Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho
Born	(1970-11-09) November 9, 1970 Manhasset, New York
Website	ChrisJericho.com
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Chris Jericho Corazón de León Super Liger Y2J
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Billed weight	226 lb (103 kg)
Billed from	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Trained by	Ed Langley Katsuji Adachi Keith Hart Stu Hart
Debut	October 2, 1990

Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970) better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is a Canadian-American inactive professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), as well as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), and internationally in Canadian, Mexican and Japanese promotions. He is also the host of the ABC game show Downfall and the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Fozzy.

Jericho has won 30 championships between WWF/WWE (where he won 24 titles), WCW, and ECW. He is credited as being the first-ever Undisputed Champion within the WWF, having unified the WWF Championship and WCW Championship in 2001. He is also the only man to have held two World titles simultaneously and two Tag Team titles simultaneously. Overall, Jericho is recognized as a six-time world champion, having won the WCW Championship twice, the WWF Championship once, and World Heavyweight Championship three times. He has also accumulated multiple reigns with the WWE Tag Team and World Tag Team Championships and won the WWF/WWE Intercontinental Championship a record nine times. He is the ninth Triple Crown Champion and the fourth Grand Slam Champion.

Professional wrestling career

Early years (1990–1996)

At age 19, Irvine entered the Hart Brothers School of Wrestling where, on his first day, he met Lance Storm. Two months later, he was ready to start wrestling on independent shows, making his debut on October 2, 1990, in a draw against Storm. The pair then worked as a tag team, initially called "Sudden Impact". Meanwhile, 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 Adam Copeland (Edge), Jason Reso (Christian), and Terry Gerin (Rhino). The pair also wrestled in Calgary's Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA) and Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling (CRMW). In 1991, Jericho and Storm started touring in Japan for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, where he would befriend Ricky Fuji, who also trained under Stu Hart.

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, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In CMLL, Jericho took on Silver King, Negro Casas, and Último Dragón en route to an 11 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 December 1995, Jericho competed in the second Super J Cup Tournament, hosted by WAR, losing to Wild Pegasus.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1996)

In 1996, thanks to a recommendation by Chris Benoit to promoter Paul Heyman, Jericho began wrestling for the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion, winning the ECW World Television Championship in June 1996. While in ECW, wrestled 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 (WCW).

World Championship Wrestling (1996–1999)

Debut and Cruiserweight Champion (1996–1998)

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. In January 1997, Jericho made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling, who had a working agreement with WCW, as Super Liger, the masked arch nemesis of Jushin "Thunder" Liger. Super Liger's first match against Koji Kanemoto at Wrestling World 1997 was so poorly received that the gimmick was dropped instantly. The following six months, Jericho worked for New Japan unmasked, before being called back by WCW. 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 by 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. In the storyline, Mysterio needed six months of recovery before he could return to the ring. Jericho then had a short feud with Juventud Guerrera in which Guerrera repeatedly requested a shot at Jericho's Cruiserweight Championship, but Jericho constantly rebuffed him. The feud culminated 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 then began a long feud with Dean Malenko in which Jericho repeatedly claimed he was a better wrestler than Malenko, but refused to wrestle him. Because of his mastery of technical wrestling, Malenko was known as "The Man of 1000 Holds," so Jericho claimed to be "The Man of 1004 Holds." During the March 30, 1998 episode of WCW Monday Nitro, after defeating Marty Jannetty, Jericho pulled out a long pile of paper that listed each of the 1004 holds he knew and recited them to the audience. Many of the "holds" were fictional, and every other hold was an armbar. On the March 12, 1998 episode of WCW Thunder, Malenko defeated a wrestler wearing Juventud Guerrera's mask who appeared to be Jericho. However, the masked wrestler was actually Lenny Lane, who Jericho bribed to appear in the match. This started a minor feud between Lane and Jericho after Jericho refused to pay Lane. At Uncensored Jericho finally wrestled Malenko and defeated him, after which Malenko took a leave of absence from wrestling. Jericho then proceeded to bring with him to the ring a portrait of Malenko that 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 an insulting fashion before the match started and then went backstage for coffee. An individual who appeared to be Ciclope won the battle royal after Juventud Guerrera shook his hand then eliminated himself. However, the winner was not Ciclope, but instead a returning Malenko in disguise. Malenko proceeded to defeat Jericho for the championship. Jericho claiming he was the victim of a carefully planned conspiracy to get the belt off of him. He at first blamed the WCW locker room, then added Dillon, Ted Turner, and finally in a vignette, he walked around Washington, D.C. with the sign "conspiracy victim" and accused President Bill Clinton of being one of the conspirators after being rejected from a meeting. Eventually, Malenko vacated the title. Jericho ended up defeating Malenko at The Great American Bash to win the vacant title after Malenko was disqualified after hitting Jericho with a chair. The next night, Malenko was suspended for his actions.

At Bash at the Beach, the recently returned Rey Mysterio, Jr. (who had recovered from his knee injury) defeated Jericho in a No Disqualification match after the still-suspended Malenko interfered. Jericho regained the Cruiserweight Championship from Mysterio the next night after he interrupted J.J. Dillon while Dillon was giving the championship to Mysterio. Jericho was again awarded the championship. Eventually, Jericho decisively lost the title to Juventud Guerrera in a match at Road Wild with Malenko as special referee.

World Television Champion (1998–1999)

On August 10, Jericho defeated Stevie Ray to win the World Television Championship (Stevie Ray substituting for the champion Booker T). Soon afterward, Jericho repeatedly called out World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg, in an attempt to begin a feud with him, but never actually wrestled him. Jericho cites Eric Bischoff, Goldberg, and Hulk Hogan's reluctance to book Jericho in a pay-per-view squash match loss against Goldberg, which Jericho felt would be a big draw, as a major reason for his deciding to leave the company.

On November 30, 1998 Jericho lost the Television Championship to Konnan.

Feud with Perry Saturn and departure (1999)

In early 1999, Jericho began a feud with Perry Saturn. 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 in which Jericho once again defeated Saturn. Saturn finally defeated Jericho at Uncensored in a Dog Collar match.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1999–2005)

Debut and Intercontinental Championship (1999–2001)

Jericho on SmackDown! with Mr. Hughes, his enforcer during his rivalry with Ken Shamrock.

Jericho alternated between WCW and a number of Japanese tours before he signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on June 30. In the weeks before Jericho's debut, a clock labeled "countdown to the new millennium" appeared on WWF programming. On the home video, Break Down the Walls, 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 entered the arena and proclaimed himself "Y2J" (a play on the Y2K bug). The Rock proceeded to verbally mock him for his interruption. Later that month, Jericho made his in-ring debut on August 26, 1999 losing in a match against Road Dogg on the inaugural edition of SmackDown! after powerbombing Road Dogg through a table.

Jericho's first long-term feud was with Chyna, for the Intercontinental Championship. After losing to Chyna at the Survivor Series, Jericho won his first Intercontinental title at Armageddon. This feud included 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. Jericho's subsequent alliance with Chyna, coupled with growing enthusiasm for his ring work and mic skills, effectively turned him into a face. Shortly thereafter, he began a feud with Kurt Angle, and lost the title to Angle at No Way Out.

Jericho performing his entrance on Raw.

On April 2, Jericho competed in a Triple Threat match against Chris Benoit and Angle at WrestleMania 2000 where he won the WWF European Championship. Jericho lost the title the next day to Eddie Guerrero on Raw after Chyna, claiming she could not resist Guerrero's Latino Heat, turned heel to side with him. On the April 17 edition of Raw, Jericho upset Triple H in a WWF Championship match. Referee Earl Hebner made a fast count when Jericho pinned Triple H, causing Jericho to win the title. Later, Hebner reversed the decision due to pressure from Triple H, and WWE does not recognize Jericho's reign as champion. On the May 4 edition of SmackDown!, Jericho defeated Benoit to become Intercontinental Champion for the third time, but lost the title to Benoit four days later on Raw. Meanwhile, Jericho's feud with Triple H climaxed at Fully Loaded, when they competed in a Last Man Standing match. Jericho lost the match to Triple H only by one second, despite the repeated assistance Triple H's wife Stephanie provided him in the match.

At the 2001 Royal Rumble, Jericho defeated Chris Benoit in a Ladder match to win the Intercontinental Championship for the fourth 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.

Teaming with Chris Benoit (2001)

Jericho signing autographs

At Judgment Day, Jericho and Benoit won a "Tag Team Turmoil" match and earned 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. Though Benoit was carried out on a stretcher, he returned to the match to climb the ladder and retain the championship. The duo lost the title one month later to the Dudley Boyz on June 19, 2001.

Undisputed Champion (2001–2002)

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. However, Jericho began to show jealousy toward fellow WWF member The Rock. They faced each other in a match at No Mercy for the WCW Championship after Jericho defeated Rob Van Dam in a number one contenders match. Jericho won the WCW Championship when he pinned The Rock after debuting a new finisher, the Breakdown. One night later, the two put their differences aside and won the WWF Tag Team title from the Dudley Boyz. After they lost the title 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. Following the match, Jericho attacked The Rock with a steel chair. At the Survivor Series, Jericho almost cost The Rock, and the WWF, victory in their elimination matchup by attacking The Rock again. On December 9, at Vengeance, Jericho defeated both The Rock for the WCW Championship (unbranded and only referred to as the World Championship following Survivor Series) and Stone Cold Steve Austin for his WWF Championship on the same night to become the first wrestler to hold both championships at the same time, which made him the first Undisputed WWF 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 later 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. The rivalry culminated at Judgment Day when Triple H defeated Jericho in a Hell in a Cell match.

Teaming with Christian and various feuds (2002–2003)

Jericho's ring entrance during Raw.

Jericho was later drafted to Raw, where he won the Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam (RVD). He then later formed a tag team with Christian, with whom he won the World Tag Team Championship, then renamed WWE Tag Team Championship, on October 14, 2002. Christian and Jericho lost the title in a fatal four-way elimination match, involving the teams of The Dudley Boyz, Booker T and Goldust, and William Regal and Lance Storm, on December 15, 2002 at Armageddon.

Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels after their match at WrestleMania XIX in March 2003

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. He chose number two in order to start the match with Shawn Michaels, who had challenged Jericho to prove his claims that he was better than Michaels. After Michaels' entrance, Jericho entered as the second participant. Christian, in Jericho's attire, appeared while the real Jericho attacked Shawn from behind. He eliminated Michaels shortly afterward, but Michaels got his revenge later in the match by causing Test to eliminate Jericho. Jericho spent the most time of any other wrestler in that same Royal Rumble. Jericho simultaneously feuded with Test, Michaels, and Jeff Hardy. Jericho and Michaels fought again at WrestleMania XIX. In the end, Michaels scored the victory. Jericho, however, hit Michaels with a low blow after the match following an embrace.

After this match, Jericho entered a rivalry with Goldberg, which was fueled by Goldberg's refusal to fight Jericho in WCW. During Jericho's first edition of the Highlight Reel, an interview show, where Goldberg was the guest, he complained that no one wanted Goldberg in WWE and continued to insult him in the following weeks. On May 12 on Raw, a mystery assailant attempted to run over Goldberg with a limousine. A week later, Co-Raw General Manager, Stone Cold Steve Austin, interrogated several Raw superstars to find out who was driving the car. One of the interrogates was Lance Storm, who admitted that he was the assailant. Austin forced Storm into a match with Goldberg, who defeated Storm. After the match, Goldberg forced Storm to admit that Jericho was the superstar who conspired Storm into running him over. On May 26, Goldberg was once again a guest on the Highlight Reel. Jericho expressed jealousy towards Goldberg's success in WCW and felt that since joining WWE, he had achieved everything he had ever wanted in his career and all that was left was to defeat Goldberg and challenged him to a match. At Bad Blood, Goldberg settled the score with Jericho and defeated him.

Face turn and feud with Christian (2003–2004)

Later in 2003, Jericho began a romance with Trish Stratus while his tag team partner Christian began one with Lita. This, however, turned out to be a bet over who could sleep with their respective paramour first, with a Canadian Dollar at stake. Stratus overheard this and ended her relationship with Jericho, who seemingly felt bad for using Stratus. After he saved her from an attack by Kane, Stratus agreed that the two of them could just be "friends". After Christian put Stratus in the Walls of Jericho while competing against her in a match, 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 revelation led to a handicap match at Backlash that Jericho won. In late 2004, Jericho defeat Tyson Tomko at Bad Blood in a singles match. Following three months later, Jericho won his seventh Intercontinental Championship at that year's Unforgiven in a ladder match against Christian.

Championship pursuits, heel turn and departure (2004–2005)

Jericho's seventh reign was short lived, as he lost it at Taboo Tuesday to Shelton Benjamin.

Jericho teamed up with Randy Orton, Chris Benoit, and Maven to take on Triple H, Batista, Edge, and Snitsky at Survivor Series. The match's stipulation stated that each member of the winning team would become the General Manager of Raw throughout the next four weeks. Jericho's team was victorious, so they took turns as General Manager. During Jericho's turn as General Manager, he stripped Triple H of his World Heavyweight Championship because a Triple Threat match for the title a week earlier 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. Jericho began the match with Benoit but Batista ultimately eliminated Jericho. At WrestleMania 21, Jericho participated in the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match. Jericho suggested the match concept, and he competed in the match against Benjamin, Benoit, Kane, Christian, and Edge. Jericho lost the match when Edge claimed the briefcase. At Backlash, Jericho challenging Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship, but lost the match. On June 12, 2005, Jericho wrestled in his first match of the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event against his former rivalry Lance Storm. Jericho used his old 'Lionheart' gimmick, instead of his more well known 'Y2J' gimmick. However, Jericho lost the match, after Jason and Justin Credible hit Jericho’s head with a Singapore Cane, which allowed Storm to win the match.

Later that June, Jericho turned 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 involved between Christian and Cena. The feud was continued throughout the summer and Jericho lost to Cena in a championship match at SummerSlam. His last appearance in WWE on the August 22 episode of Raw, Jericho faced Cena in a rematch, at this time in a "You're fired" match. Cena won again, and Jericho was fired by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff, then Jericho turned on Bischoff. However, Jericho was carried out of the arena by security. In three days later, WWE announced that Jericho's WWE contract had expired on August 25, 2005.

Return to WWE (2007–2010)

In ring return and various feuds (2007–2008)

Jericho facing Umaga on Raw.

After two year hiatus, WWE promoted Jericho's return 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. Jericho made his return as a face to WWE television on the November 19, 2007 edition of Raw when 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. On the November 26 edition of Raw, Jericho defeated Santino Marella in his first match and debuted a new finishing maneuver called the Codebreaker. On December 10, 2007, episode of Raw for it's 15th Anniversary Special, Jericho using microphone and attacked Eric Bischoff, which Bischoff was firing him on Raw back in 2005. At Armageddon, he competed in a WWE title match against Orton, defeating him by disqualification when SmackDown's color commentator John "Bradshaw" Layfield interfered in the match, but 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.

Chris Jericho as the intercontinental champion

On the March 10 episode of Raw, Jericho captured the Intercontinental Championship for a record eighth time when he defeated Jeff Hardy.

Heel turn and World Heavyweight Championship (2008–2009)

Chris Jericho attacking Shawn Michaels' injured eye at The Great American Bash

In June, Jericho became a villainous character by attacking Shawn Michaels during his talk show segment The Highlight Reel. Feeling the fans were cheering Michaels despite doing wrong and not caring for Jericho, he put Michaels through The Highlight Reel's "Jeritron 5000" which caused severe damage to his eye. This began what would be ranked by both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter as the feud of the year. At Night of Champions, he lost the Intercontinental Title to Kofi Kingston after a distraction by Michaels.

Afterward, he developed a suit-wearing "self-righteous honest man" gimmick inspired by Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) from the film No Country for Old Men. In doing so, Jericho purposely shed many of the trademarks associated with the "Y2J" character, taking "every characteristic that made him popular, and strip[ping] those traits away from himself." Jericho and Michaels met at The Great American Bash, which Jericho won after attacking the cut on Michaels's eye. Michaels later announced that his eye damage would force him to retire, Jericho then went to attack him but punched Rebecca, his wife, instead.

Chris Jericho as the World Heavyweight Champion

As a result, they met in an Unsanctioned match at Unforgiven which Jericho lost. In the main event, Jericho entered the Championship Scramble as a replacement for the defending champion CM Punk and subsequently won the World Heavyweight Championship. Jericho then successfully defended his title against Michaels at No Mercy in a ladder match. At Cyber Sunday, Jericho lost the title to Batista in a match. Eight days later, Jericho 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 January 12, 2009 episode of Raw, WWE Executive Vice President Stephanie McMahon fired Jericho, which began a new storyline for Jericho. The next week, McMahon rehired Jericho after he made a forced apology to her and the fans.

Feud with Mickey Rourke and Hall of Famers (2009)

Jericho had an onscreen feud with Double Team, Thursday, Sin City and The Wrestler film star Mickey Rourke and four 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. After defeating Flair, Jericho challenged Rourke, who was at ringside for the event. As part of the storyline, Rourke knocked Jericho out after a left hook to the jaw.

Feud with Rey Mysterio (2009)

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 return, 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 Judgment Day to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Jericho defeated Mysterio in a No Holds Barred Match at Extreme Rules to win his ninth Intercontinental Championship, breaking his own record again.

Jeri-Show (2009–2010)

Jericho as the Unified WWE Tag Team Champion

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.

However, Edge suffered an Achilles tendon injury, and Jericho announced that he had a clause in his contract stating that someone will replace Edge as a new tag team partner.

At Night of Champions, Jericho revealed The Big Show as his new tag team partner and they defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to retain the championship. Due to controversy over whether Jericho became a new champion with The Big Show, WWE considers both of Jericho's Unified Tag Team Titles as new reigns when he didn't lose them first. The 140 day reign of Jeri-Show as Unified Tag Team Champions came to an end at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view at the hands of D-Generation X (DX). After DX disqualified themselves on purpose in Jeri-Show's title rematch on Raw 24 hours later (as titles cannot change hands on a disqualification), the stipulation being if Jericho and Show could not win the title he no longer had legal reason to be on Raw, Jericho was forced out of the building by a team of (actually non-Raw) superstars in DX attire. A few weeks later, DX would soon face Jericho and the Big Show in a serious rematch on Raw with the same stipulations intact; DX won the match. On the January 11 edition of Raw, Jericho had another match that if he had won he would have been able to appear on any show. His partner was Mike Tyson, who towards the end turned on Jericho reminiscent to how he turned on DX at WrestleMania XIV. Tyson knocked Jericho out and Shawn Michaels pinned him to win the match.

Pursuit of the World Heavyweight Championship (2010)

At Royal Rumble Jericho entered the Royal Rumble match at number 28, but was eliminated by the returning Edge, his former tag team partner and tag title holder. At Elimination Chamber, Jericho won the World Heavyweight Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, lastly eliminating the defending champion The Undertaker following interference from Shawn Michaels. The next night on Raw, Edge announced that he would be facing Jericho at WrestleMania XXVI for the World Heavyweight Championship. Jericho defeated Edge at WrestleMania, retaining the World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Edge speared Jericho from the announce table through the barricade. During the April 2, 2010 episode of SmackDown!, Jack Swagger cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Jericho for the championship after he had been speared by Edge just moments before. Later in the show, Theodore Long confirmed a #1 contenders match for the World Heavyweight Championship for the next week involving Jericho and Edge. The match ended in a double count-out. The following week, both Jericho and Edge were placed in a triple threat match with Swagger for the World Heavyweight Championship, with Swagger retaining.

Return to Raw and departure (2010)

Jericho at a Raw house show in 2010.

Jericho was drafted back to Raw in the 2010 WWE Draft. He formed a tag team with The Miz and made his intentions clear in that he wanted to capture the Unified WWE Tag Team Championships from The Hart Dynasty. Jericho secured their title shot at Over the Limit by defeating David Hart Smith on Raw, although they were defeated at the event. A month later, Jericho lost to Evan Bourne at WWE Fatal 4-Way, and the following night, he won a rematch, where he put his career on the line. On the July 19 episode of Raw, after being assaulted by The Nexus, Jericho 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, thus turning face in the process. Jericho, however, feigned a heel once again by criticizing Cena's reason in forming his team, and 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. Afterward, 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 Hart and 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, making an official face turn. Jericho and his team along with the returning Daniel Bryan (who was fired from WWE in last two months ago) instead of Khali (who had been attacked by The Nexus the previous week on Raw) defeated 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. On the September 13 edition of Raw, however, Jericho was re-admitted into the match by the GM after defeating the Hart Dynasty in a 2-on-1 handicap Steel Cage match. At the event, Jericho was unsuccessful at winning the title, as he was the first man eliminated. On the September 27 episode of Raw, Jericho faced Randy Orton, but their match ended at a No Contest after interference by Sheamus. Then Jericho was punted by Orton, so he took time off from the company under the storyline of an injury. Jericho later stated in an interview that he loved the company and the fans, but had other things to do and accomplish in his career. He also stated that he would never sign with another wrestling company and that WWE is his home.

In an interview, Jericho has said that he plans on returning to WWE when he is able to be fully committed to the company. He has implied it could be when he is done competing on ABC's Dancing With The Stars. In a recent interview with the UK newspaper The Sun, Jericho expressed that returning to WWE is the last thing on his mind at the moment. He said: "I still love watching wrestling, I still dig the shows. The only reason I left was that I had so much going on, my contract was up and I thought I'm just not going to re-sign because I'm definitely not short of work right now. This time, I won't come back to wear a suit and use long words and talk slowly. Everybody does that now. It would have to be something different to really interest me enough to want to come back."

Other media

Music

See also: Fozzy

Jericho performing onstage as part of Fozzy in 2005.

In the mid 1990s, Jericho wrote a monthly column for Metal Edge magazine focused on the heavy metal scene. The column only ran for about a year.

Jericho is the lead singer for the heavy metal band Fozzy. Since their debut album in 1999, Fozzy has released four studio albums: Fozzy, Happenstance, All That Remains, and the 2010 album Chasing the Grail, and one live album, Remains Alive.

In 2005, Jericho performed vocals on a cover of "The Evil That Men Do" on the Iron Maiden tribute album, Numbers from the Beast. He made a guest appearance on Dream Theater's album, Systematic Chaos on the song "Repentance", as one of several musical guests recorded apologizing to important people in their lives for wrongdoings in the past.

He also started his own weekly XM Satellite Radio show in March 2005 called Rock of Jericho, which aired Sunday nights on XM 41 The Boneyard.

Film, theatre, comedy and writing

In 2000, a VHS tape documenting Jericho's career titled Break Down the Walls was released.

On June 24, 2006 Jericho premiered in his first Sci-Fi Channel movie Android Apocalypse alongside Scott Bairstow and Joey Lawrence.

Jericho debuted as a stage actor in a comedy play Opening Night, which premiered at the Toronto Centre for the Arts during July 20–22, 2006 in Toronto. During his stay in Toronto, Jericho hosted the sketch comedy show Sunday Night Live with sketch troupe The Sketchersons at The Brunswick House.

Jericho was also the first wrestler attached and interviewed for the wrestling documentary, Bloodstained Memoirs. The interview was recorded in the UK during a Fozzy tour in 2006.

Jericho wrote a New York Times bestselling autobiography A Lion's Tale which was released in 2007. Jericho's second autobiography Undisputed, the sequel to A Lion's Tale, was released in February 2011. Jericho has announced via his twitter account that a third book has been agreed to with Penguin publishing, and should be available in 2013.

Jericho appeared in the 2009 film Albino Farm.

In the film MacGruber, released May 21, 2010, he briefly appeared as Frank Korver, a former military teammate of the eponymous Green Beret, Navy Seal, and Army Ranger.

Television

Jericho is a contributor to the VH1 pop culture shows Best Week Ever, I Love the '80s, and VH1's top 100 artists.

On July 12, 2006, he made an appearance on G4's Attack of the Show!; he made a second appearance on August 21, 2009. In May 2006, Jericho appeared on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs and Heavy: The Story of Metal as a commentator.

He was one of eight celebrities in the 2006 Fox Television singing reality show Celebrity Duets, executive-produced by Simon Cowell, and was the first contestant eliminated.

A video shown on TMZ.com featured Jericho working at a McDonald's to show off his skills while prepping for the show.

Jericho also appeared on Larry King Live on July 9, 2007 to discuss the double murder-suicide of Chris Benoit and his family. Jericho later reappeared on Larry King Live to further a storyline feud with actor Mickey Rourke.

Jericho hosted his own reality show in 2008 titled Redemption Song, in which 11 women tried their hand at getting into the music scene. It was shown on Fuse TV.

He guest starred as Billy "The Body Bag" Cobb in Xero Control, an episode of the Disney XD 2009 original series Aaron Stone.

He hosted VH1's 100 Most Shocking Music Moments, which began airing in December 2009.

In June 2010, Jericho was named the host of the ABC prime-time game show Downfall.

On March 1, 2011, Chris Jericho was named one of the contestants on the 2011 lineup of Dancing with the Stars. This lead to a wave of publicity, such as being interviewed by Jay Leno. On April 26, Jericho was the fifth contestant eliminated on the show.

On May 5, Jericho made his third appearance as featured guest on Attack of the Show! where he depicted Thor to promote the recent Thor (film). He promoted Undisputed and announced he would be hosting the Golden Gods awards May 28 on VH1 Classic.

Publications

• A Lion's Tale: Around The World In Spandex (2007)
• Undisputed (2011)

Personal life

His father Ted Irvine is a former National Hockey League (NHL) player. Though he was born in the prominent Long Island neighborhood of Manhasset, New York, Irvine was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Vince McMahon felt that by introducing him as "born in Manhasset, New York", American fans would be more likely to get behind him.

Irvine and his wife Jessica have three children-a son named Ash Edward Irvine, who was born on September 23, 2003 and twin daughters.

Irvine has two tattoos on his left hand. The first is his wedding band while the second is the letter 'F' on the back of his hand, representing Fozzy, a band he has been lead vocalist for since 1999.

On July 5, 2004, Irvine was awarded The Order of the Buffalo Hunt in a ceremony held in Manitoba for his achievements in wrestling and his commitment to working with underprivileged children. The award has previously been given to Pope John Paul II, Chicago mayor Richard Daley, Desmond Tutu, and Mother Teresa.

On February 7, 2009, Irvine appeared to have punched a fan after she spat at him with fans outside Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia after a WWE live event. Video footage, however, clearly showed he did not make contact with the woman. As a result of the incident, police detained them, but released them without charge. Police later announced that they would not press charges against anyone in the brawl as it was "hard to determine who provoked who".

On January 27, 2010, Irvine and fellow WWE wrestler Gregory Helms were arrested in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky after leaving a bar. A police report stated that Helms punched Jericho and the other passengers in the cab.

In wrestling

Jericho applying the Walls of Jericho on Batista

Jericho performs the Codebreaker (Double knee facebreaker) on Batista

Jericho performing a one-handed bulldog on Booker T

Jericho performs a Lionsault (Springboard moonsault) on Kurt Angle at King of the Ring 2000.

• Finishing moves
  • Breakdown (Full nelson facebuster) – 2001–2002
  • Codebreaker (Double knee facebreaker, sometimes while springboarding) – 2007–present
  • Lionsault (Springboard moonsault)
  • Walls of Jericho (Elevated Boston crab)
  • Liontamer (Boston crab with a knee pressed into the opponent's back or neck) – WCW

• Signature moves
  • Backbreaker submission
  • Backhand chop
  • Double underhook transitioned into either a backbreaker or a powerbomb
  • Diving European uppercut
  • Flashback (Sleeper slam, sometimes to an oncoming opponent)
  • Flying forearm smash
  • Jericho Spike (Hurricanrana)
  • Missile dropkick
  • One-handed bulldog
  • Running back elbow, sometimes while performing a corkscrew
  • Spinning wheel kick
  • Springboard dropkick to an opponent on the ring apron
  • Springboard plancha
  • Standing, leg-feed, or running enzuigiri
  • Stepping on the opponent's chest with one foot in a pinning attempt, with theatrics
  • Tiger suplex
  • Triple powerbomb, usually to lighter opponents

• Managers
  • Ralphus
  • Curtis Hughes
  • Chyna
  • Stephanie McMahon
  • Trish Stratus
  • Christian
  • Lance Cade
  • The Jerichoholic Ninja
  • Viva Los Jericho

• Nicknames
  • "Y2J"
  • "The Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla"
  • "Lionheart"
  • "The Living Legend"
  • "The King of the World"
  • "The First Undisputed Champion"
  • "The Man of 1004 Holds"
  • "Paragon of Virtue"
  • "The Best In The World At What He Does"
  • "Sexy Beast"
  • "The Highlight of the Night"
  • The Mental Mastermind
  • The Manitoban Jet
  • "The King of Bling-Bling

• Entrance themes
  • Extreme Championship Wrestling
    • "Soul-Crusher" by White Zombie (1996)
    • "Electric Head, Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)" by White Zombie (1996)
  • World Championship Wrestling
    • "The Days of My Life"
    • "One Crazed Anarchist" by Grunge City from the Aircraft Music Library
  • World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
    • "Break the Walls Down" by Adam Morenoff (1999–2005, 2007–2010)
    • "King of My World" by Saliva (2002)
    • "Don't You Wish You Were Me" by Fozzy (2004)
    • "Crank the Walls Down" by Maylene & The Sons of Disaster (used while partnering with Big Show, 2009–2010)

Championships and accomplishments

• Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling
  • CRMW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • CRMW North American Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Lance Storm

• Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
  • NWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time)¹

Jericho as Intercontinental Champion in June 2009; his nine reigns are a WWE record.

Chris Jericho and The Big Show as the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions in September 2009.

• Extreme Championship Wrestling
  • ECW World Television Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Comeback of the Year (2008)
  • PWI Feud of the Year (2008) vs. Shawn Michaels
  • PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2002, 2008)
  • PWI ranked him #2 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2009
  • PWI ranked him #109 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003

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

• World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWF Undisputed Championship (1 time)⁵
  • World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • WCW/World Championship (2 times)²
  • WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (9 times)³
  • WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Chris Benoit (1), The Rock (1), Christian (1), Edge (1), and The Big Show (1)⁴
  • WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Edge (1) and The Big Show (1)⁴
  • WWF European Championship (1 time)
  • WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)
  • Slammy Award for Superstar of the Year (2008)
  • Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year (2009) – with The Big Show
  • Ninth Triple Crown Champion
  • Fourth Grand Slam Champion

• Wrestle Association "R"
  • WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • WAR International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Gedo

• World Wrestling Association
  • WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with El Dandy

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best on Interviews (2003, 2008, 2009)
  • Best on Interviews of the Decade (2000–2009)
  • Feud of the Year (2008) vs. Shawn Michaels
  • Match of the Year (2008) vs. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match at No Mercy
  • Most Underrated Wrestler (1999, 2000)
  • Readers' Favorite Wrestler (1999)
  • Wrestler of the Year (2008, 2009)
  • Best Pro Wrestling DVD (2010) for Breaking the Code: Behind the Walls of Chris Jericho
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2010)

1 ^ Despite still using the NWA initials, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is no longer a member of the National Wrestling Alliance. As a result, the NWA doesn't recognize or sanction this championship.
2 ^ Both reigns were won during and right after The Invasion with the second reign being the unification with the WWF Championship and becoming the first ever WWF Undisputed Champion.
3 ^ Jericho held the title jointly with Chyna during his second reign.
4 ^ After Edge suffered an injury, Jericho chose The Big Show as a replacement without interrupting the championship reign.
5 ^ Jericho's reign occurred after unifying the WWF Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, making him the first ever Undisputed WWF Champion.

Luchas de Apuestas record

See also: Luchas de Apuestas

Wager	Winner	Loser	Location	Date	Notes
Hair	Corazón de León	Cro-Magnon	Mexico City, Mexico	May 30, 1993
Mask	Chris Jericho	Juventud Guerrera	Daly City, California	February 22, 1998	Mask vs. Title match at SuperBrawl VIII
Hair	Chris Jericho	Kevin Nash	Grand Rapids, Michigan	August 18, 2003	Raw
Title	Rey Mysterio	Chris Jericho	Sacramento, California	June 28, 2009	Mask vs. Title match at The Bash

Bibliography

• Keith, Scott (2004). Wrestling's One Ring Circus: The Death of the World Wrestling Federation. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2619-X.
• Jericho, Chris (2007). A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-0446580069.
• Schaefer, A.R. (2002). Y2J: Pro Wrestler Chris Jericho (Pro Wrestlers). Capstone High-Interest Books. ISBN 978-0736813136.

External links

• Official website
• Official Fozzy website
• WWE Alumni profile
• Chris Jericho on X
• Chris Jericho at IMDb