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Chris Jericho is widely considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Jericho has competed for a variety of promotions throughout his career. Such promotions include WWE, WCW, ECW, NJPW and currently AEW.
Despite his recent success with All Elite Wrestling, Chris Jericho is best known for his work in WWE. During his WWE career, Chris Jericho achieved considerable success, becoming a six-time World Champion, United States Champion, Tag Team Champion, European Champion, Hardcore Champion and a record nine-time Intercontinental Champion.
Chris Jericho has also main-evented WrestleMania during his WWE career, additionally competing numerous times on the grandest stage of them all.
Let's take a closer look at Chris Jericho's five best WrestleMania matches.
#5 Chris Jericho vs AJ Styles (WWE WrestleMania 32)
The WWE Universe had been clamoring for years to see AJ Styles compete inside a WWE ring. As time continued to pass, many thought we would never see the former TNA and IWGP Heavyweight Champion perform on the grandest stage of them all.
However, that all changed in 2016 when AJ Styles signed with WWE and made his debut in the Royal Rumble match. After his stunning debut, AJ Styles quickly entered a feud with Chris Jericho on WWE television. Y2J recently returned to WWE after a short hiatus himself.
After a series of matches in which Styles and Jericho traded victories, the two WWE Superstars briefly became a tag team known as "Y2AJ" on WWE television. But the team was shortlived as Jericho quickly turned on AJ Styles, turning heel in the process. This led to the former tag team partners facing off at WrestleMania 32.
Despite the difficult position of being placed second on the card, AJ Styles and Chris Jericho put in an excellent performance at WrestleMania. Nevertheless, Chris Jericho was able to leave the showcase of the immortals victorious. Y2J hit AJ Styles with a Codebreaker to pick up the victory.
#4 Chris Jericho vs Edge vs Chris Benoit vs Kane vs Christian vs Shelton Benjamin (WWE WrestleMania 21)
Chris Jericho has achieved a multitude of accolades during his career.
However, many may be unaware that Chris Jericho was the WWE Superstar to come up with the Money in the Bank concept. Jericho pitched the idea of a WrestleMania ladder match, with all competitors attempting to retrieve a briefcase suspended above the ring with a World Championship contract inside that was good for one year.
After Jericho pitched the concept, the Money in the Bank ladder match was born. At WrestleMania 21, six superstars from Monday Night RAW competed in the inaugural Money in the Bank ladder match. The competitors consisted of Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Shelton Benjamin, Kane, Edge and Christian.
The match certainly continued the tradition of phenomenal ladder matches on the grandest stage of them all. One of the highlight moments of the match saw Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin sprint up a slanted ladder and clothesline Chris Jericho off a 20-foot ladder in the process.
However, Chris Jericho was unable to leave WrestleMania with the precious Money in the Bank contract. WWE Hall of Famer Edge continued his streak of ladder match dominance on the grandest stage of them all by retrieving the briefcase and becoming the first ever "Mr. Money in the Bank" in the process.
#3 Chris Jericho vs CM Punk (WWE WrestleMania XXVIII)
Chris Jericho returned to WWE television after an 18-month hiatus in 2012. Prior to his return, mystery vignettes had begun appearing on Monday Night RAW, foreshadowing the return of the first ever WWE Undisputed Champion.
After returning, Chris Jericho quickly entered a feud with WWE Champion CM Punk on Monday Night RAW. Jericho accused several WWE Superstars, including Punk, of attempting to imitate him. Y2J took exception, with CM Punk referring to himself as "the best in the world" as Chris Jericho had used a similar moniker previously during his WWE career.
After Chris Jericho became the number one contender for the WWE Championship, a match between Punk and himself was set for WrestleMania XXVIII. In an attempt to get under CM Punk's skin, Jericho began hurling accusations that CM Punk's father was an alcoholic, while suggesting that Punk's sister was also a drug addict. This was in response to CM Punk's straight edge lifestyle.
The mind games also continued ahead of WrestleMania after it was announced that if CM Punk was disqualified during the match against Jericho, he would lose the WWE Championship.
Despite Chris Jericho's best attempts, CM Punk held his nerve and defeated Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XXVIII, retaining the WWE Championship in the process.
#2 Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit vs Kurt Angle (WWE WrestleMania 2000)
Chris Jericho's WrestleMania 2000 story is certainly an interesting one.
Y2J was initially scheduled to be a part of the WrestleMania 2000 main event for the WWE Championship. Triple H was set to defend the WWE Championship against The Rock, The Big Show and Chris Jericho in a Fatal-4 Way Elimination match. Chris Jericho was even featured on the WrestleMania 2000 posters to reflect this main event.
However, before the story could play out on television, Chris Jericho was removed from the main event for Mick Foley. The Hardcore Champion was the creative team's initial pick for the match before being set to retire after No Way Out 2000.
Instead of competing in the main event, Jericho was placed in a triple threat match against Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle instead. Chris Jericho had previously lost the WWE Intercontinental Championship to then-European Champion Kurt Angle at the No Way Out pay-per-view.
This led to a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 2000 where both the Intercontinental Championship and European Championship were on the line in a two-fall contest.
During the match Chris Benoit pinned Chris Jericho to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion. Jericho then subsequently pinned Benoit to become the new WWE European Champion. Unfortunately for Jericho, his European Championship reign was shortlived. Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Jericho the following night on Monday Night RAW, after interference from Chyna to capture the European Championship.
#1 Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels (WWE WrestleMania XIX)
Arguably Chris Jericho's greatest WrestleMania match came against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIX in 2003.
After Shawn Michaels returned to action as an in-ring performer and ended his feud with Triple H, the Heartbreak Kid began a feud with Chris Jericho on WWE television.
Chris Jericho revealed that he had previously idolized Shawn Michaels. Jericho even showed photos and footage from earlier in his career that were very reminiscient of Shawn Michaels during his early WWE career.
However, the admiration that Chris Jericho once had for Shawn Michaels quickly turned to jealousy and rage. Y2J contiously claimed he was better than Shawn Michaels ever was. This included Jericho attempting to win the Royal Rumble from the number one entry position as Shawn Michaels did in 1995.
This led to Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels facing off at WrestleMania XIX. The match marked Shawn Michaels's first WrestleMania match since 1998, five years prior. Michaels and Jericho absolutely tore the house down and delivered the match of the night in the eyes of many fans.
The closing moments of the match saw Shawn Michaels pin Chris Jericho to claim the victory. After the match, it appeared that Chris Jericho had undergone a change of heart, embracing Shawn Michaels in the middle of the ring. However, Jericho quickly revealed his true colors when he struck The Heartbreak Kid with a low blow before quickly leaving the ring.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
