There is one thing you can say about Chris Jericho — the guy knows how to make an entrance.
During the summer of 1999, a millennium clock began counting down on Raw. WWE fans spent weeks wondering what the timer was leading to before getting an answer on Aug. 9 when the clock struck zero and Y2J appeared. Audaciously interrupting The Rock, the confident new competitor immediately announced himself as a performer who wasn’t afraid to make a statement.
Some people would crack under the hype of such a big debut. Jericho exceeded it. Over the next decade, The Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla grabbed a record nine Intercontinental Titles, multiple Slammy Awards and the distinction of being the first Undisputed Champion in WWE history — an achievement he never fails to mention.
Son of former NHL standout Ted Irvine, Jericho was born in Manhasset, N.Y., but raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. A wrestling fan from an early age, he trained in the famed Hart Family Dungeon and made his ring debut against Lance Storm when he was only 19. Starting out in the frigid armories of Canada, Jericho went on to perform across the globe in places like Mexico and Japan, infusing different international styles into his repertoire along the way. By the time he reached WCW in 1996, his loyal band of “Jerichoholics” was growing rapidly.
The cocky competitor found success in WCW, winning the Cruiserweight and Television Titles on multiple occasions, but he soon grew frustrated with the locker room politicking that plagued the company. Sensing a brighter future in WWE, Jericho broke the walls down on Raw with a thrilling debut in 1999.
His place in WWE history was cemented on Dec. 9, 2001 at Vengeance, when he beat The Rock for the WCW Championship and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the WWE Championship on the same night, unifying both titles to become the first-ever Undisputed WWE Champion.
More big matches followed, but Jericho was forced out of WWE in August 2005 after losing a “You're Fired!” Match to then-WWE Champion John Cena on Raw. During that two-year hiatus, Jericho pursued acting, toured with his heavy metal band Fozzy and penned the story of his career, “A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex.”
After a lengthy 2007 video campaign that foretold of a Superstar that would “Save Us,” Jericho came back again with a chip on his shoulder. Upset at WWE brass for passing him over for World Title opportunities, he went so far as to call his treatment a "conspiracy." But while his attitude changed, his ability didn’t. He won the World Heavyweight Championship for the third time at No Way Out in 2010 and enjoyed successful tag team runs with Edge and Big Show.
Jericho disappeared from WWE rings again after being punted in the head by Randy Orton, but he made a fiery return to Raw in January 2012. Following weeks of cryptic vignettes that warned, “The end begins on 1-2-12,” the man who calls himself “The Best in the World at What He Does” appeared out of the darkness in a jacket made of lights and bucked expectations by energetically running around the ring for 10 minutes, but never speaking a word. WWE fans didn’t know quite what to make of Y2J’s behavior, but Chris Jericho is nothing if not unpredictable.