year, a well deserved honour and something he isn’t afraid of telling the WWE Universe.
Jericho in 2009
Jericho vs. WWE Legends
In 2009 Jericho would take aim at WWE legends as well as Mickey Rourke, star of The Wrestler.
Although the original plan was to have him face Rourke, it actually led to a match against Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, and Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania XXV, a match which he won. He even got the better of Flair after the match, before taking a shot from Rourke.
It’s hard to believe, but this was Jericho’s first WrestleMania win since he beat William Regal in 2001.
Smackdown Is Jericho
Jericho would be moved to Smackdown following the WWE Draft and quickly engaged in a feud with Rey Mysterio.
He called Rey a hypocrite for wearing a mask and vowed to unmask him, which he did briefly. They had three great PPV matches and another good one on Raw in what is an early candidate for Feud of the Year.
At the Bash, he and Edge won the Tag Team titles after being thrown together and entered into the bout by Smackdown G.M Teddy Long.
This partnership had interesting possibilities but after Edge suffered a torn Achilles tendon the pair were prematurely torn apart. Jericho did a good job of turning on his partner almost instantly, branding Edge as weak and claiming he knew this would happen from the start.
At Night of Champions Jericho revealed The Big Show as his new partner and the two showed instant chemistry by beating Priceless to retain the titles.
Since then Jeri-Show have dominated the tag division with PPV victories over Cryme Tyme, M.V.P & Mark Henry and Batista & Rey Mysterio.
The Future of Jericho
Looking ahead it’s clear the door has been left wide open for a Jericho/Edge feud, if and when The Rated R Superstar gets back in the ring. Rumour has it that this will happen in the form of an Edge and Christian reunion, with the two teaming up to take on Jericho and Show after a long reign of domination over the tag team division, whether that will be the case or not remains to be seen.
There is also talk that Jericho may feud with the Undertaker at some point in the future. That feud has great possibilities and it would be fresh as they have never feuded in the past. Hopefully Undertaker will at least be willing to go 50-50 with Jericho, something that WWE’s other tenured Superstar, HHH, has been unwilling to do in the past. That could go a long way in establishing Jericho as the top star on Smackdown.
The move to Smackdown was a good one for Jericho. It has given him the opportunity to work fresh feuds with new guys. It also gives him a chance to be “The Man,” something he could never be on Raw with the presence of guys like John Cena and HHH. Hopefully, Jericho will find a way to keep himself entrenched in the main event scene on Smackdown, unlike in the past when he has had little more than ‘cups of coffee’ in the main event picture.
Jericho Is The Best In The World At What He Does
Jericho is arguably the best all-around talent in the WWE today.
He has great microphone skills, he’s charismatic and he consistently gives a top-notch performance in the ring. Another thing that makes him special is his ability to be both a much loved face and a fantastically hated heel. When he became a heel, he ditched his witty catch-phrases and funny lines and concentrated on becoming hated by the fans, something the Rock was not willing to do when he turned on the fans after becoming big in Hollywood.
Austin’s heel turn in 2001 didn’t work very well and HHH has always been a better heel than a face. Jericho though, has mastered both sides of the fence and will surely be in the WWE Hall of Fame some day, but hopefully we will still have many years to enjoy his great talent.
