Background and career
Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As of January 2019, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is also referred to mononymously as Jericho. During the 1990s, Jericho performed for American organizations Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as well as for promotions in countries such as Canada, Japan, and Mexico. In the latter half of 1999, he made his debut in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002). In 2001, he became the first Undisputed WWF Champion, and thus the final holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (then referred to as the World Championship), having won and unified the WWF and World titles by defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock on the same night. Jericho headlined multiple pay-per-view (PPV) events during his time with the WWF/WWE, including WrestleMania X8 and the inaugural TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs and the Elimination Chamber matches and the shows themselves. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2010. Jericho won the Undisputed WWF Championship once, the WCW/World Championship twice, and the World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version) three times. He has also held the WWE Intercontinental Championship a record nine times and was the ninth Triple Crown Champion, as well as the fourth Grand Slam Champion in history. In addition, he was the 2008 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner and (along with Big Show as Jeri-Show) won the 2009 Tag Team of the Year Slammy Award—making him the only winner of both Superstar and Tag Team of the Year. After his departure from WWE in 2018, Jericho signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he became a one-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, becoming the first man to have held both the WWE and IWGP versions of the Intercontinental Championship. In January 2019, Jericho joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and became the inaugural holder of the AEW World Championship in August of that year. While in AEW, Jericho would also capture the ROH World Championship (the main title of AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor) twice and the FTW Championship. In 1999, Jericho became the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Fozzy, who released their eponymous debut album the following year. The group's early work is composed largely of cover versions, although they have focused primarily on original material from their third album, All That Remains (2005), onward. Jericho has also appeared on numerous television shows over the years, including the 2011 season of Dancing with the Stars. He hosted the ABC game show Downfall, the 2011 edition of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, and the UK's Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in 2012 and 2017.
Christopher Keith Irvine was born in Manhasset, New York on November 9, 1970, the son of a Canadian couple. He is of Scottish descent from his father's side and Ukrainian descent from his mother's side. His father, ice hockey player Ted Irvine, had been playing for the New York Rangers at the time of Jericho's birth. When his father retired, the family moved back to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where Irvine grew up. He holds dual American and Canadian citizenships. He attended Red River College in Winnipeg, graduating in 1990 with a diploma in Creative Communications. Irvine's interest in professional wrestling began when he started watching the local American Wrestling Association (AWA) events that took place at the Winnipeg Arena with his family, and his desire to become a professional wrestler himself began when he saw footage of Owen Hart, then appearing with Stampede Wrestling, performing various high-flying moves. In addition, Irvine also cited Owen's older brother Bret, Ricky Steamboat and Shawn Michaels as inspirations for him becoming a professional wrestler. His first experience with a professional wrestling promotion was when he acted as part of the ring crew for the first tour of the newly opened Keystone Wrestling Alliance promotion, where he learned important pointers from independent wrestlers Catfish Charlie and Caveman Broda.
At the age of 19, Jericho entered the Hart Brothers School of Wrestling, where he met Lance Storm on his first day and was trained by Ed Langley and Brad Young. He made his debut as "Cowboy" Chris Jericho at the Moose Hall in Ponoka, Alberta, on October 2, 1990, in a ten-minute time-limit draw against Storm, with whom he then formed the tag team Sudden Impact. Jericho later said that he had intended to use the ring name "Jack Action", but blurted out "Chris Jericho" when pressed, taking "Jericho" from the album Walls of Jericho by the German power metal band Helloween. Jericho and Storm worked for Tony Condello on tours of Northern Manitoba alongside Adam Copeland, Jason Reso, and Terry Gerin, and also wrestled for Calgary's Canadian National Wrestling Alliance and Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling. In October 1991, the pair toured Japan with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where Jericho befriended Ricky Fuji; he returned in September 1992 with Eric Freeze, defeating Eiji Ezaki and Koji Nakagawa at the FMW 3rd Anniversary Show in Yokohama Stadium. In the winter of 1992, Jericho traveled to Mexico, wrestling as Leon D'Oro and later Corazón de León for several small promotions in Nuevo León before joining Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in April 1993. There, he held the NWA World Middleweight Championship for 11 months starting in December 1993, and he made his last appearance for the company in September 1995 before returning in 2024, when he lost to Mistico at the 91st CMLL Anniversary Show. From February 1994, he also wrestled regularly in Japan for Genichiro Tenryu's Wrestling and Romance (WAR) as "Lion Heart", losing the NWA title to Último Dragón in November 1994. He won the WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship in June 1995, joined the heel stable Fuyuki-Gun, and won the International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship with Gedo in February 1996 before leaving the promotion that July. In between Japanese tours, Jericho and Storm competed in Smoky Mountain Wrestling from March 1994 as the babyface tag team the Thrillseekers, leaving after a street fight win over the Heavenly Bodies in August 1994, having suffered a broken arm in training. Recommended to promoter Paul Heyman by Chris Benoit, Dave Meltzer, Perry Saturn, and Mick Foley, Jericho joined Extreme Championship Wrestling in February 1996, where he defeated Rob Van Dam and won the ECW World Television Championship from Pitbull #2 in June. He lost the title to Shane Douglas in a four-way dance at Heat Wave the following month and left after losing to 2 Cold Scorpio in August 1996, having by then attracted the attention of World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Jericho debuted for WCW on August 20, 1996, by defeating Mr. JL, which aired on the August 31 episode of WCW Saturday Night. Jericho's televised debut in WCW occurred on the August 26 episode of WCW Monday Nitro against Alex Wright in a match which ended in a no contest. He made his pay-per-view debut on September 15 against Chris Benoit in a losing effort at Fall Brawl '96: War Games. The following month, at Halloween Havoc, Jericho lost to nWo member Syxx due to biased officiating by nWo referee Nick Patrick. This led to a match between Jericho and Patrick at World War 3, which stipulated that Jericho's one arm would be tied behind his back. Despite the odds stacked against him, Jericho won the match. Later that night, Jericho participated in the World War 3 match for a future WCW World Heavyweight Championship match but failed to win the match. Jericho represented WCW against nWo Japan member Masahiro Chono in a losing effort at the nWo Souled Out event. At SuperBrawl VII, Jericho unsuccessfully challenged Eddie Guerrero for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.
On June 28, 1997, Jericho defeated Syxx at a Saturday Nitro house show in Los Angeles, California to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, his first championship with WCW. He lost the title to Alex Wright a month later on Monday Nitro. He lost a second title match with Wright at Road Wild before reclaiming the Cruiserweight Championship from Wright in an August 16 match on Saturday Night. Jericho defended the championship against Eddie Guerrero at Clash of the Champions XXXV before losing to Guerrero in September at Fall Brawl, ending his second cruiserweight title run. He won the title again in January with a victory over Rey Mysterio Jr. at Souled Out, after which Jericho turned heel and assaulted Mysterio's knee with a toolbox. After Jericho repeatedly refusing requests from Juventud Guerrera for a title match, the two fought a title versus mask match at SuperBrawl VIII where Guerrera lost and removed his mask. Following this match, Jericho began a gimmick of collecting and wearing to the ring trophies 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 1,000 Holds", so Jericho claimed to be "The Man of 1,004 Holds"; Jericho mentions in his autobiography that this line originated from an IWA interview he saw as a child, where manager Floyd Creatchman claimed that Leo Burke, the first professional wrestler to be known as "The Man of 1,000 Holds", was now known as "The Man of 1,002 Holds", to which Floyd Creatchman stated that "he learned two more". During the March 30, 1998, episode of Nitro, after defeating Marty Jannetty, Jericho pulled out a long scroll of paper that purportedly listed each of the 1,004 holds he knew and recited them to the audience. Many of the holds were fictional, and nearly 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, whom 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, the winner of which would immediately have a shot at Jericho's Cruiserweight Championship. Jericho accepted on the grounds that whoever he faced would be too tired to win a second match. At Slamboree, Jericho came out to introduce 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 and then eliminated himself. The winner was a returning Malenko in disguise. Following one of the loudest crowd reactions in WCW history, Malenko proceeded to defeat Jericho for the championship. Jericho claimed 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, a returning Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Jericho in a no disqualification match following interference by the still-suspended Malenko, though Jericho won the title back the following night on Nitro. Eventually, Jericho decisively lost the title to Guerrera at Road Wild in a match refereed by Malenko.
