The wrestling career of Chris Jericho is nothing short of extraordinary. Y2J has competed in many wrestling promotions and has had fantastic matches wherever he has gone. Jericho was introduced to wrestling fans in the '90s, and three decades later, Jericho continues to captivate audiences by competing against the very best in the business.
Jericho is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and there have been countless memorable moments throughout his career. The following pictures depict Jericho's exceptional wrestling career throughout the years which has seen him capture several championships and cement his legacy as a future Hall of Famer.
12 Early Years
Chris Jericho began his wrestling career at the age of 19 and he trained alongside Lance Storm in Calgary. Jericho competed in Japan in the early stages of his career for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling. Jericho continued to learn his craft in Mexico before he moved to Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
SMW was Jim Cornette's wrestling promotion, and Jericho reunited with Storm as the Thrillseekers in 1994. The Thrillseekers collided with some of the best tag teams in the division, and Jericho sought green pastures after his stint in SMW.
11 ECW
In 1996, Chris Jericho joined ECW where he continued to build his profile. A little-known fact is that wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer was one of the men responsible to get Jericho recommended to ECW with Paul Heyman signing Jericho. At Hardcore Heaven, Jericho defeated Pitbull #2 for the ECW World Television Championship.
Jericho only held the championship for three weeks as he dropped the title to Shane Douglas at Heat Wave. Nevertheless, Jericho's run in ECW lasted less than a year, but he managed to wrestle the likes of Rob Van Dam, and Taz during his time in the company. Jericho's final match in ECW was at The Doctor Is In, and it was a losing effort to 2 Cold Scorpio in a bout that lasted 20 minutes.
10 WCW
Chris Jericho finally caught his big break when he joined WCW in August 1996. Jericho had a fantastic run in WCW but he was never viewed as a serious contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Jericho had some exceptional battles with the likes of Dean Malenko and Rey Mysterio over the Cruiserweight Championship.
Jericho won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship four times and he held the WCW World Television Championship once. Jericho appeared in NJPW during his stint in WCW, and Jericho's three-year association with WCW ended in the summer of 1999.
9 WWE Debut
There was a countdown for weeks teasing Chris Jericho's WWE debut. Y2J finally made his WWE debut on the August 9, 1999 edition of Raw. Jericho's "Break Down The Walls" theme song played when the countdown struck zero on the titantron.
Jericho interrupted none other than The Rock who was cutting an in-ring promo about Big Show. Jericho received a huge ovation, and he said "Raw is Jericho" which became one of his catchphrases, and the rest as they say was history.
8 Intercontinental Champion
One of Chris Jericho's first major rivals was Chyna and they battled over the Intercontinental Championship. Jericho failed to beat the Ninth Wonder for the World for the gold at Survivor Series 1999.
Y2J didn't make the same mistake twice as he dethroned Chyna for his first Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon 1999. Jericho would go on to become a record nine-time Intercontinental Champion. Y2J's first taste of holding the Intercontinental Championship ended controversially as both Jericho and Chyna's shoulders were down, and the title became vacant.
7 First-Ever Undisputed WWE Champion
The Rock mocked Chris Jericho for not winning the Big One but Jericho finally clinched his first World Championship when he beat Rock for the WCW Championship at No Mercy 2001. They traded the title, and at Vengeance 2001, there was a four-man tournament to crown the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion.
Jericho regained the World Championship from The Rock, and he faced Steve Austin in the tournament final. Jericho had one of the finest nights in his career as he backed up his win over Rock with a victory over the Texas Rattlesnake to become the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion. Jericho held the championship for three months until he lost the title to Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania 18.
6 Departure
On the August 22, 2005 edition of Raw, Chris Jericho had another chance to beat John Cena for the WWE Championship. This time it was a "You're fired" match. Jericho had been on a strong six-year run with WWE, and he had become a Grand Slam Champion.
Jericho lost to Cena for the second night in succession after he lost to him at SummerSlam. Jericho was fired by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff but in reality, Jericho's WWE contract was expiring, and he was mentally burnout from wrestling.
5 Epic Return
After a little over two years away from the squared circle, Chris Jericho marked his return to WWE on the November 19, 2007 edition of Raw. Jericho turned face and he was immediately positioned into a feud with Randy Orton, who was the reigning WWE Champion.
Jericho sported a new look with his long locks no more with a shorter haircut. Similar to his WWE debut, there was a vignette teasing Jericho's return, this time it was a code that was unveiled as "Save Us Y2J."
4 The Best In The World At What He Does
Chris Jericho's return to WWE was successful and he extended his record of most Intercontinental Championship reigns in 2008 and 2009 with an eighth and ninth run as Intercontinental Champion. However, one of the highlights of his return was his heel turn in the summer of 2008, and his feud with Shawn Michaels.
Jericho and Michaels had the rivalry of the year in 2008, and their feud culminated in a ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship at No Mercy. Y2J retained the title, and he began to don suits and call himself, "The Best in the World at What I do." Jericho would clinch the World Heavyweight Championship for the third time in an Elimination Chamber match in 2010, and he'd successfully defend the gold against Edge at WrestleMania 26.
3 Sporadic Appearances
At Night of Champions 2010, Chris Jericho left WWE and returned in January 2012. For the next six years, Jericho would compete on and off for WWE as he would work on other projects and toured with his band Fozzy. Jericho was still a major player as he was a runner-up in the 2012 Royal Rumble match.
Jericho and CM Punk feuded over the WWE Championship, and their matches together were fantastic. Y2J came up short in their title matches at WrestleMania 28 and Extreme Rules 2012. Nevertheless, Jericho contested strong matches, and he'd put talent over to help them boost their profiles.
2 Alliance & Feud With Kevin Owens
The alliance between Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens was nothing short of extraordinary. KO was the reigning Universal Champion since August 2016, and Jericho dethroned Roman Reigns for the United States Championship in a handicap match in January 2017. Jericho introduced the list which got over, and it's a testament to Jericho's greatness that he was able to reinvent himself and get something over.
Their relationship began to dissolve during the Festival of Friendship. Jericho realized that his name was on Owens' list with Owens attacking Jericho. Owens dropped the Universal Championship to Goldberg at Fastlane 2017, which led to Jericho and Owens battling over the United States Championship at WrestleMania 33. Their feud was brilliant storytelling with Jericho sticking around longer than expected.
1 AEW
Chris Jericho departed WWE in 2018, and a year later he joined All Elite Wrestling. Jericho has done an outstanding job in AEW, and he became the inaugural AEW World Champion. To have an established wrestler like Jericho as the first-ever AEW World Champion was smart as Jericho had a lot of star power.
It's hard to believe that Jericho hadn't featured in factions until he joined AEW. He created the Inner Circle which was amongst the likes of Jake Hager, Sammy Guevera, Santana, and Ortiz. Once the Inner Circle disbanded in March 2022, the Jericho Appreciation Society was born. Jericho continued to have success as he captured his eighth World Championship by beating Claudio Castagnoli for the ROH World Championship.