Chris Jericho

Resides
 Billed from
 **Debut** | 1990

**Christopher Keith Irvine** (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name **Chris Jericho**, is a Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, media personality, actor, author, and businessman. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and currently in Extreme Wrestling Empire.

Jericho has won well over 30 championships between WWE, WCW, EWE and ECW – the four most prominent American promotions in the history of professional wrestling. He is credited as being the first Undisputed WWF Champion. Jericho has been a challenger to major world championships since the mid-1990s. In WWE, he is a six-time world champion, having won the WWF Championship once, the WCW/World Championship twice, and the World Heavyweight Championship three times. In EWE, he is a three-time World Wrestling Champion. He is also a record nine-time WWE Intercontinental Champion. Outside of wrestling, Jericho is the lead vocalist of the band Fozzy.

## **Early life**

Chris Irvine was born in Manhasset, New York, as when Chris was very young, he and his father (ice hockey player Ted Irvine) moved to New York because Ted started playing for the New York Rangers. When his dad retired they moved back to Winnipeg. His interest in professional wrestling began when he began watching the local American Wrestling Association events that took place at the Winnipeg Arena with his family, and his desire to become a wrestler himself began when he saw footage of Owen Hart's (then appearing with Stampede Wrestling) performing various high-flying wrestling moves. In addition to Owen Hart, Irvine also cites Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Shawn Michaels as inspirations for his becoming a wrestler.

His first experience with a 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. He also took a course in creative communication at Red River Community College, where he would graduate with top honours.

## **EWE Career**

### **Kings of Sexy and feud with Rated Legacy (2009)**

In late August 2009, Chris Irvine's contract with the WWE came to an end, at the same time as Randy Orton's. Instead of renewing with the McMahon family's company, Irvine and Orton headed to Toronto to create a company of their own. Their main goal was to create some solid competition against the WWE that would not only force the latter to step up, but also give professional wrestling fans around the world a product they'd longed for for the better part of a decade. Extreme Wrestling Empire opened doors with the first episode of Saturday Night XPlosion, on August 29th, 2009. After losing to Edge in the first World Wrestling Championship tournament, Chris Jericho got into a feud with John Morrison, all the while going out of his way to antagonize EWE Divas, Beth Phoenix and Alicia Fox, a personal friend of Morrison's. After a backstage brawl, Jericho and Morrison decided to go for a drink together to talk things out, and ended up becoming a Tag Team, known as the Kings of Sexy.

Rated Legacy, which would later become known as the Elite, started a feud with the Kings of Sexy through the Tag Team division. At Battle for Supremacy, the Kings of Sexy won the World Tag Team Championship from the first champions, the Brothers of Destruction, and we're instantly targeted by Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, the Legacy part of Rated Legacy. At Danger Zone, the Legacy defeated the Kings of Sexy for the titles. This, however, didn't stop Jericho and Morrison from antagonizing the group led by Randy Orton. Only a week before Homecoming, Rated Legacy targeted John Morrison and injured him, in the backstage of the arena, putting him in the sidelines for almost a year. Seeking revenge, Chris Jericho took on Randy Orton at the Pay-Per-View in what became known as the greatest match in EWE history for years to come. Randy Orton came out of the match victorious after an RKO through a set-up steel chair.

That same night, the Legacy lost the World Tag Team Championships to the Dudley Boyz, after an error by Cody Rhodes. This led to Rhodes being shunned from the group and being replaced by Hunter Hearst Helmsley. The stable changed it's name to the Elite. At Apocalypse, the Elite took on the Gang in a six-man elimination Tag Team match. Chris Jericho got his revenge on Orton as his team, composed by himself, Matt Hardy and Christian, came out victorious without a single elimination.

### **Exodus and the Angle Job (2010)**

As the head of Exodus after a brand split, Chris Jericho turned heel again, stripping Bobby Lashley of the World Wrestling Championship and firing him on the spot. Jericho put himself in the main event of the first episode of Exodus, where he lost to Kurt Angle with the title on the line. Jericho plotted with his best friend and co-Gang member Matt Hardy to screw Angle out of the championship, and at Downward Spiral, Matt Hardy won the title for the first time in what was more of a Handicap match than a Triple Threat affair, as billed.

As agreed between Jericho and Hardy, the two had a singles match for the Championship the next Pay-Per-View, and Y2J came out of the first and only edition of Aggression victorious. Matt Hardy retook the strap in the following month, at Hard Time, claiming his rematch, and becoming the second ever 2-time World Wrestling Champion. EWE closed doors for the first time before Kurt Angle ever managed to get his rematch.

### **Feud with Matt Hardy and pursuit of the World Wrestling Championship (2010 - 2011)**

EWE reopened it's doors and Matt Hardy, as the last World Wrestling Champion, was granted a shot to wrestle against the winner of the first ever Total Anarchy match, Edge, for the World Wrestling Championship. Hardy lost the match, and Jericho offered his continuous support for his best friend. Hardy was given another shot the following week, and again failed to regain the World Championship. Consumed by anger and revolt, Hardy turned on his best friend Chris Jericho, and had a mental breakdown, changing his ring name to, and demanding to be referred as Matthew Moore Hardy. At Reawakened, Chris Jericho defeated Matthew Moore Hardy in a singles match and, at Execution, Jericho lost a Tables Match against Hardy, being put through two tables with a V-1 Leg Drop. Chris Jericho then was one of the two last men standing in a Battle Royal, along with Jack Evans, to become World Tag Team Champions. Jericho and Evans had to learn to coexist, but lost the Championships at Adrenaline, to Edge & Christian. Jericho defeated Jack Evans in a steel cage match on XPlosion, as both of them strived to prove who was the superior partner.

Appointing Lance Storm as the general manager in his place, Chris Jericho sprung back to main event action in a World Wrestling Championship match at Battle For Supremacy, where he defeated Christian to become a two-time World Wrestling Champion. Jericho lost the title belt to Randy Orton on a special episode of XPlosion competing with the exclusive-to-Genesis Danger Zone PPV. Jericho kept gunning for the Championship, but failed to get just there, losing numerous Number One Contender matches before capturing a briefcase in the All or Nothing match at Apocalypse that would grant him a shot at the title. Chris Jericho cashed in his All or Nothing World Wrestling Championship opportunity briefcase at Downward Spiral right after a match between Blackout and Psycho Messiah, and defeated the Champion, becoming the second ever three-time World Wrestling Champion. He then lost the championship back to Blackout at Victorious.

Jericho was absent from television until The E.N.D., where he took on a Randy Orton, in a peaceful rematch of the historic Homecoming main event a year prior, and defeated his rival, this time.

### **Modern Wrestling Association (2011)**

Matt Striker purchased EWE and relaunched it as the Modern Wrestling Association, and Chris Jericho entered the company in good will, as a competitor. He entered the MWA Championship tournament from the first episode of Saturday Nightmare, defeating Sheamus in the first round, before losing to Single H in the second. With CM Punk entering the company as WWE Champion, his title was used in a midcard status in MWA, and was first defended, successfully, at Execution, against Jericho and Sheamus, in a historic Triple Threat match. That same night, Chris Jericho started walking around with both of the EWE Tag Team Championships, lastly held by Single H & Muhammad Hassan. CM Punk and Chris Jericho became close friends during this time, and they worked Tag Team matches together for a while onward.

Chris Jericho kept antagonizing Single H, refusing to return the titles to him, inviting him to the Highlight Reel on a weekly basis just to ambush him and even have him kidnapped, once. All the while Y2J competed in various Tag Team matches with partners such as CM Punk, Matt Hardy and Rob Van Dam. Single H joined the GloboGym Corporation, and him and Rob Conway were then set to take on Jericho and Van Dam for the EWE Tag Team titles, in the second ever Ladder to Hell match, at Victorious. It all proved to be a scam, though, as toward the end of the match, both Single H and Chris Jericho betrayed their respective partners and retrieved the belts for themselves. Here, Single H became a two-time Tag Team Champion, and Jericho a ten-time Tag Team Champion. Y1J was born. Y1J defeated Jushin Liger and Mr. EWE to retain their championships the following episode of Saturday Nightmare.

### **Feud with John Morrison (2013)**

With EWE programming returning to television in 2013, the long-awaited return of the Kings of Sexy appeared to be imminent, as soon as John Morrison had signed an EWE contract. On the returning episode of XPlosion, the Kings of Sexy defeated Stevie Richards and Ron Simmons, then celebrated with the crowd before Morrison launched a violent assault on Chris Jericho. The rivalry culminated at Execution, where Chris Jericho defeated John Morrison with the help of Jarvis Cocker, initially seemingly on Morrison's side. Later on that run, they clashed again, in a Triple Threat Ultimate Submission match also involving John Cena. Jericho then feuded with Christian, who had betrayed him soon after he was done with Morrison, marking three betrayals from his closest friends in three years. Two of them in two months. John Morrison returned to Chris Jericho's side, and they defeated Christian and Kevin Steen in what was to be the last night of EWE for over a year.

### **Feud with Kurt Angle and return of the Gang (2014 - Present)**

EWE returned to our screens in the fall of 2014. Chris Jericho, alongside Matt Hardy, themselves found an investor to fire the company back up. Stephanie McMahon became the primary owner of the company and appointed Kurt Angle as Executive Vice-President. Seeking revenge for the infamous Angle Job, Kurt Angle targeted Chris Jericho, and screwed him out of the World Wrestling Championship Scramble Match at Danger Zone. This forced Jericho to take on his biggest rival, Single H, in a Number One Contender Ladder Match, in which Kurt Angle also interfered to make sure Chris Jericho wasn't successful.

Weaselling his way into the main event of Homecoming, Kurt Angle focused on taking back the World title that had been taken from him unjustly by Chris Jericho and Matt Hardy. Randy Orton, as General Manager, did what he could to put Jericho in the match as well. Y2J had, then, to defeat Single H on an episode of Exodus in what became known as one of the greatest matches in EWE history. Matt Hardy broke the infamous World Wrestling Championship Curse by retaining his championship in the Fatal 4-Way main event between himself, Jericho, Angle and Single H. Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle finally clashed at Apocalypse in a Submission match, which Jericho won.

In a meeting with Stephanie McMahon, Chris Jericho invented the concept of the CHANGE Contract, which gave it's possessor the opportunity to change any single thing inside EWE in a year's span. Chris Jericho then retrieved the briefcase containing this contract in the All or Nothing Match at Resolution. The following week, Jericho turned heel for the first time in over four years, and shocked the world by saying out loud that he would use the contract to fire his closest friend, Matt Hardy. Stephanie McMahon took advantage of this and booked a match between the two as the main event at Last of the Fallen. Meanwhile, Jericho started being accompanied by his old friend and EWE poster boy, the Big Show. At Last of the Fallen, after Jericho and Hardy made their entrances, the lights went out and the feed was replaced with the music video for Cyndi Lauper's *"Girls Just Want To Have Fun"*. In the upcoming weeks, Big Show, Matt Hardy and Chris Jericho performed numerous shenanigans, such as an Inverted Tuxedo Match and an unscheduled waltz dance in the place of a match between Show and Hardy. Chris Jericho entered he fourth ever Total Anarchy match at number 21, and was the fifteenth man to be eliminated from the contest, being thrown out by Hulk Hogan.

## **Other media**

### Filmography

 2009
 2011

### Discography

**Fozzy**

* *Fozzy* (2000)
* *Happenstance* (2002)
* *All That Remains* (2005)
* *Remains Alive* (2009)
* *Chasing the Grail* (2010)
* *Sin and Bones* (2012)
* *Do You Wanna Start a War* (2014)
* *TBA* (2017)

### Writing

Jericho wrote his autobiography, *A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex*, which was released in 2007 and became a *New York Times* bestseller. It covers Jericho's life and wrestling career up to his debut in the WWE. Jericho's second autobiography*"Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps"*, was released in February 2011, and covers his wrestling career since his WWE debut.

## **Personal life**

Though he was born in the Long Island neighbourhood of Manhasset, New York, Irvine was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, after he invented Canada. Vince McMahon felt that by introducing him as "born in Manhasset, New York", American fans would more easily get behind him.

Irvine's father, Ted, is a former National Hockey League (NHL) player. Irvine has three children with his ex-wife Jessica (whom he married in 2000, and divorced from in 2009): a son named Ash Edward Irvine, who was born in 2003 and identical twin daughters, Sierra Loretta Irvine and Cheyenne Lee Irvine, born in 2006. Irvine is a Christian.

On July 5, 2004, he was awarded Manitoba's The Order of the Buffalo Hunt, for his achievements in wrestling and his commitment to working with underprivileged children. On February 7, 2009, Irvine apparently punched a fan after she spat at him with fans outside Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria, British Columbia after a live event. Video footage, however, clearly showed he did not make any sort of 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".

Chris Jericho is close friends with co-workers Matt Hardy, Big Show, Edge and Christian, as well as former Tag Team partner, John Morrison.

## **In wrestling**

#### **Finishing moves**

* *Breakdown* (Full Nelson Facebuster) – 2001 - 2002
* *Codebreaker* (Double Knee Facebreaker) – 2007 - 2010; used as a signature move thereafter
* *Lionsault* (Springboard Moonsault) – 1996–2005; used as a signature move thereafter
* *Liontamer/Walls of Jericho* – 1996 - present
* *Spear* – 2011; used as a signature move thereafter

#### **Signature moves**

* Baseball Slide
* Double-Underhook Backbreaker/Powerbomb
* Flying Forearm Smash
* Jericho Spike (Frankensteiner, sometimes from the top rope)
* Multiple kick variations:
	+ Missile Dropkick
	+ Spinning Heel
	+ Triangle Dropkick to an opponent on the ring apron (Innovated)
	+ Standing, Leg-Feed or Running Enziguri
* Multiple Powerbombs sometimes followed by a pin
* Multiple Suplex variations:
	+ Belly-to-Back
	+ Northern Lights
	+ Superplex
	+ Tiger
	+ Vertical
* One-Handed Bulldog
* Putting his foot on the opponent's chest in a pinning attempt, with theatrics
* Sleeper Slam – sometimes as a counter to an oncoming opponent
* Springboard Plancha
* Tilt-a-Whirl Backbreaker

#### **Managers**

* Ralphus (part of "Jericho Personal Security")
* The Jerichoholic Ninja (part of "Jericho Personal Security")
* Viva Los Jericho (part of "Jericho Personal Security")
* Trish Stratus
* Mr. Hughes
* Chyna
* Stephanie McMahon
* Lance Cade

#### **Nicknames**

* Cowboy
* Lionheart
* **The Man of 1,004 Holds**
* **The Paragon of Virtue**
* **Your Role Model**
* **Y2J**
* **The Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla**
* **The Most Charismatic Showman to Enter Your Home via a Television Screen**
* **The Sexy Beast**
* **The (self-proclaimed) Living Legend**
* **The King of His/The World**
* **The Best In The World At What He Does**

#### **Entrance themes**

* "Unskinny Bop" by Poison (CWC/WFWA, 1990 - 1991)
* "Tease Me Please Me" by Scorpions (WFWA/CNWA/CRMW, 1991 - 1993)
* "Overnight Sensation" by FireHouse (FMW, 1991)
* "Silent Jealousy" by X-Japan (FMW, 1992)
* "You're Invited (But Your Friend Can't Come)" by Vince Neil (CRMW/IWA, 1993 - 1996)
* "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" by C+C Music Factory (CMLL, 1993)
* "Enter Sandman" by Metallica (CMLL, 1993 - 1995)
* "Rock America" by Danger Danger[219] (SMW, 1994)
* "Thunder Kiss '65" by White Zombie (WAR, 1994 - 1996)
* "Soul-Crusher" by White Zombie (ECW, 1996)
* "Electric Head, Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)" by White Zombie (ECW, 1996)
* "All The Days" by Mammoth (WCW, 1996 - 1997)
* "Super Liger" by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW, 1997)
* "One Crazed Anarchist" by Grunge City from the Aircraft Music Library (WCW, 1997 - 1999)
* "Break the Walls Down" by Adam Morenoff (WWF/E; August 1999 - August 2005; November 2007 - August 2009)
* "King of My World" by Saliva (WWF/E; 2002; EWE; 2009 - 2013)
* "Don't You Wish You Were Me" by Fozzy (WWE; 2004; EWE, 2014 - 2015)
* "Crank the Walls Down" by Maylene & The Sons of Disaster (WWE; July 2009 - August 2009; used while teaming with Big Show)
* **"Lazarus" by Fozzy (EWE; February 2015 - present)**

## **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)

* **Extreme Championship Wrestling**
	+ ECW World Television Championship (1 time)
* **Extreme Wrestling Empire**
	+ World Wrestling Championship (3 times)
	+ World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with John Morrison (1), and Jack Evans (1)
	+ EWE Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Single H (1)
	+ Winner of CHANGE Contract (2015)
	+ EWE Superstar of the Year (2009)

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

* **World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE**
	+ Undisputed WWF Championship (1 time)
	+ WCW/World Championship (2 times)
	+ World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
	+ World Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Chris Benoit (1), The Rock (1), Christian (1), Edge (1), and Big Show (1)
	+ WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Edge (1) and Big Show (1)
	+ WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (9 times)
	+ WWF European Championship (1 time)
	+ WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)
	+ Ninth Triple Crown Champion
	+ Fourth Grand Slam Champion
	+ 2009 Bragging Rights Trophy – with Team Smackdown (Kane, R-Truth, Matt Hardy, Finlay, and The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd)
	+ Queen's Cup (2001)

* **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 Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with El Dandy