Chris Jericho has long been perceived as one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. After floundering in the mid-card for the last few years of his career and making part-time appearances all through 2015, Jericho experienced a career resurgence in 2016.
He engaged in some riveting feuds with AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose and became an important feature of WWE programming. His brilliance was brought to light after the brand split as he became one of the top stars of Monday Night RAW.
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Jericho got himself over with catchphrases like “Stupid Idiot,” “It,” “The Gift of Jericho, Drink it in Man,” and “You just made the list.”
Jericho himself acknowledged the fact that his recent stint with the company has cemented him as a top star in the WWE. Despite being 46 years old, Jericho is a decent performer inside the ring, and his mic skills are as good as anyone in the WWE.
His recent incarnation as Kevin Owens’s best friend has been entertaining, to say the least. It earned him the United States Championship making him the seventh man in WWE history to become a Grand Slam Champion.
Jericho goes by many names in the WWE. He is the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla. He is also the self-appointed ‘Best in the World at what he does.’ He had earned the moniker of ‘The Man of 1004 Holds’ during his WCW days, and most recently he referred to himself as a ‘Sexy Pinata’ hanging over the top of the ring in a Shark Cage, come the Royal Rumble.
But the most eminent of nicknames the Chris Jericho is synonymous with has to be ‘Y2J.’
Jericho made his debut in the WWE in 1999. The Monday Night Wars were ebbed in favour of WWE, and Jericho’s debut sealed the deal for the company. In the weeks before his return, a clock labelled countdown to the new millennium was added to WWE programming.
The clock finally counted down on August 1999 when Chris Jericho debuted in the WWE and declared ‘RAW is Jericho.' He claimed that he had come to save the WWE and called himself Y2J.
This name was a play on the Y2K bug that was grabbing attention all across the world at the time. The Y2K was an issue that computer programmers faced at the turn of the century. They used the last two digits to represent the year, and this made the year 2000 indistinguishable from 1900.
Jericho went on to achieve great things in the WWE becoming a record nine-time Intercontinental Champion. He was also the first ever WWE Undisputed Champion, defeating the Rock and Stone Cold on the same night.
Jericho’s most intense rivalry was with Shawn Michaels, where the feud was awarded the Best Feud of Year 2008 by Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
One of the few laurels that has escaped Jericho is winning the Royal Rumble match. He will look to set the record straight as he enters the 2017 Royal Rumble match at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX on January 29.
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