wrestling / Columns

Evolution Schematic 10.27.07: Chris Jericho (Version .222) [Section 2]

October 27, 2007 | Posted by Mathew Sforcina

REMEMBER TO READ PART I FIRST!

Phase 11c- Cancel that.

But Chris Jericho, his ego soaring with the fact that he did hold the WWF Title, even for a brief time not officially recorded in the record books, set his focus on Chris Benoit, a man he had surprisingly little contact with in WCW. Or rather, he focused on the WWF IC belt, one that HHH would not screw him out of.

And the man who held that was Chris Benoit, who unlike Jericho had not lost the belt he walked out of Wrestlemania with. And the two had a match at Backlash for the belt, the first of many classics. But Jericho failed to win the belt when he used the title belt that Benoit had brought in and used to hit Benoit when Benoit went for his Swandive Headbutt, drawing a DQ. This drew Jericho’s ire, his ego didn’t like that, and he put the ref in the Walls.

But on the following Smackdown, Chris Jericho managed to defeat Chris Benoit and win the IC belt for 3rd/4th time (it depends on if you treat the Jericho/Chyna reign as a separate reign from both Jericho before and after it. Mr. Jericho treats it as the Jericho/Chyna reign as a continuation of his first reign, or that his becoming Undisputed IC champ was not a new reign, he treats the period from beating Chyna to losing to Angle as 2 reigns, rather than 3, so this column will also, although it feels that he is selling himself short.). Regardless of the numbers, Jericho lost it back to Benoit on the following Raw. But the war continued at Judgment Day, in a Submission Match between the two Canadian Chris’. This time round Benoit won by a modified Crippler Crossface, across the throat rather than the mouth, thus choking Jericho out, since the rules were submission only, and thus Benoit could not be DQed for the hold, only Jericho could submit.

At this point, Jericho changed his focus onto a much bigger prize, the 2000 King Of The Ring. He got by Test in the first round, then defeated Edge to get to the Quarter-Finals on the PPV. And his opponent in the Quarters was Kurt Angle, who, at the time, was ‘good friends’ with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, a woman Jericho knew well. But alas, Jericho’s ego led to him planting a big kiss on Steph (who seemed to, well, like it to some extent) which then led to him getting hit by the Angle Slam to give Kurt Angle the win. For some degree of assistance to Jericho’s ego, Angle did win the whole thing, so it wasn’t that bad.

But what was bad was that that kiss would annoy HHH. Add in the fact that he lost his WWF World Title to Rock after Rock pinned Vince McMahon, and HHH was one angry mother. So much so that the two were set to fight at Fully Loaded the next month in a Last Man Standing match. The two played mind games for a month, causing DQs and generally beating each other up. Then, at the PPV, Jericho got a small victory before the match by sending flowers to Steph, and when HHH traced the flowers back to Y2J’s dressing room, Jericho jumped him and left him lying. And after an intense fight, with Jericho getting up after some of HHH’s best efforts, but after a series of events after putting Steph in the Walls led to HHH suplexing Jericho through an announce table, HHH just beat the 10 count and won the match.

This kinda annoyed Jericho, so his ego looked for a way to build itself back up. And it found Chris Benoit, whom Jericho once again began to have problems with. The two then, in an attempt to end their issue, were signed for a 2 out of 3 falls match for SummerSlam. And in another classic match up, Jericho and Benoit went at each other, but in a blow to Jericho’s ego, Benoit pulled out the win, after both men got a fall with their trademark submissions, then Benoit reversed a roll-up attempt to one of his own, grabbed the bottom rope and got the final fall.

This annoyed Jericho, for obvious reasons, and his ego needed a lamb to slaughter. And it found one.

Phase 11d- He’s talking bout the X-Factor.

Jericho’s ego needed a lamb to slaughter. And he found one in X-Pac. For unlike last time, X-Pac was not a last second substitution that Jericho had no time to prepare for, no, this time Jericho could build himself up to take on X-Pac. And after the two fought on Raw and Smackdown, with tables and numb-chucks, Jericho made X-Pac tap out at the next PPV, Unforgiven. But that wasn’t enough for X-Pac, who claimed that was a fluke, that Jericho couldn’t do it again.

So at No Mercy, Jericho beat X-Pac again in a steel cage match, despite X-Pac wearing new tights.

And with that (Jericho won after Sean got crotched full blown on the cage door), X-Pac quietly left Jericho’s life. And after Jericho’s band Fozzy got to play on an episode of Heat, Jericho proceeded to accidentally spill coffee on Kane.

Who would then go nuts.

Kane then revealed that he was just sick of Jericho’s ego, and how he was one of the ‘pretty people’. Jericho responded with “I Did It A-Kane”. The two fought at Survivor Series, with Jericho losing when Kane caught Jericho when he hit the Lionsault, and chokeslammed Jericho for the pin. But then Jericho attacked Kane later on that night in the back. This caused their problems to continue to the next event, Armageddon. The two men then wrestled in a Last Man Standing match, and Jericho, to the surprise of some, won the match. True, he needed to bury Kane under a stack of barrels, but hey, a win is a win is a win, at least according to Jericho’s ego.

And with a win over a former World Champ under his belt, Jericho set his sights back on a man and a lump of gold he knew very well.

Phase 11e- If it wasn’t for the hair, would you notice?

Chris Benoit, and the IC Title. Benoit was all for another round of “Put The Hurting On The Loud-Mouthed Arrogant Jackass”, and a ladder match was signed for the 2001 Royal Rumble. And after one incredible ladder match, the Canadian Chris was IC Champ.

Jericho, not Benoit.

But Jericho would be tested soon enough, in that at the very next PPV, No Way Out, he was forced to defend his belt in a 4 way match against Benoit, X-Pac and Eddie Guerrero. And in a match with so much history (Benoit and Eddy’s friendship/Radical history, the Jericho-Benoit wars, the Jericho-X-Pac war…the Jericho-Eddy wars), and Justin Credible interfering, it was a crap shoot as to who would walk away with the belt. But, Jericho managed to roll up X-Pac and get the win and retain his gold. And then Jericho learnt a very important lesson.

You do not use a picture of the Queen Mother as a weapon in a hardcore match.

Phase 11f- She related to the Marquee?

For in a Hardcore title match between Jericho and Raven, Jericho did that, smashing a framed picture of the Queen Mother over Raven’s head. William Regal, whose picture it was, hanging in his Commissioner’s Office, then punished both of them with WM matches, in Jericho’s case, by booking himself into the IC title shot. Jericho responded by peeing in Regal’s tea. Regal then responded by booking Jericho in tough matches leading up to WM, such as Jericho verses the entire Right To Censor group. Jericho re-responded by dressing up as Doink in order to attack Regal. Regal re-re-responded by kicking Jericho’s ass again. Jericho re-re-re-responded by beating Regal at Wrestlemania to retain his belt.

But then Jericho would fight HHH on an episode of SD, who had just aligned himself with the newly Vince McMahon Approved Steve Austin, and would lose the IC belt to HHH. But Regal was still on Jericho’s case, and thus he was unable to go after the IC belt. He lost to Regal at Backlash in a Duchess of Queensbury match, which was basically a ruse in order for Regal to change the rules when he wanted to in order to win. And then he had to take on Regal in Regal’s home country at Insurrextion, winning the pres…cove…respect…shiny Queen’s Cup, which Jericho won but was then destroyed by Regal. But Jericho then beat Regal again in a steel cage match on the following Raw, and Jericho was able to move on to more important things.

Edge and Christian began going after Jericho for whatever reason. E&C wanting to make a name for themselves, so on and so forth. And thus Jericho entered the Tag Team Turmoil match at Judgment Day, but he needed a partner. Someone who was tough, who actively disliked Edge and Christian, and who was a ‘real party animal’. So when Jericho’s spot in the Tag Team Turmoil match came up, Jericho walked out, stared down X-Factor, called out to the back…

And Chris Benoit, fresh off his 2 out of 3 fall ladder match against Kurt Angle earlier that night came out. The Chrises then made both X-Pac and Justin tap out, then had to fight the fresh Edge And Christian (who had helped Angle beat Benoit earlier that night). And they got the win when Benoit made Christian tap out. Thus Jericho and Benoit were the #1 Contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championship, currently held by HHH and Steve Austin.

The next night on Raw, Jericho told Austin to Shut The Hell Up, and then laid down The Challenge Heard Around The Internet for the tag titles that night. The match was signed, and was the main event for the evening. And Jericho would go on to cripple HHH (by putting him in the Walls of Jericho after HHH’s leg had already been injured) and then pin Steve Austin to win the Tag Titles. Jericho and Benoit had arrived.

Phase 12- Jericho and Benoit, standing on a ladder, tag belts high. Great Visual…

Jericho and Benoit would go on to defend the belts in a TLC match on the following Smackdown (thus making it the 7th match/fall Benoit would wrestle in 3 days) against Edge and Christian, The Dudleyz and The Hardyz. But then Austin, now even more deranged, would cost them the belts the next time they fought The Dudleyz in a one team on one team contest. This lead up to King Of The Ring, in which Jericho fought both Austin and Benoit for the WWF Title in a triple threat match. Jericho declined to confirm or deny rumors that if either of the Chrises won the belt they would defect to WCW the next night on Raw. And then, despite Austin tapping out during the match (while locked in the Walls/Crippler combo), Austin won the match, despite Booker T’s interference, by pinning Benoit after Benoit seriously injured his neck superplexing Jericho. This began the sentiment from some people that Jericho just couldn’t win the big one. But then on an episode of Raw, Jericho offered his services to lead Team WWF, got laughed at, then possibly got into a confrontation with his old running buddy Lance Storm and his new friend Mike Awesome, and thus the handicap match between the 2 and Kane became a tag match. And then…all hell broke loose.

Phase 12b- Jericho gets beat down by all his former pals.

Because the idea of Jericho going to WCW was shot down the moment ECW reformed by beating the hell out of him and Kane. Jericho then looked on later in the night when The Alliance was formed, and his old ‘friend’ Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley was announced as the new owner of ECW.

Jericho then focused his attention on being a standard bearer for the WWF. He helped out by insulting Stephanie (pointing out her improved ‘assets’) and was one of the 5 men on the WWF team in the main event 10 man tag at the InVasion PPV. And while Jericho did his part, his team lost when Austin turned on the WWF. So Jericho then focused on another member of the Alliance, Rhyno. Jericho beat Rhyno at SummerSlam, in a match in which Jericho had some scary moments almost killing himself, and where he once again kissed Stephanie. Obviously Jericho’s ego made him sure that all women wanted him. Or he was genuinely attracted to Steph but had to hide it due to complications (her husband for one).

But this annoyed Stephanie, who stepped up her war with Jericho. It seemed that to her, ECW was second, beating down Jericho was first. So she swung a Hardcore match at Unforgiven 01 for Jericho against RVD, for the WWF Hardcore Title. And after a very good Hardcore match, Jericho swung a steel chair at Steph, missed, then was pinned by RVD.

And this began the fall before the rise.

Phase 13- Jericho can’t win the big one!

Jericho began to be attacked by the Alliance as being a choker, a guy who just couldn’t win the big one. And Jericho’s ego began to falter. He started to think that maybe they were right, maybe he was a choker. So he demanded, and eventually got, a shot at The Rock’s WCW World Title.

And at No Mercy, thanks in part to of all people Stephanie, Jericho beat The Rock and won the WCW World Title. He won the big one.

Phase 13b- Jericho CAN win the big one.

Rock afterwards pointed out that he needed a steel chair to do it, but Jericho won the big one. The following night on Raw, Jericho became a dual champion by winning the WWF Tag Team Championship off The Dudley Boyz, with The Rock in a bit of irony. The two men at this point began to clash. Their egos, both of which were quite large, began to hit each other in subtle ways. Jericho gave Rock his name plate from the WCW title, Rock gave Jericho the steel chair he needed to win the title with. Rock and Jericho lost the WWF Tag Titles to Test and Booker T. Jericho beat Kurt Angle, recent Alliance turncoat, for the WCW Title at Rebellion, the UK only PPV, while Rocky failed to beat Steve Austin for the WWF Title.

And then Rock got his rematch for the WCW Title. And won.

And afterwards, Jericho beat the hell out of Rock. The two men’s working relationship had been destroyed. And it couldn’t come at a worse time, when the Winner Takes All Survivor Series style match at, well, Survivor Series was coming up, and Rock and Jericho were partners. And on the night, the two men happened to be the last 2 men left for Team WWF. And they were fighting 4 men (Jericho pinning Shane earlier on). RVD, Booker T, Kurt Angle and Steve Austin. But Rock beat Booker, then Jericho beat RVD, making it 2 on 2. Then Rock beat Angle, making it 2 on 1. And Jericho’s ego was soaring, he was going to be the man to save the WWF, to win the match for the team.

And then he went and got pinned by Steve Austin with a fluke roll-up. And Jericho, naturally upset, turned on Rocky before he left, hitting Rocky with the Breakdown. But luckily Rock was able to continue, and went on to win the match when Vince’s back-up plan (Kurt Angle) worked. But it didn’t matter for Jericho.

Phase 14- “I don’t mind MASSIVE egos…”

Jericho, totally upset over how Rocky and the fans had been treating him, listened to his ego and decided to tell these people to go to hell. Vince McMahon, surprisingly enough, welcomed this change, or at least tolerated it. He had a problem with big egos, but didn’t mind massive egos, which describes Jericho fairly well. So Jericho, perhaps feeling a little guilty over almost costing the WWF it’s existence, helped out Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon, beating up The Rock and doing the same to Kane.

And then came Vengeance. With the death of WCW, the WCW Title, held by The Rock, was renamed the World Title. But having two titles was redundant, so Vince and new co-owner Ric Flair agreed upon a one night tournament. 4 men, 3 matches, 2 titles, 1 Undisputed World Champion, the first in almost 100 years. Of course some people in Japan would disagree, but that’s besides the point. Flair had his two men, the current title holders, Rock and Austin (or rather, Flair would have been happy with either guy) and Vince had his chosen 2 men, Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. And then, the impossible happened. Jericho beat The Rock to once again hold the WCW/World Title. And then, by hook or by crook, Jericho pinned Steve Austin to win the WWF Title, and became the First Ever Undisputed World Champion.

Phase 15- If that doesn’t deserve a new phase, what does?

Jericho quickly realized that he needed help to keep his new found gold (the WWF champion had a target on his back, but the Undisputed Champion? That’s a marked man right there) so Jericho got himself a loose alliance of friends, all fellow Canadians. Lance Storm, his old Thrillseeker partner, Christian, a guy Jericho had fought and obviously respected, and Test, a big guy, which is always handy to have round. But Jericho’s ego was not getting the stroking he expected as Undisputed World Champ. Lots of WWF Superstars were going to Rock and talking about how when he beat Jericho and they won the Rumble, how they would fight at WM. This was unacceptable to Jericho, who basically whined about not being taken seriously. But Rock took him seriously.

And went on to lose to Jericho at the Rumble, thanks to Lance Storm, Christian, one of the title belts, Nick Patrick (Vince McMahon’s pocket ref), an exposed turnbuckle and his feet on the ropes. But hey, a win is a win. Just like Jericho’s win the next month at No Way Out over Steve Austin was a win. The nWo’s interference was just a minor detail.

But then Jericho had to face the fact that he was going to have to fight HHH at Wrestlemania for the belt, since Hunter had won the Royal Rumble. So Jericho did the only logical thing.

Phase 15b- Chris Jericho w/Stephanie McMahon.

He finally hooked up with Stephanie, something a lot of people were waiting for for a while. After all, what better way to get to HHH than to start hanging out with his ex-wife? But in retrospect, it may have been a mistake, at least in terms of the effect on Jericho’s ego. Jericho became an afterthought, despite being the guy who took out HHH’s leg in the first place.

And it obviously got to Jericho, who would go on to lose the title to HHH. And then Steph blew his rematch when she got pinned (the fact she was even in the match proved that Jericho had gotten a bad deal in this relationship). And then Jericho was (randomly) drafted to Smackdown.

Phase 16- No respect, no respect…

Jericho then tried to regain ‘his’ Undisputed title, but couldn’t get a shot. So at Backlash, when he wasn’t even on the card, he told the fans off, left, then came back to interfere in the main event, trying to cost Hogan the title (Hogan had gotten the shot Jericho felt was his) but failing. So Jericho tried to win the belt off Hogan, but failed when HHH outsmarted Jericho by playing Undertaker’s music. This annoyed Jericho (No, really?) and thus he wanted a match with HHH, and got one at Judgment Day, Hell in a Cell. A match he would lose after getting Pedigreed onto the Cell roof. So then Jericho heard the magic words “Winner Gets An Undisputed World Title Shot” and signed up for what would turn out to be the last ever King Of The Ring tourney. He got a free ride in the first round due to Edge’s shoulder injury, then he got past Val Venis in the next round, but then lost to RVD in the first Semi-Final on the PPV. Jericho was annoyed, and took out his anger on his website. But he calmed down, and then began to have problems with this hot new rookie, John Cena. Jericho fought him in various forms leading up to Cena’s PPV debut at Vengeance, where he shockingly pinned Jericho. He then redeemed his ego a bit by costing Edge and Hogan the tag titles to Christian and Lance Storm, the Un-Americans. But Jericho realized that having lost to Cena, Smackdown as a dead horse.

Phase 17- A little more respect…

Jericho chose to take advantage of the “Open season on swapping brands” that Vince had declared, and switched to Raw on the same night as the Un-Americans, thus making him working for Bischoff for the first time in several years. And in a bit of prevention, Jericho cleaned Ric Flair’s clock, making sure that Flair’s announcement (that he would have one last run as an in-ring competitor) would not overshadow his switch.

So the two men began to have problems, attacking each other, Flair interrupting Fozzy’s live performance on Raw, stuff like that, leading up to SummerSlam, where the two men had a match. And to the shock of everyone (including Jericho and possibly Flair as well), Flair won with the Figure Four Leg Lock.

To say Jericho was slightly annoyed at this is like saying that Trish Stratus is a little good looking. But he recovered by winning the IC title off RVD, although it was with the help of HHH, who by this time Jericho was forced into a loose relationship with, as two men who were near the top of Raw and who most people hated. But this gave Jericho a way to re-challenge Ric Flair at Unforgiven, this time as an IC title match, and Jericho’s ego got a big boost when he outsmarted the dirtiest player in the game by faking a knee injury. This act led to Flair uniting with HHH, and thus Evolution forming. I hope HHH thanks Jericho for that.

Alas, Jericho’s IC reign was short lived, for when Eric decided to combine the IC and World titles, thus giving Kane some motivation to beat Jericho, which he did, so he would get a shot at HHH. But the following week, Jericho’s life would change, or at least the change would start to happen.

Phase 17b- Vitamin C forms.

For the following week was the first ever Raw Roulette night. And Eric spun up a TLC match for the Tag Titles held by Kane and Hurricane. It would be a 4 way match, with Bubba Ray Dudley, Jeff Hardy and Christian all getting to pick a partner. Bubba went with Spike, Jeff took RVD, and Christian, as the guy who had won all but one of the last TLC’s, picked the man who pointed out that he won the other one, Chris Jericho. But despite their best efforts, the new team of Jericho and Christian failed to win, as Kane (single-handedly) retained the belts.

But the following week, Chris and Christian won the belts. Jericho also attacked Booker T. This led to their first major defense of their titles at No Mercy, when Jericho and Christian, despite the ring breaking, defeated Booker T and Goldust. And then Jericho got a chance at the World Title in the first ever Elimination Chamber. And despite pinning Booker and Kane, Jericho fell to the Sweet Chin Music after locking in the Walls on HHH. Jericho and Christian then focused back on defending their Tag Titles, having to fight off Booker and Goldust, Regal and Storm, and The Dudley Boyz (who humiliated the team by stealing their gym bags and exposing them to the world). They then had to defend the belts at Armageddon against all three teams in a Fatal Four Way Elimination match, which ended with Jericho losing the final fall, getting pinned by Booker T.

So Jericho, with his by now best friend Christian in tow, now targeted someone else, since the tag titles were now out of their grasp, having lost their rematch. So Jericho announced he was entering the Rumble to get the WM title shot, and was then interrupted by Shawn Michaels, who dared Jericho to take the #1 spot, and prove that he was as good as Shawn, who once won the Rumble from that spot. Jericho would have taken it when he was given the chance to pick his number, but Shawn got the #1 spot before Jericho could take it, so he took #2, which is the same thing really.

And Jericho, with the help of Christian, was able to dump Shawn Michaels from the Rumble in short order, using a steel chair. Jericho then went on to last a fair while, but after eliminating a few guys (including Christian), Shawn Michaels ran back in, and illegally distracted Jericho long enough for Test (who had issues with Jericho over Jericho blasting Stacy in the face with a steel chair on a Raw) to dump him a few men short of getting past the full 30 entrants.

After dealing with Jeff Hardy at No Way Out, Jericho had his one on one match with Shawn Michaels, a man he copied and looked up to early in his career, back when his ego was small. The two fought at Wrestlemania in a great match, but unfortunately for Jericho, he lost. The two men hugged at the end, but then Jericho kicked Shawn in the crotch, thus getting the final laugh.

Jericho also some small measure of revenge when his 6 man tag team, along with HHH and Ric Flair, beat Shawn, Kevin Nash and Booker T at Backlash 2003. Jericho then branched out and started his Highlight Reel, which is still going strong. Then at Judgment Day, Jericho lost the Intercontinental Battle Royale, but since Christian won it (and did it by cheating) Jericho didn’t mind, in fact he approved. Jericho then went after Goldberg, just on general principals, and also because Goldberg had beaten up his good buddy Christian a bit. But alas Jericho lost to Goldberg at Badd Blood.

But Jericho did beat Kevin Nash in a hair vs. hair match, thus forcing the big guy to shave his hair down to a quite stylish cut. Then Jericho got his second Elimination Chamber match, again for the World Title. And again, lost, although this time he lost to the force that is Goldberg, so it’s not that bad.

So Jericho, needed a boost to the old ego, began to go after Austin. Claiming Austin was a poor Sheriff, that he should be fired, so on and so forth. He then got a IC title shot out of it, along with RVD, but lost when Christian pinned RVD. But then RVD beat Christian for the belt. So Jericho got another shot at the belt, on an episode of Raw, and won the belt off RVD.

Then lost it back to him within 15 minutes, thanks to Austin setting up a rematch right there, right then.

So if Jericho needed any more reason to get rid of Austin, he got it. For Jericho was part of the Survivor Series match of Team Bischoff vs. Team Austin. And Jericho helped his team to the win, and Jericho got rid of Austin. But then he moved on to something a bit different.

Trish Stratus.

Phase 17c- It’s just a bet, right?

Going back a few weeks, Jericho, and Christian for that matter, had begun to act a little odd in some respects. Jericho had saved Trish Stratus from a beat down, Christian saving Lita. And Jericho began to, well, court Trish. It was odd, after all, the fans loved Trish, and hated Jericho, and we all know that those sorts of relationships don’t last. But it was undeniable, Jericho and Trish had a connection. They shared their first kiss, and it seemed that Trish was ready to take the next step…

When we found out it was all a bet, “Who Could Bed Lita/Trish First?”. And Trish and Lita were pissed. But while Christian seemed cool with them finding out (he was annoyed about not getting any sure, but stuff happens), Jericho seemed genuinely torn. Especially when the two men got a tag match against Trish and Lita at Armageddon, where Christian went full throttle, Jericho was…uncomfortable. He didn’t stop Christian pinning Trish, but he didn’t help him. Jericho then revealed that he had honestly fell for Trish, in one of those bitter twists of fate. He blew his Survivor Series favor (Bischoff gave every member of his team a favor) to save Trish from a Kane beat down, thus moving Jericho further out of Bischoff’s good books.

Jericho getting eliminated from the 2004 Royal Rumble (after eliminating his friend Christian 2nd year running) further moved Jericho out of Bischoff’s good books. So much so that when Jericho failed to show at a Raw due to a leg injury, Bischoff booked a match, Christian (who had been trying he darnest to split Jericho and Trish, seeing that Jericho’s attention was off their team, and thus they had no chance to succeeded as a team as long as Trish was in Jericho’s life) vs. Trish, just to screw with Jericho.

Christian then beat the hell out of Trish.

This caused Jericho to come back and kick Christian’s ass, firmly entrenching him, once again, in the fans positive books. We liked him again!

Phase 18- Bad way to start…

This was solidified at Wrestlemania XX, where Jericho lost to Christian, then got the taste slapped out of his mouth by Trish, who hooked up with Christian, claiming she needed a real man and showing a masochist side to her.

The Jericho/Christian & Trish wars continued for several months, with Jericho beating the ‘Happy Couple’ at Backlash in a handicap match, then Christian winning the rubber match when Christian’s new Problem Solver Tyson Tomko debuted, then Jericho got the final laugh by beating Christian in a cage match and injuring Christian’s back, then beating Tyson Tomko at Badd Blood. Then, with Christian injured, Jericho went after the IC belt, currently held by Edge, Jericho getting a triple threat match at the belt, along with Batista. But alas, in his desire to take Batista out of the match, Jericho walked into a spear and lost the match.

But then Edge got injured, thus necessitating the belt be stripped off him. So Jericho asked for the belt, but Christian, who had returned to action by beating the hell out of Christian (almost his default state of being), said he should get the belt. A ladder match was signed for the vacant belt at Unforgiven. And despite getting a ladder enema, Jericho became a 7 time IC champ, a new record (although this column claims he should be an 8 time champ, but no matter).

But then Jericho became the victim of the fan’s whim, for at Taboo Tuesday, Jericho was forced to defend his IC title against one of several men with no time to prepare and in some cases no real issue. And thus, when Shelton Benjamin was picked, Jericho was thrown, and lost the IC belt to him.

And then at Survivor Series, Jericho was part of the 4 man team that stood up to Evolution, and won the right to run Raw, a week per member of the team. Jericho was last, and he was the only one who really had fun with his job, having Fozzy play live, making Christian dress up in a silly costume, and generally have a good time. But by the time the Elimination Chamber at New Year’s Revolution for the vacant World title rolled around, all humor was gone. For Jericho entered that match with everything to win and nothing to lose, with experience in the concept and a real hunger.

But he fell to Dave. No shame in that.

Phase 19- An idea! An idea! A stupendous, tremendous idea!

And it seemed that things were going worse and worse for Chris, as he was tossed from the Rumble, and wasn’t getting anywhere. But then he had an idea. What if, at Wrestlemania, Raw had a ladder match? With 6 guys in it? That would rock, right?

Eric Bischoff agreed, and signed the match, coming up with the Money In The Bank idea, and the MITB was born. Jericho, as co-creator, was naturally given a spot, and thus in the weeks leading up to WM he found himself fighting the other 5 men in the match, Edge, Christian, Kane, Shelton Benjamin and… That other Canadian Chris.

And at Wrestlemania 21, Jericho competed in a hellacious match, but sadly did not win, losing out when Edge snagged the case.

Phase 20- “Shelton, Shelton, is a little bitch!”

After WM, Chris Jericho began having problems with Shelton Benjamin, given that he failed to win the IC title off him in a 3 way the night after WM. Shelton came onto the Highlight Reel, the two brawled, then the following week Jericho debuted his new song, “Shelton’s A Little Bitch”. But despite this, the two were not really enemies, they did have some level of respect, it was more professional problems. After Jericho was attacked by La Resistance, Shelton made the save. Then, after their one on one match at Backlash that Shelton won, Jericho was attacked by the Arab-Americans Hassan and Davari, and again Shelton made the save…Although Jericho chose not to return the favor later that night when they attacked Shelton.

Then Shelton lost to the AA’s in a tag match when Jericho walked off, since he had SO much on, and a wrestling match was like the LAST thing on his mind.

The fans didn’t take to Jericho’s new relaxed attitude, despite him feeling that he had earned it, after all, he had put in so much, he had so much going on, he really didn’t have time for wrestling right now. But they still stuck with him after Lance Storm turned on him in Storm’s last match at the first ECW One Night Stand, Storm deciding to reform the Impact Players rather than go out as a Sudden Impact Thrillseeker.

So the fans were a little wary of Jericho, but still they supported him. Until…

Phase 21- Nice spinny belt Cena. *CLUNK*

Until he turned on John Cena the week after Cena was drafted to Raw. Then half the fans were fully, 100% committed back to his side while the other half turned totally on Jericho. Jericho was sick of all the crap, he wanted the World title, he deserved the shot, not Christian, so on and so forth.

At Vengeance both he and Christian got a crack, Cena pinning Christian to retain his belt. Thus Jericho, quite rightly, had a strong claim to still be #1 contender. Cena was happy to oblige, although Jericho’s tactics (walking out of Battle Of The Bands between the two, handpicking lumberjacks for a Cena match with Snitsky, Jericho being a ref for Cena matches with Carlito), given that Bischoff wasn’t happy with Cena but could work with Jericho as champ and thus was getting away with it, Jericho’s tactics did not sit right with Cena. He just wanted a straight up fight. And he got it at Summerslam, where he beat Jericho to retain the belt.

Jericho was stunned, but Bischoff had a back up plan. A really great idea. Jericho, still chuffed at how well ‘his’ MITB match went, was all ears. Bischoff signed a ‘You’re Fired’ match for the WWE belt between Jericho and Cena, the loser to be fired! Jericho loved this so much, he hugged Bischoff.

Several times.

But then, the match didn’t go Jericho’s way, he was pinned, and then fired. He had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, out of Raw, this being his last shot on WWE programming, being dragged kicking and screaming from the building.

Phase 22- After WWE.

Jericho then came to terms with his release, and began to enjoy retirement. He focused on his music, wrote a book, played some pranks online, appeared on TNA, traveled… Wait, what?

Phase 23- Well, close enough.

Well, sort of. See, Fozzy appeared on TNA, a music video of one of their songs, and thus Jericho appeared on TNA. But despite some gifs, he never really appeared with TNA. He only had one dream, if he ever stepped foot into the ring again. And a couple years later…

Today- Well, ok. It might NOT be him…

Today, all of the net is buzzing about Save_Us.222. It has to be Jericho. It just has to.

Right?

Overview

Having an ego is a necessity in Pro Wrestling. But having too large an ego is worse than not having one at all. You need to have incredible ability and skill to last in this business when you have the level of ego that Chris Jericho has.

The fact that he has survived for so long proves that he holds them in spades.

After all, he is the King of the World…

And now, another sliver of a fractured view of life, as from the pen of Dave Lovelace…

Check out more of Dave's toons on umop.com

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Mathew Sforcina

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