As far as legends in professional wrestling go, Chris Jericho has cemented his name in the history books for multiple reasons. Jericho has traveled around the world, starting in 1990, and has honed his craft to the point where he has become one of the best wrestlers around. Whether it was from his humble beginnings in Canada, or throughout Japan and Mexico, right up until he hit it big in every major United States promotion, he has proved why he is one of the absolute best.
Jericho's career has allowed him to achieve accolades in these promotions, leaving his name etched in the history books of numerous companies. As Jericho climbed the ranks in different promotions, he eventually reached World Championship level. He has won numerous World Championships, and even as he reaches the twilight of his career, he is still aiming to add more to his trophy case.
6 Jack Swagger
Cashing in a Money in the Bank briefcase on a World Champion has a very high success rate, and Jack Swagger has added to that statistic. As the sixth briefcase holder, Swagger only held his contract for a few days before he successfully cashed in on Chris Jericho on an episode of SmackDown to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
While a win over a legend like Jericho should have helped boost Swagger's career, his single World Championship reign was poorly received. With a short reign that did not amount to him remaining in championship contention, he was deemed a failed experiment by fans. Had Swagger been able to achieve more with his championship run, it would have helped him maintain a successful career path, but instead, he is a footnote in WWE history.
5 Batista
There is no denying the dominance of Batista's reigns as World Champion. He became one of WWE's most popular wrestlers during his time. But nfortunately, defeating Chris Jericho at Cyber Sunday in 2008 did not result in a worthwhile title reign. In fact, it only lasted a week before Jericho defeated him for it again as the feud would dissolve quickly.
A feud between Chris Jericho and Batista should have had a much larger focus, but it played second fiddle to other feuds occurring on SmackDown at the time. Considering both men had held multiple WWE Championships before, they should have been primed for a big box office feud. Instead, things fizzled out too quickly between them, and this title change is often forgotten about.
4 Jon Moxley
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In order to put AEW on the map in the eyes of fans, they needed to have proven box office draws competing for the AEW World Championship directly out of the gate. Casual wrestling fans are able to recognize both Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley, so having them feud for the championship made perfect sense, and helped create magic during AEW's first year on television.
Fresh off of his WWE run, Moxley was shot out of a cannon when he entered AEW, and fans ate up his pursuit of the World Championship. When he finally defeated Jericho at Revolution 2020, it was considered AEW's first big breakout moment as a promotion. Had it not been for Jericho and Moxley's feud, AEW may not be seeing the level of success that it currently is.
3 Triple H
Chris Jericho's first and only WWE Championship came after defeating "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock on the same night at Vengence 2001. This was his first shot to prove he could carry a company on his shoulders as he worked toward greatness as champion. Unfortunately, he was never able to regain this championship again following his loss to Triple H at WrestleMania 18.
While some fans claim Jericho's reign was cut too short, it was the right time for Triple H to become champion. Coming fresh off of a year-long absence, fans were ready for him to march back to the top of WWE's mountain, even if Jericho had been an entertaining champion. Thankfully, Jericho's career would see more success, and this was just the start of his championship ascension.
2 The Rock
In his first brush with the main event scene, Chris Jericho stood toe-to-toe with The Rock on numerous occasions, and looked right at home challenging The Great One. Whether they were competing in the ring or jabbering on the microphone, they had instant chemistry, which made moments between them electric to witness.
At a time where some of WWE's biggest stars were exiting the company, The Rock helped build Chris Jericho up to be a main-event level star for the future. By keeping up with The Rock throughout their feud, it proved that Jericho belonged as a main event star, and added yet another World Championship to The Rock's legacy, which 2001 wrestling fans were more than happy to experience.
1 John Cena
Chris Jericho's run in 2008 is considered one of his best runs in wrestling, and it resulted in several runs as World Heavyweight Champion. As a suit-wearing jerk, Jericho was positioned to carry the company forward through a down-turn in the business and was very successful in his run. The key to a successful story between a good and bad guy is eventually sending fans home happy that the good guy has triumphed over evil.
Jericho was such a good bad guy that fans could not wait to see him get trampled on by one of their heroes, which happened to be John Cena. Returning him an injury at Survivor Series 2008, Cena was given a World Championship shot at Jericho. After he won, a feud broke out between the two superstars, which further cemented Jericho's legacy during his best run in WWE as a main event star.