Evolution Schematic 10.27.07: Chris Jericho (Version .222) [Section 1]

Well, this is a case of my laziness and logical subject matter being one and the same. Who else would one do right now, than the man that the net is hoping, PRAYING, is coming back soon, what with those darn videos? The fact that I did him a couple of years back and thus it’s probably new to most of you AND doesn’t need that much updating it just a cool little bonus.

Also, if you are at all interested, there is a video up on Youtube right now of me, a.k.a Massive Q, wrestling Fat Momma from Season 1 of ‘Who Wants To Be A Superhero?’ and Chewbacca, as well as a promo from me and Fat Momma, all from the Supanova… Whatever they called it, it was a Nerd Convention. As a nerd I can call it that. I have not linked you to it directly since A) it’s easily found and B) you can’t then complain that I’ve wasted your time since you’ll have to seek it out to find it and thus brought it on yourself. Regardless, as handicap celebrity ‘matches’ go it’s funny. And for the record, I deliberately slipped, really, shoot, I just pretended to slip.

Note, the following ES is rated “HWMNBN”. It contains the use of He Who Must Not Be Named.

Overview

Ego.

Ego ego ego.

I mean, it’s so obvious; it seems redundant to talk about. Chris Jericho is, without question, one of the most egotistical men to ever step into the squared circle. Not that that’s a bad thing. After all, to get anywhere in the business, you have to have some ego. And Chris Jericho has lots and lots. And it’s worked, obviously. First ever Undisputed World Champion, a member of the Golden Five Club (True Grand Slam Division), and hero to millions.

Not that’s always been the case. Jericho’s ego has, at times, been grating and tiresome. We haven’t always liked it. And at times we’ve adored it. But Jericho has remained constant. He hasn’t changed, just our perception of him has. His ego has stood by him, and taken him to the highest highs this sport has.

As well as some really low lows.

Origins- Born in New York, raised in Canada. “Go Screw Yourself, Eh?”

Chris Jericho was born in New York, the town in which his father played Ice Hockey for the New York Rangers as JR likes to inform us. But while he was born in America (and thus, technically, could run for President if he really wanted to) he was raised in Canada, Manitoba, Winnipeg. There he played sports, doing well in field hockey (which makes sense, since his dad was so good at ice hockey) and water polo (which kinda makes sense I guess, water’s just warm ice after all). And then he set his sights on the world of Professional Wrestling.

After getting a degree in journalism, a rare case of Jericho’s ego taking second place to common sense (or perhaps his over-powering ego had not yet formed), he began his training in the Hart Brothers Training Camp, a.k.a The Hart Family Dungeon. After a few months, in late 1990, Jericho debuted professionally.

Debut- Sudden Impact. Sounds like a bad Disaster Movie.

Jericho quickly formed a team with Lance Storm, the man Jericho fought in his first professional match. They were called Sudden Impact, and they were, well, young and full of energy and pure athletic talent. They did have some success, being recognized as the first ever Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling North American tag team champions, which must be impressive, it’s so long.

The first couple of years for Chris Jericho were slow and for the most part uninteresting, at least looking back, I’m sure for him it was just as important as right now. He split up from Lance Storm, and basically learned the ropes and paid his dues. It was during this point that, ironically considering he was trained in the Hart family Dungeon, he molded himself after Shawn Michaels, he looked and wrestled in a style similar to him. Obviously his ego was not really formed at this point, he felt he needed to copy someone successful rather than just be himself.

But after a couple of years, Jericho’s career began to build steam. He began to wrestle outside of Canada, touring the San Francisco area with Bay Area Wrestling. He didn’t do much that was memorable, but he impressed the right guy to start getting work in Mexico, where he went by the handle of Corazon de Leon, lit. Heart of the Lion. And at this point, Jericho’s ego began to assert itself. After all, he was now touring Mexico as well as Canada, he had to be doing something right. And almost immediately, he began to gain ground. He began to team again with Storm, and regained the CRMWNA Tag Titles. He then, one week later, won the CRMW International/North American Title. He would hold the titles for a while, but they did not propel him into the next level, at least at first. A few months after these wins, Jericho took the next step in his career, and began to wrestle in the EMLL company in Mexico.

Phase 1b- Jericho is not one to doubt El Dandy.

It took a few months, but Jericho would win gold in this prestigious company, winning the company’s tag titles with his partner El Dandy, beating El Texano and Silver King. He would defend this title for a while, and after a short tour of CWA in Europe, Jericho would return to Mexico and would win the NWA Middle Weight belt in Mexico City, a title he would go on to hold for just under a year. Boosted by his win, within the month Jericho won the CRMW Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight title. Alas this would not last long, for a couple of weeks later Jericho lost this title to his by now former partner Lance Storm.

This hurt Jericho’s ego, so he looked for a way to get away from Canada for a while, and found it in Japan.

Phase 2- Lion Do…what exactly?

He debuted for the WAR promotion in Japan, going by the name Lion Do. But WAR did not use him enough, and he needed to find another company to work for as well, and he found one in America, Smokey Mountain Wrestling. But his ego had taken a blow with his loss to Storm, and thus he needed a partner. And he got one, in…Lance Storm?

Well, it makes sense. They did know each other, and in Jericho’s eyes, if he had just beaten him, why not team with him, and remove one obstacle? The duo were dubbed The Thrillseekers, since by then they must have realized that Sudden Impact as a name sucked and besides, Lance Storm is nothing but a thrillseeker. The rest of 1994 was uneventful in terms of long term effect, in that while Jericho probably learnt a great deal and got his ego back to it’s normal level (which would be severely inflated), nothing much happened that is worth noting.

It was 1995 that saw Jericho begin to gain ground again. He had won the Junior Heavyweight Tournament in New Mexico, a prestigious tournament, in March. He had lost to Gedo in the finals of the WAR International Junior Heavy Weight Belt Tournament, but he had beaten him for the belt later on, and had a huge successful title defense against Ultimo Dragon at WAR’s 3rd Anniversary show.

By this time, he had split up from Storm again, and feuded with him over the CRMW Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title, winning it in May of 1995. But the year was capped off with a loss in the second round of the 1995 Super J Cup 2nd Stage, losing to Wild Pegasus (a.k.a Chris Benoit). So at this point, Jericho needed another ego boost, or at least another playing field. And he found the one that everyone was talking about.

Phase 3- What else is there to say, except EC-F’n-W?

February 1996, Chris Jericho debuted in ECW. But the next major belts he would win would come in WAR, where he and Gedo (Jericho obviously, at this time, was working under the “If you can’t beat them (easily), join them” philosophy) won the WAR International Junior Tag Team titles by beating the team of Yuji Yasuraoka and Lance Storm. He would also defend the belts successfully against the duo of Jushin “Thunder” Liger and Takaiwa, a formidable team.

Back in ECW, Jericho’s first major problems were with Tazz, who was on his “Path Of Rage”, trying to get Sabu to fight him. Chris Jericho put up a good fight, but fell to the Tazzmission, thanks to Tazz working on Jericho’s neck, although the official verdict was a Jericho win via DQ, thanks to Tazz keeping the Tazzmission held on after the bell. Tazz continued to assault Jericho after the match was over, causing fellow Hart trained wrestler Brian Pillman to come out…and watch on in glee.

Jericho continued to alternate his ECW, WAR, Canada and Mexican dates in this time, which would explain why he didn’t really do that well for the first half of 1996, too much rushing about. But eventually, Jericho’s natural ability and ego would lead to his next major title, at Hardcore Heaven 1996, where Jericho pinned Pitbull #2 to win the ECW TV Title. His reign would only last 3 weeks however, for when he defended the title at the Heat Wave 96 show in a 4 Way elimination match against Pitbull #2, Too Cold Scorpio and Shane Douglas, Jericho would be the first man eliminated, being pinned by Scorpio. Jericho then demanded, and got, a one on one match with Scorpio at the next major ECW event, ‘The Doctor Is In’. Jericho would be pinned by Scorpio.

This, like most major losses at this point in Jericho’s career, affected him. So he looked for a new company to wrestle in. And this time, he stepped up and became a member of WCW.

Phase 4- “You Wanna Be Famous?”

Chris Jericho’s first WCW match was a good start, beating Mr. JL (a.k.a Jerry Lynn). His first major WCW match, his PPV debut was less successful, with a loss to Chris Benoit at Fall Brawl 1996. Chris Jericho was, at this point, for lack of a better way to put it, a happy-go-lucky kinda guy. He was always smiling, and shaking hands with the fans and all that. And why not? He was in WCW, where the big boys play, his career was improving and all that, why not be happy?

But he was unhappy when he got his first major shot at the WCW Cruiserweight Title, against Syxx, a.k.a X-Pac at Halloween Havoc. For Syxx was a member of the nWo, and the referee for the match was Nick Patrick. Who was in the nWo’s back pocket. And, surprise surprise, Patrick was biased and in the end quick-counted Jericho’s shoulders down. Jericho responded by standing up for all the mistreated WCW Wrestlers who Patrick had cheated out of wins and challenged Patrick to a match at the next WCW PPV, World War III. But, just to be fair, Jericho wrestled the match with one hand tied behind his back, what with him being a real wrestler and Patrick not being a real wrestler. But thanks to Jericho’s HBK worship, a Superkick gave the fans a small amount of revenge on Patrick, as well as Long, who was in Jericho’s corner for moral support/to stop the nWo getting any funny ideas.

Jericho then survived for a while in the World War III match itself, but fell when the wrestlers all entered the one ring. The rest of 96 was uneventful for Jericho, he would be a part of WCW’s Cruiserweight division, but would not do anything notable. Although he would win the “Newcomer of the Year” award as voted on by WCW fans. It was not until the start of 1997 when Jericho, as part of WCW’s talent exchanges, began to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling as well as WCW. This seemed to give Jericho an (what else) ego boost. He won the tag match he was involved in at the XXXIVth Clash of the Champions. Jericho tried, but lost to Masahiro Chono at nWo Souled Out 97, which is understandable, what with it being an nWo run and controlled show.

But he didn’t let that loss slow him down, he continued to work hard and stand up for the fans, and got a US Title shot at Superbrawl the next month, although he lost in a good match to Eddy Guerrero. That put Jericho back down the pecking order, and he had to re-earn his position, getting relegated to lower down, while also working NJPW every so often. But Jericho kept his head down, and continued to quietly build wins, respect and his ego. And so, after tying for 3rd place with Jushin “Thunder” Liger and Shinjiro Otani in New Japan’s Top of the Super Jr. Tournament, on a special Saturday episode of Nitro on June 28th, 1997, Chris Jericho beat Syxx to become the new WCW Cruiserweight Champion.

Phase 4b- Chris Jericho with a belt… and he’s a good guy?

Jericho was proud of his new title, and after beating Ultimo Dragon at Bash At The Beach, was looking forward to a long and successful title reign.

He almost immediately lost the belt to Alex Wright.

Phase 4c- Chris Jericho without a belt… and he’s still a good guy?

Jericho got his rematch at Road Wild, but came up short against the German wrestler. But he then got another rematch, and regained the belt.

Phase 4d- Ok, Jericho, belt…STILL a good guy?

Jericho quickly regained his composure and went back to becoming a fighting champion. He defended his belt against Eddy Guerrero, who had recently snapped and wanted the title badly, at last ever Clash of the Champions. He then defended it against Eddy again at Fall Brawl.

And lost the belt.

Phase 4e- Here we go!

Jericho would not let the loss faze him, at least at first. He still kept up his bouncing happy go lucky act, and got some wins under his belt, beating his old partner Gedo at Halloween Havoc, and getting a surprising win over Scott Hall on an episode of Nitro. He then lost his shot in the World War III match, but then almost everyone lost that. But then something funny happened. Jericho began to lose on Nitro. Often, and continuously. He then would beat up chairs, and then he eventually attacked WCW Ring Announcer Dave Penzer. After apologizing to Dave, on the first Nitro of 1998, Jericho lost to US Champ DDP in less than 2 minutes, to which Jericho re-snapped. And then, Jericho got a WCW Cruiserweight title match at Souled Out 1998, against Rey Mysterio Jr. And Jericho destroyed Rey’s knee, and won the match, won the title, and ‘stole’ Mysterio’s knee, or at least his career for the better part of several months.

Phase 5- Jericho, our Paragon Of Virtue.

Jericho’s ego had finally manifested itself. Jericho was sick and tired of being mistreated, and started to claim that there was a conspiracy against him. He also began collecting trophies, Rey’s knee, Juventud Guerrera’s mask (at Superbrawl). At then Jericho fought Dean Malenko at Uncensored 1998, where Jericho (who had begun claming that he was the ‘Master of 1004 Holds’ as opposed to Malenko’s 1001, despite the fact that most of Jericho’s holds were just an armbar, and an ARM-bar, and an arm-BAR, and an ARM-BAR, and…) made Malenko tap out. Malenko then went ‘home’, disgusted with his loss.

This lead to Jericho taunting Malenko mercilessly on “Monday Night Jericho”. He now had the Cruiserweight Belt, Rey’s knee, Juvi’s mask, and Dean’s Dignity. He would continue to rip Malenko week after week, not letting up. He also added a trophy or two, beating Prince Iaukea at Spring Stampede and then taking his Hawaiian Towel. And then Jericho’s ego got the better of him.

At Slamboree, there was a Cruiserweight Battle Royal to determine who would get the shot at Jericho’s title immediately following it. Lots of cruisers were in the match, including a masked newcomer, Ciclope, who somehow managed to get to the end, along with Juvi, who then eliminated himself? Ciclope then unmasked, perhaps to avoid Jericho claiming it as a trophy to reveal…Dean Malenko!

Phase 5b- I love the Killer Kowaliski Kl…Clause.

Jericho lost the title in quick fashion, but he had not yet begun to fight. Did he demand a rematch? Did he prove his worth by beating all the other Cruisers? No no no, he began to campaign and, basically, whine about his loss. He claimed that Malenko’s name was not on the list of participants in the Cruiser Battle Royal (Ciclope was), and that thus Malenko should not have been allowed into the match. J.J. Dillon said that he needed precedent. And Jericho found it, in the Chapter 11, Section 5, Codicil 8 of the 1934 NWA rulebook, also known as the ‘Killer Kowalski Clause’, which was an old clause Killer had always demanded upon, in that as champion, he had to know in advance exactly who he would face. but then Dillon, proving how untrustworthy he was, would not allow it. Jericho tried going to Ted Turner, but despite Jane Fonda being a fan, Jericho was out of luck. But eventually, Dean Malenko, tired of Jericho’s whining, agreed to vacate the title, and they would fight at the Great American Bash for the belt.

And then Jericho taunted Dean so much that Dean grabbed a chair, hit Jericho with it…and got DQed, thus giving Jericho his fourth Cruiserweight Title reign.

Phase 5c- Monday Night Jericho Baby!

Jericho continued his seemingly unstoppable ride, getting Dean DQed again in their last ever match for the belt. Admittedly, Jericho lost the belt to Rey Mysterio at Bash at the Beach, thanks to Malenko, but Jericho regained it the next night to become a 5 time champion, thanks to the fact that Malenko was suspended at the time, and thus any match in which he interfered would be declared null and void.

But then, at the next PPV, Road Wild, Jericho ran out of excuses, back alleys and just plain luck when Dean Malenko, as special guest referee, counted Jericho’s shoulders down and got the belt off Jericho.

Phase 6- No Belt For You!

A couple of days later, Jericho won Booker T’s TV Title by beating Booker’s brother Stevie Ray.

Phase 7- I mean, Belt For You!

Chris Jericho was now WCW TV Champion, and he was proud of that fact. But it wasn’t enough for Jericho. No no no, he wanted more. So, at Fall Brawl, the next WCW PPV, Jericho laid down a challenge to then WCW World Champion Bill Goldberg, title vs. title. And after attempting to mock Goldberg’s guided entrance (and getting lost along the way), Jericho came down to the ring (with some rather pathetic pyro) and awaited Goldberg.

But it was, alas, an almost midget, whom Jericho easily beat. So now Jericho began to claim that he held a win over “Greenberg”, and began to step up his claims for a title vs. title match, and generally, well, act like an egotistical bastard, since, after all, that’s what he is. He gained his own security guards, just like Goldberg’s, although they were perhaps a little less…professional. One man, the “Jericholic Ninja” was some loser with a mullet and sunglasses. And the other man, part of “Jericho Personal Security”, would become very well known later on. But for now, they were Jericho’s guards. And then, on an episode of Nitro, Jericho once again claimed that he would get his Unification match. After Jericho entered the ring with his ‘troops’, he turned to jaw with some fans while his Goldberg came out.

But then out walked the Real Goldberg with the fake one over his shoulder. Jericho was, surprisingly, shocked, and ran away after tossing a couple of his guards in the way. Jericho then disappeared for a week or so, and then (now with only his JPS guard with him), challenged Goldberg to another fight on an episode of Thunder, but technically won by count-out when Goldberg no-showed (perhaps Jericho, in an attempt to boost his ego/fool the fans challenged Goldberg when he knew Goldberg was not at the arena and thus could claim that Goldberg was afraid of him). But now, he claimed, he was 3-0 over Goldberg! And then the next week, after beating Raven, he laid down another challenge. But this time, Diamond Dallas Page, who was set to fight Goldberg at the next PPV, Halloween Havoc, answered, and the two had a match, that Jericho won by DQ when Goldberg ran out and speared Jericho, almost clear out of his boots.

This marked a lull in Jericho’s desire to fight Goldberg, having felt the spear he did not want to feel it again any time soon. So he went back to the other man he was having problems with, Raven. And Jericho beat Raven at Halloween Havoc in a fast paced and very good opening match. He then decided to keep the security team, or at least just the JPS, who was officially named as Ralphus at this time, on the same night that Jericho was speared for a second time, while standing in the aisle way. Then Jericho got distracted by the debuting Bobby Duncum Jr, who got a count out win over Jericho in his debut WCW match on Nitro, Jericho walking out. So at World War III 98, Jericho had a rematch with Duncum for the TV title, a match that Jericho would win thanks to Ralphus’ distraction of the ref, allowing Jericho to use the TV Title belt to bash Duncum in the head. Jericho also got to enter the WWIII match itself, but alas did not do well, having just fought a tough TV title match. And then, one week later, Jericho lost the TV title to Konnan of the nWo Wolfpac.

Phase 7b- Jericho, with Ralphus.

Jericho was now fighting 2 fights, while he was still having troubles with Duncum, he now had to try to get ‘his’ TV title back. But soon enough Konnan vs. Jericho came to the forefront, probably because Jericho stole Konnan’s belt, and the two fought at Starrcade 98. But alas, Jericho tapped out to the Tequila Sunrise.

At this point, Jericho gave up on getting gold any time soon, and set his sights on a man who was bothering him, Perry Saturn. And in order to make sure he could beat Saturn, he got into Scott Dickenson’s head. Scott, a WCW referee, was upset over Saturn’s actions as of late, in terms of their interaction. So after Jericho got into his head, he then began to favor Jericho and be biased against Saturn. Saturn, naturally, was pissed off at this, and asked for a fair rematch. Jericho refused…unless Saturn agreed to wear a dress if he loses, in which case Saturn could have his rematch. Saturn wasn’t thrilled, but accepted it.

This turned out to be a mistake, as at Souled Out 99, after the match was changed by the higher ups in WCW to “Loser Wears a Dress for 90 Days”, Saturn lost after Ralphus modeled the dress then Dickenson rolled the two men over so that Saturn’s small package became Jericho’s, and then quick counted Saturn down. Saturn then, as a man of his word, began to wear dresses to the ring.

But after this win, Jericho lost a bit of steam. He wasn’t on TV as much. And then at Superbrawl IX, Jericho had to fight Saturn again, and this time Jericho would have to put on the dress if he lost. But when Scott Dickenson was the ref, Saturn didn’t trust him and walked out on the match after DVD’ing both Jericho and Dickenson.

At this point, Jericho and Saturn began to have problems with Hugh Morris. But this was only a distraction, as Jericho and Saturn agreed to have one final battle at the next PPV, Uncensored, in a Dog Collar Match. Jericho tried to stop Saturn wearing the dress, which Saturn was now using as a driving force, but it was to no avail, as at Uncensored, after Jericho failed to force Ralphus to wear the collar, and a hard fought match, Jericho was pinned.

Phase 7c- Fading, fading…

This marked the beginning of a death spiral for Jericho. His ego was shot to hell. Jericho lost in the opening round of the US Title Tournament to Scott Steiner (despite Chris Jericho’s ornamental sash, which said in Japanese…”Chris Jericho”), then got to reenter the tournament after an injury to Hennig, and thus due to WCW’s Rulebook, Page 46, consult 8, the Silent Brian Macnee clause, which states that if a wrestler cannot continue in a tournament, the person who wrestled last that lost will take his place, Jericho got a second chance, since he was last in. Jericho was thus able to replace Hennig (after much whin…discussion with J.J. Dillon and Ric Flair), beat Chris Adams to advance, then in the semi finals, fought Booker T, and lost.

Jericho then almost won the TV title off Booker, but was foiled. This probably would not have happened if he still had Ralphus, but by this time Jericho had decided Ralphus was not worth his upkeep, and had stopped having him as his lackey. But this seemed to be the last straw, and Chris Jericho was gone from WCW screens. Where was he? We would soon get our answer.

Phase 8- Chris Jericho, free agent?

For on June 30, 1999, the WWF web site reported that Jericho had signed with the World Wrestling Federation. But Jericho did not debut immediately, and a lot of people kinda forgot about him. But then on the WWF website, a “Countdown To The Millennium” began. Problem was, it was way to short, it was set to end on a Raw, August 9th. People were a little confused.

Phase 9- Break The Walls Down!

But on that fateful night, Rock was in the ring, talking trash to Big Show as only The Rock can when the countdown ended. And after a quick light show, new music hit, the Titantron showed New York, then a Stripper…

Then ‘Jericho’.

And the place went nuts. But not for long. For Jericho, sorry, Y2J, came out with his ego showing and with no holding back. He verbally attacked all the WWF Superstars, insulted the fans, and made a point to insult Rock who was in the ring. Rock responded in kind, and, in the fans eyes, won the battle of the microphones. And Jericho was a little upset over his big entrance getting ruined. His ego was bruised. So much so that instead of doing the logical thing, and go after Rocky, Jericho decided to let Rock’s insults slide and try again.

So Jericho, at the first WWF PPV he attended, SummerSlam 1999, he interrupted another popular man, Road Dogg, and insulted the WWF Wrestlers, the fans, Road Dogg, Degeneration X, and Road Dogg’s spelling ability. Road Dogg responded in a similar, albeit different way than Rocky, telling Jericho to ‘Suck It’.

Jericho finally settled down and focused on one man, that being Ken Shamrock. With his new ally, Howard Finkel (who probably just wanted attention, but that’s a matter for another Schematic), Jericho set up Ken and attacked him a few times. This lead to Jericho’s first PPV match, set to be against Shamrock (who was a popular and respected guy who was not known to talk much, thus allowing Jericho’s ego to soar with his verbal attacks) but then Jericho in a beat down went a little too far and Shamrock got injured, so X-Pac stepped up to the plate to fight Jericho and his newer associate, Mr. Hughes. And it was not the best start, with Mr. Hughes having to deck the ref for a DQ to avoid Jericho losing (once you’ve been hit with a Broncobuster, while upside down in the Tree Of Woe, is there really any point in trying?). Road Dogg then saved X-Pac from any further beat down.

But that was just Jericho getting his footing. After getting rid of Hughes, who just couldn’t cut it (he had dumped Finkel to take on Hughes), a now flunkyless Jericho went after the Intercontinental Championship. It was just that an unusual person was holding it.

Phase 9b- Chris..tina?

For the current WWF Intercontinental Champion was…Chyna. So Jericho got in touch with his Male Chauvinist Pig side, and went after Chyna and her slut-slave The Kat. Jericho generally acted like a prick, his ego convincing him that he could take a woman in the ring, no problem.

Uh…take down a woman in the ring, no problem.

Uh…win the match, no problem. Jericho even went so far as to claim that if he lost, he would go to Sweden and get surgery to become Christina Jericho. But that won’t happen, since he was going to win the title at Survivor Series.

But then after kicking out of a Pedigree, laying a wet one on Kat (and possibly making her switch sides, or at least confirming her dual status) and getting some of the loudest cheers from the crowd (most guys, for some reason, like to see a dominate, strong woman get beat on, occasionally), Jericho lost after getting Pedigreed from the top rope.

In the following weeks, Chyna and Kat would taunt Jericho with various surgical instruments and general insults. Jericho responded by breaking Chyna’s thumb. So a rematch was signed for Armageddon, Chyna vs. Jericho for the IC belt. And this time round, Jericho got the Walls Of Jericho (the new name for his now adjusted Liontamer. Some people have wondered why he changed when the Liontamer, his old move, was more painful. It’s obvious that the Walls is easier to put on, and is also able to be put on anyone, from Trish Stratus to Big Show, whereas the Walls, while more effective, is harder to put on and almost impossible on anyone over a certain height, and was an adjustment that has logic) on Chyna, and there was nowhere for her to go except Tap City. Chris Jericho was OUR New Intercontinental Champion.

After the match, Chyna approached Jericho and…shook his hand. Hmm.

Phase 9c- Ok, so they respect each other. So what?

Jericho and Chyna gained some small degree of respect for each other at this point. But the two didn’t like each other by any stretch of the imagination. They just respected each other.

So much so that on an episode of Smackdown, the final of 1999 in fact, the two had another IC title match. One that saw a referee get knocked down, another come out, a steel chair get involved, a back suplex onto said chair, and a double pinfall. The belt was held up for a few days, and then on the first Raw of the new year, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, in one of her first acts as the new McMahon in charge, declared that due to the double pinfall, for the first time in WWF history, 2 people were IC champ. Both Chyna and Jericho were champ. Only one could defend the belt at any one time, but if one of them lost the belt, then both would lose it.

This made Jericho and Chyna reluctant partners, who didn’t really get on. But they had a common enemy in Hardcore Holly, who managed to get pinfalls over both Chyna and Jericho.

But Steph then realized that her idea was not working, and thus a triple threat match was made for the Royal Rumble, Chyna vs. Jericho vs. Holly, for the Undisputed IC Champion. And in retrospect, putting ‘Undisputed’ in the title seemed to spur Jericho on. For Jericho got the win and the title by Lionsaulting Chyna (Hey Nute, you missed a name!). He then went on to fight in the Royal Rumble, but alas was eliminated by Chyna in short order, although she was then eliminated straight after. And then…

Phase 10- Jericho’s Ego finally gets accepted.

Jericho, now teaming with Chyna on a regular basis, became popular. Being targeted by Kurt Angle, a man the fans were firmly against didn’t hurt either. So, suddenly, Jericho was a popular guy, liked by the fans. The first upshot of this was losing the IC belt to European Champion Kurt Angle at No Way Out 2000.

Whoops.

But then Jericho got another chance at Wrestlemania. Kurt Angle, now Euro-Continental (Euro meaning European, Continental meaning Intercontinental) champion, was getting advised by Bob Backlund. And Bob, in an effort to make Kurt tough and make him all that he can be, set up a match at Wrestlemania 2000. Angle vs. Jericho vs. Chris Benoit, who both men were having problems with, for both the IC and Euro belts, one after each other. And Angle did not have to be involved in the falls. Angle, when he learnt it was Bob he did this, locked the Crossface Chickenwing on Bob, but he couldn’t get out of the match.

And Jericho had some negatives, and some positives. Sure, Benoit pinned him with the diving headbutt to win the IC belt. But he pinned Benoit with the Lionsault (Back when that was a possible, likely occurrence. The Lionsault’s decrease in effectiveness over the following years is more a matter of guys getting used to getting hit by it and thus preparing themselves better, something DAVE is notorious at not getting a grip on) to win the European Title.

Phase 10b- Chris Jericho, Champion of Europe!

The very next night, Chyna turned on Jericho, and cost him the European title to Eddie Guerrero when she became his Mamacita.

Phase 11- Chris Jericho, pissed off good looking Canuck.

But Jericho, to his credit, did not let that faze him. He began to go after Eddie and Chyna, but soon enough got distracted by another man and his woman.

World Champion HHH, with his wife Stephanie. And now with McMahon behind him.

Jericho challenged HHH to a match on the April 17th episode of Raw, and made various disparaging remarks about Steph. Something along the lines of her being a filthy, disgusting, dirty, skanky, brutal, bottom-feeding, trashbag ho, or words to that general effect. HHH then agreed to the match.

And then everything changed. Jericho brought out the APA, Faarooq and Bradshaw, as back up, and HHH knocked out Mike Chioda. And then, Jericho hit the Lionsault, and Earl Hebner, who HHH had been having problems with, came out and counted HHH’s shoulders down for the three count. Just like that.

Phase 11b- Chris Jericho, YOUR WWF Champion.

But then 15 minutes later, HHH bullied Hebner into reversing the decision (he had counted fast, a fact everyone agreed upon) in exchange for promising to never touch Hebner again while Earl was a ref. HHH agreed, Hebner reverse the decision, HHH fired him, Pedigreed him, then got his belt back.