5 moments that cemented Chris Jericho's place in WWE history

Over a career that's spanned more than three decades, Chris Jericho has stayed ahead of the curve by reinventing himself on multiple occasions. The former WWE Champion has kept his finger on the pulse of popular culture and has carefully crafted his gimmicks over the years.

Jericho has also consistently delivered entertaining performances and has been involved in several compelling storylines. He's also beloved by the professional wrestling audience. Even though he's currently with AEW, the 51-year-old is an indelible part of WWE history.

Even if he never performs for the promotion again, he's done more than enough to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

With that being said, here's a look back at five moments that etched Chris Jericho's place in WWE history:

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#5 The Iconic WWE debut

Chris Jericho made arguably the greatest WWE debut of all-time when he jumped ship from WCW and appeared on the August 9, 1999, episode of Monday Night RAW. There was a countdown clock in the weeks prior to his debut, and he appeared when it ran out.

Jericho made an instant impact, confronting The Rock in a high-profile segment. Even though The Great One got the last word, Y2J more than held his own and showed the fans he was a force to be reckoned with.

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#4 Chris Jericho becomes the Undisputed Champion

Chris Jericho poses with the two titles

After the culmination of the Invasion storyline, the decision was taken to unify the WWE and WCW titles to crown an Undisputed World Champion. A four-man tournament was set-up at Vengence 2001 featuring Chris Jericho, The Rock, Kurt Angle and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Jericho looked set to lose his first-round match against The Rock but prevailed following interference from Mr. McMahon. Y2J faced Steve Austin in the finals of the tournament and received a helping hand from the WWE Chairman and Booker T to prevail. He became the first Undisputed Champion in the promotion's history.

Even though Jericho wasn't booked particularly strongly during his run with the title, he was able to brag about the accomplishment for many years.

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#3 Ladder match with Shawn Michaels at No Mercy 2008

During Chris Jericho's second run with WWE, he found a great deal of success after altering his character. The former WWE Champion ditched several aspects of his Y2J persona and portrayed a suit-wearing heel, who spoke in a methodical fashion, in an ode to the great Nick Bockwinkel.

It was during this period that the former Undisputed Champion had his legendary feud with Shawn Michaels. Over the course of the program, the two stars split their first two pay-per-view matches. Their next big encounter was a ladder match at No Mercy 2008 after Jericho got his hands on the World Heavyweight Championship.

The two legends put on a classic that holds up to this day and served as the zenith of an all-time great storyline.

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#2 Building up a heated rivalry with CM Punk

Chris Jericho and CM Punk had a heated rivalry

Chris Jericho once again returned to the world's biggest promotion in 2012. This time he had his sights set on working with the red-hot CM Punk. Y2J initially took umbrage with the fact that the Chicago native was referring to himself as "The Best in the World."

However, the feud soon took a darker turn and became much more personal. Jericho continually took digs at Punk's Straight Edge lifestyle, bringing up the struggles that the then WWE Champion's father and sister had with substance abuse.

The two stars built the feud with excellent promos and put on two excellent matches at WrestleMania 28 and Extreme Rules 2012.

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#1 The Festival of Friendship

Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens struck-up a friendship in 2016 when The Prizefighter was the Universal Champion. They quickly developed a chemistry and were adept at playing off each other on-screen. Jericho and Owens' television segments were comedy gold and the highlight of WWE programming at the time.

Y2J also interfered in several of his "best friend's" matches and helped him retain the Universal title. Unfortunately, their relationship came to a head during the "Festival of Friendship", which took place after Jericho accepted Goldberg's challenge to Owens.

The segment was perfectly executed and saw KO turn on his friend in a truly heart-breaking moment.