By Ciaran James@
The victory over Shawn Michaels at No Mercy was a fitting end to one of the best feuds in WWE history, their natural chemistry created magic in the ring and on the microphone. It was a true moment in time where both men were untouchable and it made for great television, both should be extremely proud of the story they told.
Championship Lost
As great as Y2J/HBK was you could say WWE quickly moved on without taking a breath, his next opponent was Batista and the match scheduled was for Jericho’s World Title. With all respect to Batista this feud was a little of a comedown after the epic story Chris had with Shawn, however I think no matter the opponent or match it would never rival the work they did. Jericho faced Batista at the always doomed Cyber Sunday PPV, with Steve Austin as referee Jericho dropped the Championship. After being on fire after the HBK feud Jericho was instantly ice cold. It all seemed a waste as eight days later Batista dropped the belt back to Y2J on Raw, however there was an ulterior motive to this move as at Survivor Series Chris dropped it once more to the returning John Cena. After being on such a high for a majority of the year, Chris ended 2008 with his prospects not looking that great.
Old Timers
Chris had a rocky start to 2009, he was firstly hired then rehired by Stephanie McMahon and flirted briefly with the World Title at the Elimination Chamber. WWE however had other ideas and it seemed that Chris would bash heads with actor Mickey Rourke at Wrestlemania 25, this whole storyline was instigate by Rourke himself. Rourke seemed to be targeting Jericho, therefore Y2J hit back and the two had a great confrontation on Larry King Live. This was great news for Chris, WWE and Wrestlemania, the media coverage alone in the first few weeks had everyone buzzing, and for once a true proper superstar would be appearing at a wrestling event. Chris through all his hard work had been awarded this lucrative match, unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be as Rourke quickly reconsidered then backtracked. The Jericho Vs Rourke showdown was off the script, WWE had to quickly rewrite Mania plans. It was quickly decided that in conjunction with the ‘Wrestler‘ Jericho would face three former veterans with Rourke appearing at ringside. At Wrestlemania Chris defeated Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka in a Handicap Elimination match, the veterans had the last laugh though as Rourke entered the ring post-match and floored Y2J.
Post Wrestlemania Jericho had a mini feud with Ricky Steamboat which culminated at Backlash, following that he entered into a series with Rey Mysterio where he won his record setting ninth Intercontinental Title. Jericho and Mysterio mixed well and their feud was one of the highlights of WWE programming post Mania, they exchanged the title twice and their feud came to an end at the Bash. The feud and final match of the series received critical acclaim from industry insiders, it was easily one of the better confrontations for WWE in 2009. Although he lost to Rey at the Bash Chris was rewarded, as he along with Edge was inserted into the Tag Team Title match later on that evening. Chris & Edge as a team was a powerful statement from WWE, when superstars of their calibre are put together you know WWE have big plans. They walked out of the Bash the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions, they looked and acted the part to perfection, the former World Champions had arrived and both fans, critics and insiders were excited at what was around the corner. Unfortunately their union wouldn’t last for long as shortly after Edge suffered a torn Achilles tendon, he was out, but Jericho wouldn’t be alone for long as he recruited the services of the Big Show as a replacement partner.
JeriShow
Before you begin reading this please erase the current version of the Big Show from your memory………right here goes, between 2009 and 2010 the Big Show alongside Chris Jericho was the highlight of Raw, Smackdown and numerous PPV’s. Yes that’s right, Jericho once more turned an obsolete item into gold and made it entertaining. Jericho like a lot of times during his career made the best out of a bad situation (Edge injury) and found a way to prevail, in the process he reinvigorated the career of the Big Show and made the WWE Tag titles relevant. With their tailored suits, professionalism and impressive win record few could hold a candle to the team of JeriShow. Their first defence came against Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes at Night of Champions, the duo performed well together and successfully defended their belts. Being the Unified Tag Champs they were allowed to appear on both Raw & Smackdown, it made for great television as they got tangled up with a multitude of tag teams from Cryme Tyme, Mark Henry/MVP and Batista/Rey Mysterio. Their matches and antics were the highlight of the Summer months, they became as respected as a team that they were pitted against D-Generation X consisting of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The feud with D-X was the beginning of the end for Jerishow, if you watch WWE you knew the way it was going once the Kliq get involved in your storylines.
Following Hell in a Cell where they defended the titles against Batista and Rey they met the D-X duo on Raw in a non-title match, Shawn and Triple H were victorious and it earned them a future opportunity at the gold. In between their inevitable showdown with the slightly older degenerates Jericho & Big Show manipulated the Bragging Rights inter-brand tag match, Jericho represented Smackdown while Show was n Raw. The Raw team was captained by Triple H who was at odds with Show, the hostilities only deepened at Bragging Rights as Big Show turned on his Raw team mates. As Raw had the upper hand Big Show attacked Triple H, therefore awarding Smackdown wrestler and partner Chris Jericho with the win. Following that Jerishow ran straight into the Undertaker who was World Heavyweight Champion at the time, this resulted in a Triple Threat match at Survivor Series where the team mates ended up as opponents against the Deadman. As you guessed they weren’t successful against the Undertaker so after Survivor Series they resumed their feud with D-X. Their feud culminated at the TLC PPV in December 2009, the match itself was in fact a Tables, Ladders & Chairs match and both teams stole the show. It was placed in the main event slot and for good reason, both teams had been the highlight of WWE programming in the Summer & Autumn months and this was what they deserved. At TLC Jerishow were finally defeated, after a reign lasting 140 days the Tag Titles changed hands, the match received good reviews and was another notch in the cap for all four men. Although the team of Chris Jericho and Big Show came to an end most have fond memories of their escapades, Jericho had proven once more how versatile a character he was and made another stride to becoming a legend.
You Think You Know Me?
After another clean defeat Jericho and Show decided to call it quits, plus WWE was moving into a new year and the reason that gave birth to Jerishow was nearing its completion. As the Royal Rumble approached so did the return of Edge, Jericho & WWE had played it so well during Edge’s absence that there was a natural story ready and waiting upon his return. During his time as Tag Champ Y2J consistently gloated that he had never been injured during his career and that he was the superior wrestler to Edge. This was a simple booking strategy that kept Edge relevant, it also helped ready the fans for his return and prepare them for an expected Wrestlemania match. Like he seems to do every year Jericho performed well in the Rumble match, it seemed possible that he may actually win, that was until Edge returned. As predicted and to set up a future match Edge not only eliminated Chris but prevailed in the Rumble match itself, much to the annoyance of Y2J, however events would soon take another turn. At the following months Elimination Chamber PPV Chris would come out the World Heavyweight Champion, thanks to none other than long-time nemesis Shawn Michaels. HBK had infiltrated the Chamber to attack the Undertaker to force a rematch, therefore the attacked resulted in Chris pinning the Deadman for the Big Gold belt.
Edge as expected then challenged Jericho at Wrestlemania, there was natural anticipation for this feud. Edge & Jericho were two of WWE’s premier workers and talkers, their credentials spoke for they so many predicted a riveting build and explosive match. Personally as a fan of both I felt the feud bombed, the excitement just wasn’t there and both men looked uninterested during the proceedings. Not to add insult to injury but the big payoff at Mania wasn’t there either, surprisingly Jericho retained on the evening after a very lacklustre effort. Finally fan reaction came after the match as Edge Speared Jericho through the barricade, at last the feud got the reaction it had been waiting for but the results just left things in the air. Events concerning the World title would soon change again as new MITB holder Jack Swagger (forever doomed) took advantage of a beaten down Jericho on Smackdown and won the title for himself. Jericho never retained the belt and carried on his feud with Edge that finally ended at the Extreme Rules PPV, Edge emerged victorious following a Cage match. In 2010 Jericho seemed to be going through the motions, the passion he had in 2008 just wasn’t there, but looking back it’s safe to say WWE wasn’t the best in 2010.
Goodbye Again
For the remainder of his last few months Jericho was drafted back to Raw and did whatever it seemed was expected of him, his work during that time wasn’t memorable and he himself seemed jaded. He teamed up and took part in various skits, he was part of the disastrous team WWE Vs Nexus at Summerslam, where controversy reigned in and out of the ring. As the match neared its conclusion Jericho & Edge attacked John Cena, nearly costing him that match but therefore turning their backs on their team mates and WWE. Outside of the ring Jericho vented his frustrations and it is known that he disagreed with the booking of the match, Chris like many others believed that the Nexus should have been victorious. Jericho also commented that not giving Barrett the push was a bad idea, during the match WWE allowed Cena to take a DDT to the floor which he later recovered from to win the match. Getting back to in ring activities Jericho would unsuccessfully challenge for the WWE title at Night of Champions in September, later in the month he would soon depart the company. To explain his departure WWE had Randy Orton attack him post-match and Punt kick him in the head on Raw, many believed Jericho would soon return but in the weeks after it became apparent that he had left.
After his astonishing character change in 2008 Jericho proved how good he was, wrestler, talker, businessman, his feud with HBK, teaming with Big Show and all the little things only demonstrated his greatness within the squared circle. Unfortunately Jericho was the victim of bigger influences, the end of his run in 2008 was because of John Cena returning, the end of Jerishow was certainly down to D-X getting involved. Jericho continuously gave WWE the best of him and somehow they allowed it to decay. Chris left WWE under a cloud in 2010, but he would soon return.
The third and final part of my look at the WWE career of ‘Y2J’ Chris Jericho will hit @KayfabeToday next week
