30 Years of Chris Jericho: His greatest moments ever

#17 Chris Jericho winning but losing the WWE Championship on the same night

Chris Jericho was WWE Champion...for a little while (Pic Source: WWE)

In probably what showcased Chris Jericho's true potential in WWE was his shock win over Triple H on an episode of Monday Night RAW. It was one of those authentic underdog moments that worked for Jericho against WWE's best heel at the time, Triple H. The minute Triple H was pinned, the audience went wild.

VIDEO: @bryanalvarez and @FO_VVerhei recap the infamous moment on Raw in 2000 when Chris Jericho won the WWE title from Triple H only for the match to be invalidated immediately after. https://t.co/207g2YaRox pic.twitter.com/YmrUicYizV

— Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) April 22, 2019

There was controversy over the decision, as Earl Hebner, who had his differences with Triple H, made a fast count and handed Jericho the win. Triple H and Shane McMahon made Hebner reverse the decision and gave the belt back to The Game.

While some may feel the booking was irrelevant at the time and didn't make sense, it certainly got the fans on their feet. Interestingly enough, Jericho had enough of WWE at this point and was planning to quit only to be told he was winning the WWE title that night. He said:

"So I asked Vince about that, and at this point, my conversations with Vince, like he's an intimidating guy," Jericho pointed out. "He's hard to really get to know, until you get to know him, and then it's the easiest conversations, but at the time, I was still very scared of him. But I went to talk to him. I said, 'Vince, I really feel weird about about just giving the belt back. Like what's the mindset?' He's like, 'it's just the story for tonight.' And he said, 'you're going to have it again anyways, so don't worry about it. Just take it, do it and go from there.' And I was like, 'he said I'm gonna get it again? Like really? Was he serious?'"

It's quite remarkable that Vince McMahon was aware of Chris Jericho's talent, and it seemed to come at the right time. A year or so later, Chris Jericho would find himself in the main-event picture regularly.

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#16 Chris Jericho's feud with Chyna

Jericho was not a huge fan of it (Pic Source: WWE)

Chris Jericho was once joint-Intercontinental Champions with Chyna and even was on the losing side of things. It's hard to believe that Jericho had been booked in an inter-gender feud, which today seems unreal but was the norm at the time in WWE.

#OnThisDay in 1999: WWF Survivor Series PPV: Chyna defeated Chris Jericho to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title. pic.twitter.com/2ZsCLy1XCa

— Allan (@allan_cheapshot) November 14, 2017

Chris Jericho was unsure whether it would work and was even more perturbed that he was booked to lose Chyna. He said:

"I worked with her 3 PPVs in a row. I'll never forget the night in Detroit for the Intercontinental Championship. It was me vs. Chyna and they put her over on me, and I just couldn't believe they would do that. Like, Really? I came in with so much steam. Now, you're having me lose to Chyna. Vince had even asked me beforehand, like, 'I'm going to have you work with Chyna. You don't have any aversions to working with a woman, do you?' I said no, not at all. If this is what you want, obviously, they're pushing her as more than just a woman, then, let's do it. I just couldn't believe they her over on me. But they did, and I think we had a very good match that night. The problem was the crowd didn't buy the fact that she beat me, and they booed her. And that was a real big problem that they booed Chyna."

Remarkably, Chris Jericho and Chyna had three PPV matches, though the desired result may not have been achieved. But thanks to Jericho, it also showed that he could work with anyone. That has been one of the remarkable highlights of Chris Jericho. His ability to be a team player and turning water into wine put this moment, instead, as one of his more memorable.