Mid 20th Century
163-726: Daniel Richard Hollie (born October 3, 1977) is an American retired professional wrestler . He is best known for his tenures in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) between 2003 and 2007 under the ring name Danny Basham and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Damaja in 2007. Hollie made his wrestling debut in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), as the Damaja. On January 6, 1999, he and David C. were awarded
326-514: A Dog Collar match . Jericho alternated between WCW and a number of Japanese tours before he signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on June 30. Jericho's final WCW match came during a Peoria , Illinois , house show July 21, where he and Eddie Guerrero lost to Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio Jr. in a tag team match. Fifteen years after Jericho's departure from WCW, his best known entrance music within
489-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
652-517: A diving headbutt through a table. Despite Benoit being carried out on a stretcher, he returned to the match to climb the ladder and retain the championship. The two lost the title one month later to The Dudley Boyz on the June 21 episode of SmackDown! . At King of the Ring on June 24, both Benoit and Jericho competed in a triple threat match for Austin's WWF Championship, in which Booker T interfered as
815-528: A four team elimination match by last eliminating Mysterio and Van Dam. The Basham Brothers lost the titles to Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero at No Way Out on February 20, 2005. From here on, The Bashams either acted as jobbers on SmackDown! or defeated any team that came in their path on Velocity . The Basham Brothers quit JBL's Cabinet on the June 16 episode of SmackDown! , claiming that they were tired of being "JBL's crash test dummies " and not getting enough respect. On June 30, 2005, Basham became one of
978-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
1141-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1304-516: A 3-on-1 elimination handicap match at WrestleMania, but was knocked out by Rourke after the match. On the April 13 episode of Raw , Jericho was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 WWE draft . Jericho then faced Steamboat in a singles match at Backlash on April 26, where Jericho was victorious. In May, Jericho started a feud with Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio, leading to
1467-423: A General Manager), granting him the power to direct each OVW show. On March 7, 2007, The Basham Brothers returned to OVW and defeated Wyatt Young and Mike Tolar in a dark match. On April 20, 2007, Damaja and Doug Basham took on Rhino in a Derby City Street Fight, which Doug Basham lost. Basham and Damaja both appeared alongside Christy Hemme at the April 30 TNA Impact! TV Tapings. They were then revealed on
1630-570: A Triple Threat match against Chris Benoit and Angle at WrestleMania 2000 on April 2 in a two-falls contest with both of Angle's titles at stake. Jericho won the European Championship by pinning Benoit, after Benoit pinned Jericho to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. This was the first of six pay-per-view matches between the pair within twelve months. Jericho was originally supposed to be in
1793-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
SECTION 10
#17327944664561956-475: A bet over who could sleep with their respective paramour first, with a Canadian dollar at stake. Stratus overheard this and ended her relationship with Jericho, who seemingly felt bad for using Stratus. After he saved her from an attack by Kane , Stratus agreed that the two of them could just be "friends", thus turning Jericho face. After Christian put Stratus in the Walls of Jericho while competing against her in
2119-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2282-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2445-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2608-485: A child, where manager Floyd Creatchman claimed that Leo Burke , the first professional wrestler to be known as "The Man of 1,000 Holds", was now known as "The Man of 1,002 Holds", to which Floyd Creatchman stated that "he learned two more". During the March 30, 1998, episode of Nitro , after defeating Marty Jannetty , Jericho pulled out a long pile of paper that listed each of the 1,004 holds he knew and recited them to
2771-624: A controversial decision during a rematch in which two separate referees declared each one of them the winner of a match for the title. As a result, they became co-champions, during which Jericho turned face. He attained sole champion status at the Royal Rumble on January 23, 2000, by defeating Chyna and Hardcore Holly in a Triple Threat match. Jericho lost the WWF Intercontinental title to then- European Champion Kurt Angle at No Way Out on February 27. Jericho competed in
2934-413: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by
3097-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
3260-579: A fast count when Jericho pinned Triple H, causing Jericho to win the title. Hebner later reversed the decision due to pressure from Triple H, and WWE does not recognize Jericho's reign as champion. On April 19, Jericho defeated Eddie Guerrero at the Gary Albright Memorial Show organized by World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW). On the May 4 episode of SmackDown! , Jericho defeated Benoit to win his third WWF Intercontinental Championship but lost
3423-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
SECTION 20
#17327944664563586-630: A handicapped match for the tag team titles but lost when Shaniqua was pinned. Right after this match, Shaniqua was sent to OVW for training and was eventually released. The Basham Brothers joined John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)'s cabinet stable on November 25, 2004. They were known as JBL's Co-Secretaries of Defense. The Bashams once again won the WWE Tag Team Championship by defeating four other teams including Rey Mysterio and Rob Van Dam , Luther Reigns and Mark Jindrak , and Eddie Guerrero and Booker T on January 13, 2005, in
3749-408: A ladder match against Christian, breaking the previous record held by Jeff Jarrett from 1999. Jericho's seventh reign was short lived, as he lost it at Taboo Tuesday on October 19 to Shelton Benjamin . Jericho teamed up with Randy Orton , Chris Benoit, and Maven to take on Triple H, Batista, Edge, and Gene Snitsky at Survivor Series on November 14. The match stipulated that each member of
3912-432: A leave of absence from wrestling. Jericho then proceeded to bring with him to the ring a portrait of Malenko that he insulted and demeaned. Just prior to Slamboree , J. J. Dillon (referred to by Jericho as "Jo Jo") scheduled a cruiserweight Battle Royal , the winner of which would immediately have a shot at Jericho's Cruiserweight Championship. Jericho accepted on the grounds that whoever he faced would be too tired to win
4075-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
4238-409: A losing effort at Fall Brawl . The following month, at Halloween Havoc , Jericho lost to nWo member Syxx due to biased officiating by nWo referee Nick Patrick . This led to a match between Jericho and Patrick at World War 3 , which stipulated that Jericho's one arm would be tied behind his back. Despite the odds stacked against him, Jericho won the match. Later that night, Jericho participated in
4401-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
4564-489: A match at Judgment Day on May 17, which Jericho lost. However, Jericho defeated Mysterio in a No Holds Barred Match at Extreme Rules on June 7 to win his ninth Intercontinental Championship, breaking his own record again. At The Bash on June 28, Jericho lost the Intercontinental Championship back to Mysterio in a mask vs. title match . Later in the event, Jericho and his partner Edge won
4727-665: A match at No Mercy on October 21 for the WCW Championship after Jericho defeated Rob Van Dam in a number one contenders match on the October 11 episode of SmackDown! . Jericho won the WCW Championship at No Mercy when he pinned The Rock after debuting a new finisher, the Breakdown , onto a steel chair, winning his first world title in the process. One night later, the two put their differences aside and won
4890-539: A match, Jericho sought revenge on Christian, which led to a match at WrestleMania XX on March 14, 2004. Christian defeated Jericho after Stratus ran down and "inadvertently" struck Jericho (thinking it was Christian) and Christian got the roll-up. After the match, Stratus turned on Jericho and revealed that she and Christian were a couple. This revelation led to a handicap match at Backlash on April 18 that Jericho won. Jericho won his record-breaking seventh WWE Intercontinental Championship at Unforgiven on September 12 in
5053-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
Daniel Hollie - Misplaced Pages Continue
5216-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
5379-705: A one-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion , becoming the first man to have held both the WWE and IWGP versions of the Intercontinental Championship. In January 2019, Jericho joined AEW and became the inaugural holder of the AEW World Championship in August of that year. While in AEW, Jericho would also capture the ROH World Championship (the main title of AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor ) at
5542-402: A professional wrestler himself began when he saw footage of Owen Hart , then appearing with Stampede Wrestling , performing various high-flying moves. In addition, Irvine also cited Owen's older brother Bret , Ricky Steamboat and Shawn Michaels as inspirations for him becoming a professional wrestler. His first experience with a professional wrestling promotion was when he acted as part of
5705-628: A promo that The Undertaker was involved in, Jericho made his in-ring debut as a heel on August 26, losing a match against Road Dogg by disqualification on the inaugural episode of SmackDown! after he performed a powerbomb on Road Dogg through a table. Jericho's first long-term feud was with Chyna , for the WWF Intercontinental Championship . After losing to Chyna at Survivor Series on November 14, Jericho defeated her to win his first WWF Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon on December 12. This feud included
5868-751: A rematch to force Jericho off the show. On the January 4, 2010, episode of Raw , DX defeated Jeri-Show to retain the championship once again, marking the end of Jeri-Show. Jericho entered the 2010 Royal Rumble match on January 31, but was eliminated by the returning Edge, his former tag team partner, who went on to win the match. At Elimination Chamber on February 21, Jericho won the World Heavyweight Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, defeating The Undertaker, John Morrison , Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and R-Truth following interference from Shawn Michaels. The next night on Raw , Edge used his Royal Rumble win to challenge Jericho for
6031-502: A rematch to win his second Cruiserweight Championship on the August 16 episode of Saturday Night . Jericho began feuding with Eddie Guerrero over the title as he successfully defended the title against Guerrero at Clash of the Champions XXXV before losing the title to Guerrero at Fall Brawl . Jericho defeated Gedo at Halloween Havoc . At World War 3 , Jericho participated in the namesake battle royal but failed to win. On
6194-490: A second match. At Slamboree, Jericho came out to introduce the competitors in an insulting fashion before the match started and then went backstage for coffee. An individual who appeared to be Ciclope won the battle royal after Juventud Guerrera shook his hand and then eliminated himself. The winner was a returning Malenko in disguise. Following one of the loudest crowd reactions in WCW history, Malenko proceeded to defeat Jericho for
6357-421: A team that would come to called Jeri-Show . The duo defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase to retain the championship. Jeri-Show successfully defended the title against Cryme Tyme at SummerSlam on August 23, MVP and Mark Henry at Breaking Point on September 13 and Rey Mysterio and Batista at Hell in a Cell on October 4. At Survivor Series on November 22, both Jericho and Big Show took part in
6520-508: A title match, which Jericho and Tiger lost. In the weeks before Jericho's debut, a clock labeled "countdown to the new millennium" appeared on WWF programming. On the home video, Break Down the Walls , Jericho states he was inspired to do this as his entrance when he saw a similar clock in a post office and Vince McMahon approved its use as his introduction to the WWF. The clock finally ran out on
6683-486: A triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but the Undertaker successfully retained the title. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, Jeri-Show lost the tag titles to D-Generation X (DX) (Shawn Michaels and Triple H) in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. As a member of the SmackDown brand, Jericho could only appear on Raw as a champion and DX intentionally disqualified themselves in
Daniel Hollie - Misplaced Pages Continue
6846-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
7009-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
7172-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
7335-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
7498-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
7661-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
7824-567: The 2002 King of the Ring tournament , defeating Edge and The Big Valbowski to advance to the semi-finals, where he was defeated by Rob Van Dam at King of the Ring on June 23. In July, he began a feud with the debuting John Cena , losing to him at Vengeance on July 21. After his feud with Cena ended, Jericho moved to the Raw brand on the July 29 episode of Raw , unwilling to work for SmackDown! General Manager Stephanie McMahon. Upon his arrival to
7987-592: The Championship Scramble match as a late replacement for the defending champion CM Punk and subsequently won the World Heavyweight Championship , defeating Batista, John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), Kane, and Rey Mysterio . It was announced that Michaels would challenge Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match at No Mercy on October 5, which Jericho won. At Cyber Sunday on October 26, Jericho lost
8150-948: The JCW Tag Team Championships to Necro Butcher and Mad Man Pondo on August 11, 2007. Their last match together was on April 26, 2008, as they defeated Adam Rich and Shorty Biggs at JCW Slam TV Tour in Sauget, Illinois . He wrestled his last match for Insanity Pro Wrestling, unsuccessfully challenging Joey Owens for the IPW Mid-American Championship on July 5, 2008. He appeared in video games WWE Day of Reckoning and WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 as Danny Basham alongside his then in-ring tag team partner Doug Basham . Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
8313-788: The NWA World Middleweight Champion that began in December 1993. Jericho made his final appearance with CMLL in September 1995, unsuccessfully challenging CMLL World Heavyweight Champion Apolo Dantés in the Arena Coliseo in Mexico City . 1994 saw Jericho reunited with Storm, as The Thrillseekers in Jim Cornette 's Appalachian Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion, where they feuded with
SECTION 50
#17327944664568476-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
8639-542: The New York Rangers at the time of Jericho's birth. When his father retired, the family moved back to Winnipeg, Manitoba , where Irvine grew up. He holds dual American and Canadian citizenships. Irvine's interest in professional wrestling began when he started watching the local American Wrestling Association (AWA) events that took place at the Winnipeg Arena with his family, and his desire to become
8802-530: The OVW Tag Title when Nick Dinsmore no-showed and Rob Conway was counted out . He was also a three-time OVW Champion , defeating the likes of Dinsmore, Flash Flanagan , and Nova . In 2000 Danny Hollie made a few appearances on WWF Jakked and in dark matches under the ring name Danny Holliday. In 2003, he was given the managerial services of Tough Enough II winner Shaniqua . In late 2002 through early 2003 Hollie worked dark matches before
8965-482: The Raw and SmackDown tapings under his OVW gimmick and ring name, The Damaja. On May 29, 2003, Danny made his WWE television debut (as Danny Basham), teaming with Doug Basham to form the heel tag team , the Basham Brothers . The Bashams were later aligned with the valet , Shaniqua . As well as being portrayed with a bondage -based S&M gimmick , the "brothers" often switched places mid-match, so
9128-709: The Saturday Nitro live event in Los Angeles, California , to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship for the first time, thus winning the first championship of his WCW career. Jericho successfully defended the title against Ultimo Dragon at Bash at the Beach , before losing the title to Alex Wright on the July 28 episode of Monday Nitro . Jericho unsuccessfully challenged Wright for the title at Road Wild , before defeating Wright in
9291-567: The Unified WWE Tag Team Championship as surprise entrants in a triple threat tag team match. As a result of this win, Jericho became the first wrestler to win every (original) Grand Slam eligible championship. Shortly thereafter Edge suffered an injury and Jericho revealed a clause in his contract to allow Edge to be replaced and Jericho's reign to continue uninterrupted. At Night of Champions on July 26, Jericho revealed Big Show as his new tag team partner, creating
9454-786: The WWE Intercontinental Championship a record nine times and was the ninth Triple Crown Champion , as well as the fourth Grand Slam Champion in history. In addition, he was the 2008 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner and (along with Big Show as Jeri-Show ) won the 2009 Tag Team of the Year Slammy Award—making him the only winner of both Superstar and Tag Team of the Year. After his departure from WWE in 2018, Jericho signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he became
9617-594: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed WWE in 2002). In 2001, he became the first Undisputed WWF Champion , and thus the final holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship (then referred to as the World Championship), having won and unified the WWF and World titles by defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock on the same night . Jericho headlined multiple pay-per-view (PPV) events during his time with
9780-625: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter the "Feud of the Year". At Night of Champions on June 29, Jericho lost the Intercontinental Championship to Kofi Kingston after a distraction by Michaels. In June, Jericho took on Lance Cade as a protégé. Afterward, Jericho developed a suit-wearing persona inspired by Javier Bardem 's character Anton Chigurh from the 2007 film No Country for Old Men and wrestler Nick Bockwinkel . Jericho and Michaels met at The Great American Bash on July 20, which Jericho won after attacking
9943-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
SECTION 60
#173279446645610106-496: The namesake battle royal for a future WCW World Heavyweight Championship match but failed to win the match. Jericho represented WCW against nWo Japan member Masahiro Chono in a losing effort at the nWo Souled Out event . At SuperBrawl VII , Jericho unsuccessfully challenged Eddie Guerrero for the United States Heavyweight Championship . On June 28, 1997, Jericho defeated Syxx at
10269-476: The ring name Chris Jericho , is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since January 2019 , where he is the leader of The Learning Tree stable, and the two-time and current ROH World Champion in AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor . Noted for his over-the-top rock star persona, in-ring technical wrestling prowess, and his ability to reinvent his character throughout
10432-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
10595-593: The "fresher" wrestler was always in the ring. In almost all cases, the referee acted oblivious to the switch, despite their easily differentiated faces and they won their first WWE Tag Team Championship from Los Guerreros on the October 23 episode of SmackDown! , after they switched places behind the referee's back, and hit Eddie Guerrero with a foreign object . The team lost the titles in February 2004 to Rikishi and Scotty 2 Hotty . The Basham Brothers and Shaniqua faced Scotty 2 Hotty and Rikishi at No Way Out in
10758-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
10921-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
11084-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
11247-536: The 2022 Dynamite : Grand Slam event and the FTW Championship at Dynasty 2024 . In 1999, Jericho became the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Fozzy , who released their eponymous debut album the following year. The group's early work is composed largely of cover versions , although they have focused primarily on original material from their third album, All That Remains (2005), onward. Jericho has also appeared on numerous television shows over
11410-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
11573-473: The August 22 episode of Raw , Jericho faced Cena for the WWE Championship again in a rematch, this time in a " You're fired" match . Cena won again, and Jericho was fired by Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff . Jericho was carried out of the arena by security as Kurt Angle attacked Cena. Jericho's WWE contract expired on August 25. After a two-year hiatus, WWE promoted Jericho's return starting on
11736-706: The August 9 episode of Raw Is War in Chicago , Illinois while The Rock was in the ring cutting a promo on the Big Show . Jericho entered the arena and proclaimed " Raw Is Jericho" and that he had "come to save the World Wrestling Federation", referring to himself as "Y2J" (a play on the Y2K bug ). The Rock proceeded to verbally mock him for his interruption. Later that month, he would interact with several superstars including in particular interrupting
11899-600: The Cruiserweight Championship from Mysterio the next night after he interrupted J. J. Dillon while Dillon was giving the championship to Mysterio. Jericho was again awarded the championship. Eventually, Jericho decisively lost the title to Juventud Guerrera in a match at Road Wild with Malenko as special referee. On August 10, Jericho defeated Stevie Ray to win the World Television Championship (Stevie Ray substituting for
12062-476: The January 15, 1998, episode of Thunder , Jericho defeated Eddie Guerrero to earn a title shot against Rey Mysterio Jr. for the Cruiserweight Championship at Souled Out . Jericho won the match by forcing Mysterio to submit to the Liontamer . After the match, Jericho turned heel by assaulting Mysterio's knee with a toolbox . In the storyline, Mysterio needed six months of recovery before he could return to
12225-841: The May 10 Impact! to be the mystery team facing the Voodoo Kin Mafia at Sacrifice 2007 in a match which they won. They would participated in the Chris Candido Cup 2007 tournament in IWA Mid-South defeating Silas Young and Dysfunction on May 25, and Axl Rotten and Mickie Knuckles on May 26 before losing to the Thomaselli Brothers in the semi-finals that same night. That same year they appeared in Juggalo Championship Wrestling losing in an eight team elimination match for
12388-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
12551-408: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
12714-476: The October 14 episode of Raw . Christian and Jericho lost the titles to Booker T and Goldust in a fatal four-way elimination match, involving the teams of The Dudley Boyz, and William Regal and Lance Storm at Armageddon on December 15. On the January 13, 2003 episode of Raw , Jericho won an over-the-top-rope challenge against Kane, Rob Van Dam, and Batista to select his entry number for the Royal Rumble match on January 19. He chose number two in order to start
12877-437: The September 11 episode of WWE Heat (as Danny Basham) under his Damaja gimmick, only more gothic and Raven -like. Danny came out with new music, black face paint, and ring attire consisting of black boots and baggy black pants with hooks and chains on them. Hollie soon disappeared from television to grow his hair but continued to work squash matches under this gimmick very sporadically at house shows or in dark matches over
13040-564: The September 24, 2007, episode of Raw with a viral marketing campaign using a series of 15-second cryptic binary code videos, similar to the matrix digital rain used in The Matrix series . The videos contained hidden messages and biblical links related to Jericho. Jericho made his return to WWE television as a face on the November 19, 2007, episode of Raw when he interrupted Randy Orton during Orton's orchestrated "passing of
13203-1036: The WAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship in July 1995 and gave a tape of the match to Heyman, Jericho began wrestling for the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion in February 1996. In his second appearance, he defeated Rob Van Dam at the Big Apple Blizzard Blast . Jericho won the ECW World Television Championship from Pitbull #2 in June 1996 at Hardcore Heaven . While in ECW, Jericho wrestled Taz , Sabu , Rob Van Dam , Cactus Jack , Shane Douglas , and 2 Cold Scorpio . He made his final appearance at The Doctor Is In in August 1996. It
13366-399: The WWF Intercontinental Championship for the fourth time. At WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, he successfully defended his title in a match against William Regal , only to lose it four days later to Triple H. At Judgment Day on May 20, Jericho and Benoit won a tag team turmoil match and earned a shot at Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H for their WWF Tag Team Championship on Raw
13529-563: The WWF Tag Team Championship from the Dudley Boyz. After they lost the titles to Test and Booker T on the November 1 episode of SmackDown! , they continued their feud. On the November 5 episode of Raw, The Rock defeated Jericho to regain the WCW Championship. Following the match, Jericho attacked The Rock with a steel chair . At Survivor Series on November 18, Jericho turned heel by almost costing Team WWF
13692-788: The WWF/WWE, including WrestleMania X8 and the inaugural TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs and the Elimination Chamber matches and the shows itself. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2010. Jericho won the Undisputed WWF Championship once , the WCW/World Championship twice , and the World Heavyweight Championship (2002–2013 version) three times . He has also held
13855-547: The World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28. Jericho defeated Edge at WrestleMania to retain the title, but lost the championship to Jack Swagger on the following episode of SmackDown , who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. Jericho then failed to regain the title from Swagger in a triple-threat match also involving Edge on the April 16 episode of SmackDown . Jericho and Edge continued their feud leading into Extreme Rules on April 25, where Jericho
14018-432: The World Heavyweight Championship to Batista, but later won it back eight days later on November 3 on the 800th episode of Raw in a steel cage match. Jericho defeated Michaels in a Last Man Standing match on the November 10 episode of Raw after interference from JBL. Jericho lost the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series on November 23 to the returning John Cena. On the December 8 episode of Raw , Jericho
14181-442: The World Heavyweight Championship, but he failed to win as he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio . Following this, Jericho began a rivalry with veteran wrestlers Ric Flair , Ricky Steamboat , Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper , as well as actor Mickey Rourke . Jericho was originally arranged to face Rourke at WrestleMania 25 on April 5, but Rourke later pulled out of the event. Instead, Jericho defeated Piper, Snuka and Steamboat in
14344-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
14507-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
14670-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
14833-507: The audience. Many of the holds were fictional, and nearly every other hold was an armbar . On the March 12, 1998, episode of Thunder , Malenko defeated a wrestler wearing Juventud Guerrera's mask who appeared to be Jericho. However, the masked wrestler was actually Lenny Lane , whom Jericho bribed to appear in the match. This started a minor feud between Lane and Jericho after Jericho refused to pay Lane. At Uncensored , Jericho finally wrestled Malenko and defeated him, after which Malenko took
14996-608: The brand, he initiated a feud with Ric Flair , leading to a match at SummerSlam on August 25, which Jericho lost. On the September 16 episode of Raw , he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time from Rob Van Dam , before losing the title to Kane two weeks later on Raw . He then later formed a tag team with Christian , with whom he won the World Tag Team Championship by defeating Kane and The Hurricane on
15159-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
15322-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
15485-483: The catalyst for The Invasion angle. Despite Booker T's interference, Austin retained the title. In the following months, Jericho became a major force in The Invasion storyline in which WCW and ECW joined forces to overtake the WWF. Jericho remained on the side of the WWF despite previously competing in WCW and ECW. However, Jericho began showing jealousy toward fellow WWF member The Rock. They faced each other in
15648-399: The champion Booker T ). Soon afterward, Jericho repeatedly called out WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg in an attempt to begin a feud with him, but never actually wrestled him. Jericho cites Eric Bischoff , Goldberg and Hulk Hogan 's refusal to book Jericho in a pay-per-view squash match loss against Goldberg, which Jericho felt would be a big draw, as a major reason for leaving
15811-422: The championship. Jericho claimed he was the victim of a carefully planned conspiracy to get the belt off of him. He at first blamed the WCW locker room, then added Dillon, Ted Turner , and finally in a vignette, he walked around Washington, D.C. , with the sign "conspiracy victim" and accused President Bill Clinton of being one of the conspirators after being rejected from a meeting. Eventually, Malenko vacated
15974-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
16137-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
16300-478: The company, "One Crazed Anarchist", lent its name to the second single from his band Fozzy 's 2014 album, Do You Wanna Start a War . In January 1997, Jericho made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), who had a working agreement with WCW, as Super Liger, the masked nemesis of Jyushin Thunder Liger . According to Jericho, Super Liger's first match against Koji Kanemoto at Wrestling World 1997
16463-536: The company. On November 30, Jericho lost the World Television Championship to Konnan . In early 1999, Jericho began a feud with Perry Saturn . The feud saw Jericho and Saturn instigating bizarre stipulation matches, such as at Souled Out , where Jericho defeated Saturn in a "loser must wear a dress" match. At SuperBrawl IX , Jericho and Saturn wrestled in a "dress" match which Jericho won. Saturn finally defeated Jericho at Uncensored in
16626-415: The course of his career, Jericho has been named by journalists and industry colleagues as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. During the 1990s, Jericho performed for American organizations Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as well as for promotions in countries such as Canada, Japan, and Mexico. In the latter half of 1999, he made his debut in
16789-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
16952-459: The cut on Michaels's eye. At SummerSlam on August 17, Michaels said that his eye damage would force him to retire and insulted Jericho by saying he would never achieve Michaels's success. Jericho tried to attack Michaels, but Michaels ducked, so Jericho punched Michaels's wife, Rebecca, instead. As a result, they fought in an unsanctioned match at Unforgiven on September 7, which Jericho lost by referee stoppage. Later that night, Jericho entered
17115-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
17278-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
17441-490: The final of a tournament to crown the inaugural WAR International Junior Heavyweight Champion . He defeated Gedo for the championship in June 1995, losing it to Último Dragón the next month. In December 1995, Jericho competed in the second Super J-Cup tournament, defeating Hanzo Nakajima in the first round, but losing to Wild Pegasus in the second round. In 1995, Jericho joined the heel stable Fuyuki-Gun ("Fuyuki Army") with Hiromichi Fuyuki , Gedo, and Jado , adopting
17604-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
17767-475: The first-ever Undisputed WWF Champion , as well as the fourth Grand Slam winner under the original format . He retained the title at the Royal Rumble on January 20, 2002, against The Rock and at No Way Out on February 17 against Austin. Jericho later lost the title to Royal Rumble winner Triple H in the main event of WrestleMania X8 on March 17. Jericho was later drafted to the SmackDown! brand in
17930-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
18093-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
18256-453: The inaugural WWF draft lottery . He would then appear at Backlash on April 21, interfering in Triple H's Undisputed WWF Championship match against Hollywood Hulk Hogan . He was quickly dumped out the ring, but Triple H would go on to lose the match. This would lead to a Hell in a Cell match at Judgment Day on May 19, where Triple H would emerge victorious. Jericho would then compete in
18419-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
18582-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
18745-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
18908-628: The last-minute trades in the 2005 WWE Draft , which saw him leave SmackDown! for Raw . This marked the end of the partnership with his "twin brother," who remained on SmackDown! . On the July 18 episode of Raw , Basham made his first appearance on the Raw brand as one of Chris Jericho 's hand picked lumberjacks in the Lumberjack match between John Cena and Gene Snitsky . In August 2005, Hollie worked dark matches during Raw tapings under his former gimmick, The Damaja and made his televised debut on
19071-642: The likes of Well Dunn , The Rock 'n' Roll Express , and The Heavenly Bodies . In late 1994, Jericho began competing regularly in Japan for Genichiro Tenryu 's Wrestling and Romance (later known as Wrestle Association "R") (WAR) promotion as The Lion Heart. In November 1994, Último Dragón defeated him for the NWA World Middleweight Championship , which he had won while wrestling in Mexico. In March 1995, Jericho lost to Gedo in
19234-446: The main event of WrestleMania, but was taken out after Mick Foley , who was originally asked by writers to be in the match, took his place. Jericho was even advertised on the event's posters promoting the match. Jericho lost the title the next night to Eddie Guerrero on Raw is War after Chyna sided with Guerrero. On the April 17 episode of Raw is War , Jericho upset Triple H in a WWF Championship match. Referee Earl Hebner made
19397-455: The match between Batista and Michaels at Backlash on April 27, but instead, he was appointed as the special guest referee. During the match at Backlash, Michaels feigned a knee injury so that Jericho would give him time to recover and lured Batista in for Sweet Chin Music for the win. After Backlash, Jericho accused Michaels of cheating, but Michaels continued to play up an injury. When Jericho
19560-497: The match when Edge claimed the briefcase. At Backlash on May 1, Jericho challenged Shelton Benjamin for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, but lost the match. Jericho lost to Lance Storm at ECW One Night Stand on June 12. Jericho used his old "Lionheart" gimmick, instead of his more well known "Y2J" gimmick. Jericho lost the match after Jason and Justin Credible hit Jericho with a Singapore cane , which allowed Storm to win
19723-474: The match with Shawn Michaels , who had challenged him to prove Jericho's claims that he was better than Michaels. After Michaels's entrance, Jericho entered as the second participant. Christian, in Jericho's attire, appeared while the real Jericho attacked Shawn from behind. He eliminated Michaels shortly afterward, but Michaels got his revenge later in the match by causing Test to eliminate Jericho. Jericho spent
19886-568: The match, but Orton retained the title. He began a feud with JBL and met him at the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2008. Jericho was disqualified after hitting JBL with a steel chair. On the March 10 episode of Raw , Jericho captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship for a record eighth time when he defeated Jeff Hardy . In April 2008, Jericho became involved in the ongoing feud between Shawn Michaels and Batista when he suggested that Michaels enjoyed retiring Ric Flair, causing Shawn Michaels to attack him. Jericho thus asked to be inserted into
20049-428: The match. The next night on Raw , Jericho turned heel by betraying WWE Champion John Cena after defeating Christian and Tyson Tomko in a tag team match. Jericho lost a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship at Vengeance on June 26 which also involved Christian and Cena. The feud continued throughout the summer and Jericho lost to Cena in a WWE Championship match at SummerSlam on August 21. The next night on
20212-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
20375-429: The most time of any other wrestler in that same Royal Rumble. Jericho simultaneously feuded with Test, Michaels, and Jeff Hardy , defeating Hardy at No Way Out on February 23. Jericho and Michaels fought again at WrestleMania XIX on March 30, which Michaels won. Jericho, however, attacked Michaels with a low blow after the match following an embrace. After this match, Jericho entered a rivalry with Goldberg, which
20538-582: The name Lion Do. In February 1996, Jericho and Gedo won a tournament for the newly created International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship , defeating Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka in the final. They lost the championship to Storm and Yasuraoka the following month. Jericho made his final appearances with WAR in July 1996, having wrestled a total of twenty-four tours for the company. Thanks in part to recommendations by Chris Benoit, Dave Meltzer and Perry Saturn , to promoter Paul Heyman , and after Mick Foley saw Jericho's match against Último Dragón for
20701-406: The next night. Benoit and Jericho won the match, in which Triple H legitimately tore his quadriceps, spending the rest of the year injured. Benoit and Jericho each became a WWF Tag Team Champion for the first time. The team defended their title in the first fatal four-way Tables, Ladders and Chairs match on the May 24 episode of SmackDown! , where Benoit sustained a year-long injury after missing
20864-450: The next several months before completely disappearing from in-ring competition in 2006 before signing a new deal with WWE in April of that year. Danny and Doug reunited in WWE's revived ECW brand during July 2006 at several house shows. They re-debuted on television on the July 18 episode of ECW , as personal security guards under helmets. However, when Danny was injured with a torn biceps, he
21027-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
21190-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
21353-546: The ring trophy items from his defeated opponents, such as Guerrera's mask, Prince Iaukea 's Hawaiian dress, and a headband from Disco Inferno . Jericho then began a long feud with Dean Malenko , in which Jericho repeatedly claimed he was a better wrestler than Malenko, but refused to wrestle him. Because of his mastery of technical wrestling, Malenko was known as "The Man of 1,000 Holds", so Jericho claimed to be "The Man of 1,004 Holds"; Jericho mentions in his autobiography that this line originated from an IWA interview he saw as
21516-621: The ring crew for the first tour of the newly opened Keystone Wrestling Alliance promotion, where he learned important pointers from independent wrestlers Catfish Charlie and Caveman Broda. He attended Red River College in Winnipeg, graduating in 1990 with a diploma in Creative Communications. At the age of 19, he entered the Hart Brothers School of Wrestling, where he met Lance Storm on his first day. He
21679-406: The ring. Jericho then had a short feud with Juventud Guerrera in which Guerrera repeatedly requested a shot at Jericho's Cruiserweight Championship, but Jericho constantly rebuffed him. The feud culminated in a title versus mask match at SuperBrawl VIII . Guerrera lost the match and was forced to remove his mask. Following this match, Jericho began his ongoing gimmick of collecting and wearing to
21842-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
22005-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
22168-416: The title to Benoit four days later on Raw is War . Jericho's feud with Triple H ended at Fully Loaded on July 23, when they competed in a Last Man Standing match . Jericho lost the match to Triple H only by one second, despite the repeated assistance Triple H's wife, Stephanie , provided him in the match. At the Royal Rumble on January 21, 2001, Jericho defeated Chris Benoit in a ladder match to win
22331-441: The title. Jericho ended up defeating Malenko at The Great American Bash to win the vacant title after Malenko was disqualified after hitting Jericho with a chair. The next night, Malenko was suspended for his actions. At Bash at the Beach , the recently returned Rey Mysterio Jr. (who had recovered from his knee injury) defeated Jericho in a No Disqualification match after the still-suspended Malenko interfered. Jericho regained
22494-525: The torch" ceremony. Jericho revealed his intentions to reclaim the WWE Championship in order to "save" WWE fans from Orton. On the November 26 episode of Raw, Jericho defeated Santino Marella and debuted a new finishing move called the Codebreaker . At Armageddon on December 16, he competed in a WWE Championship match against Orton, defeating him by disqualification when SmackDown!' s color commentator John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) interfered in
22657-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
22820-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
22983-408: The vacant World Heavyweight Championship. Jericho began the match with Benoit and eliminated Edge, but was eliminated by Batista. Triple H went on to win. At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, Jericho participated in the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match . Jericho suggested the match concept, and he competed in the match against Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Kane, Christian, and Edge. Jericho lost
23146-563: The victory after he was eliminated in their Winner Take All matchup by once again attacking The Rock. Despite this, Team WWF won the match. At Vengeance on December 9, Jericho defeated both The Rock for the World Championship (formerly the WCW Championship) and Stone Cold Steve Austin for his first WWF Championship on the same night to become the first wrestler to hold both championships at the same time, which made him
23309-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
23472-461: The winning team would be the general manager of Raw over the next four weeks. Jericho's team won, and took turns as general manager. During Jericho's turn as general manager, the World Heavyweight Championship was vacated because a Triple Threat match for the title a week earlier ended in a draw. At New Year's Revolution on January 9, 2005, Jericho competed in the Elimination Chamber against Triple H, Chris Benoit, Batista, Randy Orton, and Edge for
23635-775: The winter of 1992, Jericho traveled to Mexico and competed under the name Leon D'Oro ("Golden Lion", a name that fans voted on for him between " He-Man ", "Chris Power", and his preferred choice "Leon D'Oro"), and later Corazón de León ("Lion Heart"), where he initially wrestled for several small wrestling companies in Nuevo León . In March 1993, Jericho appeared with the Universal Wrestling Association . In April 1993, Jericho began competing in Mexico's oldest promotion, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL). In CMLL, Jericho took on Silver King , Negro Casas , and Último Dragón en route to an 11-month reign as
23798-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
23961-793: The years, including the 2011 season of Dancing With the Stars . He hosted the ABC game show Downfall , the 2011 edition of the Revolver Golden Gods Awards , and the UK's Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in 2012 and 2017. Christopher Keith Irvine was born in Manhasset, New York on November 9, 1970, the son of a Canadian couple. He is of Scottish descent from his father's side and Ukrainian descent from his mother's side. His father, ice hockey player Ted Irvine , had been playing for
24124-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
24287-530: Was awarded the Slammy Award for 2008 Superstar of the Year award. Six days later, he lost his rematch with John Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship at Armageddon on December 14. At the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2009, Jericho participated in the Royal Rumble match, but he was eliminated by the Undertaker. On February 15 at No Way Out , he competed in an Elimination Chamber match for
24450-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
24613-612: Was driving the car. One of the interrogates was Lance Storm , who admitted that he was the assailant. Austin forced Storm into a match with Goldberg, who defeated Storm. After the match, Goldberg forced Storm to admit that Jericho was the superstar who conspired Storm into running him over. On the May 26 episode of Raw , Goldberg was once again a guest on the Highlight Reel . Jericho expressed jealousy towards Goldberg's success in WCW and felt that since joining WWE, he had achieved everything he had ever wanted in his career and all that
24776-439: Was during this time that he drew the attention of World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Jericho debuted for WCW on August 20, 1996, by defeating Mr. JL , which aired on the August 31 episode of Saturday Night . Jericho's televised debut in WCW occurred on the August 26 episode of Monday Nitro against Alex Wright in a match which ended in a no contest. He made his pay-per-view debut on September 15 against Chris Benoit in
24939-438: Was finally convinced and he apologized to Michaels for not believing him, Michaels then admitted to Jericho that he had faked his injury and he attacked Jericho with Sweet Chin Music. After losing to Michaels at Judgment Day on May 18, Jericho initiated a handshake after the match. On the June 9 episode of Raw , Jericho hosted his talk show segment, The Highlight Reel , interviewing Michaels. Jericho pointed out that Michaels
25102-486: Was fueled by Goldberg's refusal to fight Jericho in WCW. During Jericho's first episode of the Highlight Reel , an interview segment, where Goldberg was the guest, he complained that no one wanted Goldberg in WWE and continued to insult him in the following weeks. On the May 12 episode of Raw , a mystery assailant attempted to run over Goldberg with a limousine . A week later, Co-Raw General Manager, Stone Cold Steve Austin , interrogated several Raw superstars to find out who
25265-811: Was going to be "Jack Action" however, someone remarked to him that the name was stupid, they then asked him what his name really was, he then got nervous and said "Chris Jericho". He took the name Jericho from an album, Walls of Jericho , by German power metal band, Helloween . Jericho and Storm worked for Tony Condello in the tours of Northern Manitoba with Adam Copeland (Edge), Jason Reso (Christian) and Terry Gerin (Rhino). The pair also wrestled in Calgary's Canadian National Wrestling Alliance (CNWA) and Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling (CRMW). In 1991, Jericho and Storm started touring in Japan for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling as Sudden Impact, where he befriended Ricky Fuji , who also trained under Stu Hart . In
25428-421: Was later replaced by Derek Neikirk, who continued Danny's role as the second masked enforcer. Danny's final WWE appearance was on the December 12 episode of ECW , where he and Doug were quickly defeated by Bobby Lashley . Hollie was released by WWE on January 18, 2007. On November 18, 2006, Hollie made a surprising return when OVW owner Danny Davis introduced Danny Basham as the "OVW TroubleShooter" (similar to
25591-503: Was left was to defeat Goldberg and challenged him to a match. At Bad Blood on June 15, Goldberg settled the score with Jericho and defeated him. On the October 27 episode of Raw , Jericho won his sixth WWE Intercontinental Championship when he defeated Rob Van Dam . He lost the title back to Van Dam immediately after in a steel cage match. Later in 2003, Jericho started a romance with Trish Stratus while his tag team partner Christian began one with Lita . This, however, turned out to be
25754-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
25917-487: Was so poorly received that the gimmick was dropped instantly. Jericho botched several moves in the match and complained he had difficulty seeing through the mask. The following six months, Jericho worked for New Japan unmasked, before being called back by WCW. On September 23, 1998, Jericho made a one-night-only return to NJPW at that years Big Wednesday show, teaming with Black Tiger against IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa in
26080-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
26243-406: Was still cheered by the fans despite Michaels's deceit and attack on Jericho during the previous months, whereas Jericho was booed when he tried to do the right thing. Jericho then assaulted Michaels with a low blow and sent Michaels through the "Jeritron 6000" television, damaging the eye of Michaels, and turning heel in the process. This began what was named by both Pro Wrestling Illustrated and
26406-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
26569-609: Was trained by Ed Langley and local Calgary wrestler Brad Young. Two months after completing training, he was ready to start wrestling on independent shows, making his debut at the Moose Hall in Ponoka, Alberta , as "Cowboy" Chris Jericho, on October 2, 1990, in a ten-minute time limit draw against Storm. The pair then worked as a tag team , initially called Sudden Impact. According to a February 2019 interview with Rich Eisen on The Rich Eisen Show, Jericho stated that his initial name
#455544