Early Wrestling Career
Christopher Keith Irvine was born on November 9, 1970, in Manhasset, New York, though he was raised in Winnipeg, Canada. He is the son of former NHL player Ted Irvine.
Irvine first found interest in pro wrestling through local promotions and rose to prominence in the business through similar, independent promotions. He adopted the ring name Chris Jericho soon after making his debut in 1990. Jericho soon began wrestling across the globe in promotions like FMW, CMLL, and ECW.
World Championship Wrestling
On August 20, 1996, Jericho made his WCW by defeating Jerry Lynn. Jericho would soon after become a mainstay of the WCW cruiserweight division. He won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship on June 28, 1997 from Syxx at Saturday Nitro.
Jericho feuded over the Cruiserweight Championship against a star-studded cast of challengers, including Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr., and Juventud Guerrera. On August 10, 1998, Jericho also won the WCW World Television Championship from Stevie Ray.
The Arrival Of Y2J
In the Summer of 1999, WWE began airing a series of mysterious vignettes showing a clock labeled “countdown to the new millennium.” These vignettes were all leading up Jericho’s WWE debut on the August 9 episode of Raw Is War.
On December 12, 1999, Jericho defeated Chyna to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship, marking the first title win of his WWE career and the first of nine WWE Intercontinental Championship wins.
Jericho would soon win the WWE European Championship, WWE Championship. WWE Tag Team Championship, and the Undisputed WWE Championship.
In 2005, Jericho took his first hiatus from WWE. He took a few hiatuses from wrestling over the course of his WWE career to pursue music and acting.
The List Of Jericho
Jericho created several memorable storylines over the course of his WWE career. Some of his most iconic feuds came against stars like Shawn Michaels, Edge, and CM Punk. He also caused a scandal at a live event in Brazil by kicking a Brazilian flag; he was threatened with arrest by Brazilian police and made to issue an apology.
In the Summer of 2016, Jericho introduced one of his most popular gimmicks to date, “The List of Jericho.” The premise of the gimmick was that Jericho would keep a physical list on hand with the names of everyone who’s ever bothered him.
The next year, Jericho and his then-ally Kevin Owens created one of the most iconic segments in WWE history, the “Festival of Friendship.” Kevin broke the hearts of the WWE universe by turning heel on Jericho, bringing the festival to an abrupt and tragic end.
At Wrestlemania 33, Vince McMahon made the decision to move Jericho and Kevin Owens’ match down the card. This decision prompted Jericho to leave WWE.
All Elite Wrestling
After wrestling for NJPW from 2017-2019, Jericho signed with the upstart promotion, All Elite Wrestling. On August 31, 2019, Jericho defeated Hangman Adam Page at All Out to become the inaugural AEW World Champion. On the premiere episode of AEW: Dynamite, Jericho introduced AEW’s first heel faction, the Inner Circle.
Jericho lost the AEW World Championship to Jon Moxley at Revolution 2020. He would go on to feud with stars like the Elite and MJF’s briefly-lived faction, the Pinnacle.
In early 2022, Jericho’s Inner Circle fell apart. He replaced the faction with a new stable called the Jericho Appreciation Society. At Grand Slam on September 21, 2022, Jericho defeated Claudio Castagnoli to become ROH World Champion. During this time, Jericho dubbed himself “The Ocho” in honor of his eight world title wins in his wrestling career. He lost the belt back to Castagnoli 80 days later.
