Chris Jericho: Past, Present, and Possible Future

As with any other form of entertainment, professional wrestling has garnered a wide spectrum of audiences ranging from casual fans to the die-hards. In 2020, as storylines, bookings, performances, predictions, and even backstage rumors are brought under scrutiny and critiqued, it is evident that the sports-entertainment known as pro wrestling is no longer confined to merely pleasing the superficial emotions of the fans and has rather evolved to an art form that is often a subject of critical analysis and intellectual opinions. This serves as a new kind of challenge for pro wrestlers to remain relevant to the wide spectrum of a fan base that pro wrestling entertainment appeals to.

Chris Jericho, three decades into his illustrious professional wrestling career, has unquestionably redefined his image as one of the prominent figures to look up to as an example of how reinvention is the key to entertaining wrestling fans of all tastes. At 49, while most of his long time contemporaries are either slowing down or retiring, Chris Jericho has made the bold move of joining All Elite Wrestling (AEW) - the nascent yet major league wrestling promotion on TNT Network that is putting the entire wrestling industry on notice - where he became the inaugural AEW World Champion. Cracking the code to his consistently engaging performances both inside and out of the squared circle requires venturing into his 30 years long journey as a performer which is just as adventurous as his in-ring personas.

Lacing a pair of wrestling boots at the young age of 19, Chris Jericho set out to live his pro wrestling dreams inspired by the high-flying maneuvers of the wrestling legend Owen Hart. Having trained and wrestled in the independent wrestling circuit from 1990 to 1995 across the States, Mexico, and Japan, Chis Jericho broke into the mainstream wrestling scene on being recruited by Extreme Championship Wrestling(ECW) in 1995. There, under the mentorship of veterans like Chris Benoit, Mick Foley, and the owner of ECW and the prominent wrestling promoter Paul Heyman, Jericho was quick to pick up on the performance art of captivating a wrestling audience. Jericho tasted his first credible championship title run upon winning the ECW World Television Championship. Proving his merits as a quick learner in just one year into ECW, Jericho earned the attention of World Championship Wrestling(WCW) and got hired by the promotion in 1996. This was the point of no looking back for Chris Jericho.

WCW blessed Chris Jericho with more valuable tools than mere title runs. Sharing a locker room with legends and Hall Of Famers such as Hulk Hogan, Sting, Goldberg, and 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair allowed Chris Jericho to gain insights on the art of storytelling and the creative process that goes into crafting a wrestling persona. This planted in the mind of Jericho the seed to creatively experiment with gimmicks and characters that would garner the attention of the audience. Sporting a fancy blonde hair and tacky glitter studded shirts, Jericho painted a new gimmick that would serve as a brash and arrogant heel. The character was so popular - or 'over' as per pro wrestling lexicon - that it made up for Jericho's limited physical capacity inside the ring as he went up against master technicians like Rey Mysterio and Dean Malenko. Chris Jericho's ability to keep an audience engaged had prompted WCW to give him title runs in WCW Cruiserweight Championship and WCW World Television Championship, with each title bringing him his most memorable WCW feuds against Rey Mysterio and Dean Malenko respectively. 

Making Chris Jericho's professional wrestling career only the more versatile was his venturing into Japan to perform in New Japan Pro-Wrestling(NJPW) for six months during 1998 as part of a talent exchange policy between WCW and NJPW. This would add an entirely different experience to Chris Jericho's resume since it marked his entry into the mainstream Japanese wrestling scene, in contrast to his previous independent circuit experiences in Japan.

Owing to creative disputes regarding the booking of his matches, Chris Jericho quit WCW in mid-1999, becoming the hottest free agent in professional wrestling and was anticipated to join the World Wrestling Federation(WWF), the rival of his former employer.

In 2000, Chris Jericho had finally arrived by making his WWE debut which would culminate into his nearly 20-year relationship with the company. Jericho's highly decorated WWE career saw him transition from the promising new kid on the block to the seasoned veteran and then into the living legend poised to become a future Hall Of Famer. It was also the birthplace of Jericho's many reinventions, starting with the 'Y2J' gimmick. Working under the same roof with the biggest draws in the business such as The Undertaker, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Rock had catapulted Jericho to the main event picture.

Although the list of Jericho's accomplishments in WWE runs along with the inclusion of multiple World Championships, his most distinguished achievements in terms of title runs would be his 9 Intercontinental Championship reigns, which is the most number of IC title wins till date. One other distinction that only Chris Jericho will ever have is that he is the first-ever Undisputed WWF Champion under winning the WWE Championship and WCW Championship from The Rock and Steve Austin respectively, by defeating them on the same night. Wrestling with Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, and Chris Benoit had seasoned Jericho into an in-ring specialist, earning him a classic bout at Wrestlemania against Shawn Michaels. Jericho's other notable Wrestlemania classics include defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Edge, defeating the phenomenal AJ Styles, and going toe-to-toe with Kevin Owens. The success of Jericho's matches against Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 19, against Edge at Wrestlemania 26, and AJ Styles and Kevin Owens at Wrestlemania 32 and 33 is a testament to his ability to work with three different generations of talents by consistently reinventing his in-ring persona to stay relevant throughout the years. The secret to Jericho's innovative approach to reinventing himself is one that makes even the keenest of pro wrestling Buddhas wonder in awe.

In 2020, as the pro wrestling industry enters a new decade and needs a fresh start once again to not just keep with the times but to inspire an entirely new generation of young fans and aspiring pro wrestlers, who better than the king of reinventions himself to lead the way? Perhaps that is exactly what Chris Jericho has in mind as he surrounds himself with an elite level of young talents in AEW, as he believes in these young individuals to redefine what pro wrestling could be for the generations to come.